Last rant of the semester...

OK. Going to attempt two posts today, one to tie up the end of the semester, and one to start the psuedo summer break :)

Last final was yesterday. Yeah, here's the rant.

So, I don't really study as much as my school counterparts. I could make more time for it, I guess, but I'd much rather make time for more fun things. I found that a good nights sleep, and a couple hours to wake up and get in the test mindset makes it as painless as possible.
I've heard all these rumors that the P2 year is the worst, and it's the one I finished up yesterday, at least I hope. I knew the exam was going to be rough, so I collected my relevant packets and readings and planned on flipping thru 'em a little at a time. I missed a lecture on reading EKGs and bradyarrythmias when I was at legislative day in Albany, so I had to figure all that nonsense out as well. Being badly burned by the arrhythmia section on the last exam, I wanted to make sure I could knock out at least one section on the test.
I don't know why I think I can get anything done in the house. Jon has about a million projects to do, and there's so many distractions. Even if I can convince myself not to play with the girls or dogs or bust out something crafty, there's people and dogs and cars and trains....

I figured that getting up at 4, and taking my time to read through the material would help. I could listen to the lecture, reference my book, sort out the packets. I went to bed early, was asleep by ten, so I could get my 6 hours. But, as always, life has different plans. So after spending from about three till about four soothing a screaming babe, studying was not on my radar. I had to go to sleep, cause after school was work, and well, I have to make sure people don't die at work, so I need to be awake for that too.

Needless to say, It didn't go as planned. I'll leave it at that.

Welcome to life, pharmacy school. (Rant)

It's funny, they put a lot of weight, effort, into finding people for the pharmacy program that have done more than their basic pre-reqs. Not more college, necessarily, more STUFF. They are looking for well rounded people, that have some life experience, and goals. So I figure, that they might be a little more laid back in the amount of random stuff we have to regurgitate for exams. I mean, I get it, there is a LOT to know. I'm talking like the one sentence random facts that we can look up in a reputable reference in a matter of seconds if we need it. Like gram to grain conversions, equations, clinical dosing recommendation...They give us a class on looking this up, even. An entire, GPA weighted (thank goodness, I needed that!) course on how to look up drug info. But it seems that this is the very stuff they test us on.

I mean sure, if I was living at home, with mom and dad paying for my school, with no family, no bedtime, no job, no bills, I could do it. If my life was on flashcards, you bet I would know those facts. But they want to target, to recruit these people, that balance life, jobs, bills, families even, experiences, with these piles of reproducible facts.

Last year, I dealt. I chalked it up to pregnancy and a full time course load, two things I hadn't done in the last few years. But now, it's almost like they are wasting my time. Not because what I am learning isn't valuable, but because the way I have to present it is simply unrealistic. Am I going to compound something for a patient when the rx is given in grains, without looking up the conversion factor? No. I can tell you right now, it's 15.4 grains per gram. 65 mg per grain. But in ten years when that script floats into my pharmacy? You bet I'll look that up.

And when I spend a couple hours, studying for some quizzes, when I make sure I am there, every day, in that seat....When I leave before the sun, to study and have parking...And I take the quiz, to be told it doesn't count, and that the students that came in as the quiz was being collected will get the same "points" as me...It's frustrating. If you are going to make a point, to get people "like me" to fill the seats in your program, it would be awesome if you designed the coursework to what we will do in real life. Cause I'm living it. I've got the anxious second grader, the husband who is worried about job security. I've got no healthcare. I've got the mortgage, the job. I have the teething baby up keeping me company when I am studying at 4am, because that's when I can fit it in. I've got the sick grandma, the laid off dad, the brother who is trying to catch what life is throwing him. And I plan on being there for them too. And I'm not going to put that on the back burner. I picked this. That is why I'm here. That is how I got here. Their needs, their support, my goals, my needs. That's why I do this. And I will get through this. Pharmacy school doesn't really fit into life so well, but I'm trying. Welcome to life, pharmacy school.

My lack of memorizing flashcard facts and optimal dosing that will likely change when I graduate won't get me A's for sure. That won't help me compete for a residency, but at this point, I can't afford to spend my time for anyone that expects me to pick my GPA over my valued free time. I guess it's a good thing I ruled out med school long ago....