Georgia

Hello again!

As promised, this week's post will be about some of things I love about my hometown Lawrenceville/Suwanee, Atlanta and Georgia in general. This is more of a multi-part post since I have way more to talk about than what I'll say today so I'm sure I'll re-visit the subject again later too.

Lawrenceville/Suwanee:

I grew up right on the border of Lawrenceville and Suwanee so I really consider myself from both areas. I really love it here, and there are lots of reasons I never moved to far away. I live about five miles from the PCOM-GA campus and from school you can reach three different malls within 10 minutes. I love sports and will always make time for a baseball, hockey or football game. About 10 minutes away from school is the Gwinnett Braves stadium, a newly built stadium for our AAA team. We are also just a few minutes away from Gwinnett Arena where you can catch a Gwinnett Gladiators game for cheap or see a great concert. The Arena is huge and so it attracts a lot of big name acts. For example, this March Eric Clapton will be playing there.

Here is a picture from one of the Gwinnett Braves games I went to last summer:

Atlanta:

Atlanta is my home away from home. It's my place to go for anything and everything fun. If we have a "night out" it almost always means a trip to Atlanta. Atlanta is about 30-40 minutes away from campus and that means it's really no trouble at all to hop in the car for dinner or a show. Atlanta is also a great place for sports. We are crazy about the Falcons and I've been to more Braves games over the years than I can begin to remember. I've even seen a few good concerts after Braves' games down on the field. Last summer, Ludacris (who is from Atlanta and a big Braves fan) did a big show after a Braves' win that ended with his biggest hit "Welcome to Atlanta". It's the random things like that that make me love this city so much. 

I also love Atlanta for its concert venues that make for great shows and its visiting events. I always make an effort to go downtown for festivals and street fairs. They can be a lot of fun and make for some awesome shopping. I also try to make it every time Cirque du Soleil comes to town. This tickets can be expensive but Atlanta's Atlantic Station has an area set up specifically for them to set up their tents when they come through. 

Here are some pictures of Atlanta!

Centennial Olympic Park after a light summer shower.

Turner Field

Cirque!

Georgia:

I am big into "outdoorsy" stuff and Georgia is an amazing place to live if you like getting out into nature. The winters are very mild and the summers are hot which make swimming a blast. I love to rock climb so in the spring summer and fall I love to drive to Lafayette, Georgia to visit Rock Town. It's acres and acres of tall granite rock faces that you can climb plus the park contains multiple cave systems that you can explore.

This is one of my favorite rock faces to climb at Rock Town:

Katie

Holiday Break

Hello everyone!

I hope your are all having a wonderful holiday! I am currently on break so today will be a short post. I am spending my time with my friends and family, wrapping presents and putting up the tree. I wish everyone a great season and I will post more very soon.

Lots of love and holiday spirit,

Katie

PS. Expect a good post this coming week about Atlanta and Suwanee. I want to tell everyone about my hometown and why you'll love it as much as I do!

It's beginning to look a lot like PCOM

December is in full swing and that means it's beginning to look a lot like the holidays at school. I love this time of year and it's so fun that my school really gets in the spirit. PCOM is really big on giving back and our students always make a big effort to live up to the task.

This is our school Christmas tree with donated toys and clothes:

There are so many toys it makes our tree look tiny!

It's awesome that there are already so many presents and we're still two weeks away from Christmas. It really makes me smile to see how much we all can and want to give. Pharmacy, Biomed, and DO schools are really an investment of time and money so a lot of students don't have excess spending money to throw around. That's why it's so great that so many people still found it in their hearts to pull together enough to make our communities' holidays a little brighter.

PCOM also had a big event this week for the students. Every year in December the school has a big holiday luncheon. It is always so much fun. They cater the whole thing so the food is amazing and the staff from Philly flies down to serve the students. This year and last the President of PCOM, Dr. Matthew Schure, served all of us (and yes the line was long... students do love free food) with a warm greeting and a smile on his face.

Side Note: I really appreciate how much he gets involved with us here in Georgia. I often see him around campus and he always takes the time to talk to me and ask me about classes. He always makes me feel like he really wants to know and be directly involved with how our students are doing down here.

Anyhow here are some more photos from the luncheon:

Hope ya'll have a great week!

Katie

Study, Study, Study!

Hello everyone!

It's been a busy day and I'm currently studying up for my first test of the term (Integrated Therapeutics II) but I wanted to take a few minutes to give you all an update about my week. The winter term here at PCOM started the week of Thanksgiving but since we were off a few days for the holiday this was our first full week of classes. It has been a long one since we have been covering so much material but everyone is looking forward to Christmas break and that makes things much easier. 

We also had a few fun events going on this last week. When a new term starts the School of Pharmacy socials committee always plans different things to do in the evenings so this week we had karaoke night and bowling night. I didn't get to go to karaoke but I went bowling and had a blast. I am a terrible bowler but it was great to relax and laugh with my friends and one of my favorite professors who came out to join us. 

Here's a picture of some of my friends deep in discussion about the next frame:

Alright it's time for me to get back to studying. Have a great night!

Katie

Happy Thanksgiving

This week marks two big events for me. First and foremost, it's Thanksgiving! I'm a big foodie (who's not right?) and that makes Thanksgiving one of my favorite times of the year. If I could eat mashed potatoes, turkey and my "semi-famous" orange cranberry sauce every day of the year I'd be the happiest girl in the world. And of course, this week is also a time to be reflective on the things everyone has be thankful about and that brings me to the other big happening of the week: first term is done!

Most people consider second year to be the hardest part of pharmacy school because it's when you really get into the "meat and potatoes" of pharmacy. I know this year started out really tough for me because I'm a bit of a perfectionist (no doubt somewhere one of my friends is laughing at that understatement) and there was so much to learn during the term.That being said, my friends and I really worked hard and I'm really proud of the results. So much of the personal growth experience that comes with graduate school revolves around how much you push yourself. It's really remarkable how much you can take on when you set your heart and mind to it. And I'm so lucky that I have had such a great support system to guide me past all the hurdles. My family, friends, teachers and peers have all played a role in my success and they are the ones I am most thankful for this year. So thank you all! 

I hope everyone has an amazing holiday. I know I will!

Katie

Finals Week

Hey y'all!

It's finals week here at school and for a lot of people it's one of the more stressful times of the year. I wanted to share some of my favorite tips for a low stress pharmacy finals week.

#1 Caffeine. Lots and lots of Caffeine.

#2 Take breaks with good food and good friends.

#3 Good music can make all the difference.

#4 Take time outs to spend at least a little time with the things you love.

#5 Try not to fall asleep in the middle of it all.

...And when you're all done, CELEBRATE!

Katie

Open House

Hey guys!

I know it's short notice but this Thursday-November 8th (tomorrow!) we our having an open house for students interested in joining our program. I really encourage anyone interested to please join us!

At the open house you will be able to go on a campus tour, learn about our prerequisite academic requirements, our curriculum, and some of the different opportunities in pharmacy today. You will also get a chance to talk to students about their life here and see for yourself why PCOM is such a great school.

When I was in my undergrad I attended three different PCOM open houses and it really gave me so much perspective into what PCOM was like. When I first started the application process for pharmacy school there were several schools I was considering and the open houses I attended really allowed me to learn what PCOM could offer me. I loved the idea of a new school that was so up to date with modern technology I knew would be important in my career and I LOVED the students I met. I swear to this day, the students and faculty I met really cemented my decision to attend the school.

Details:
PCOM-Georgia Open House
Thursday - November 8th, 2012
6:00-8:00 pm EST
625 Old Peachtree Road NW
Suwanee, Georgia 30024

To register for this event please go here:
http://express0.targetx.com/event/php/event_register.php?mid=17018635

Katie

Thinking back...

Hello Everyone!

It's just a few weeks until the end of our fall term here at PCOM and I've been thinking a lot about all the good stuff that will be coming up soon. Interviews for the Class of 2016 are beginning to start up and as a student ambassador for our program I'm really looking forward to meeting some of our new candidates. I remember how excited I was when I interviewed for the program and since being accepted I have really enjoyed getting to show potential students all the things I love about my school.

It also almost time for the P1's White Coat Ceremony. I can't help but remember what a great time I had a my White Coat Ceremony. I had worked so hard during my first term and it was great to celebrate with the rest of my classmates and our families.

Here are some pictures from our ceremony from last year:

This week at PCOM.....

Hello Again :)

This week has been a busy one for us P2s (second year students). There has been so much going on!

Tuesday I presented my first SOAP note. A SOAP note is a standardized way of expressing a patient's collected medical information. It includes all relevant information about their possible disease states as well as the healthcare professional's assessment of the situation and their plan to correct it. I presented a SOAP note I wrote while on my rotation at a local clinic. This year, each student in my class is working two different rotations during the school year. This term I worked my longitudinal rotation at a clinic with a nurse practitioner named Balwinder. It's been a great experience and something I'll have to tell you all about later!

Wednesday was another big day. We had our school's ASHP Local Clinical Skills Competition. My good friend Kacie and I competed against some of our classmates for a chance to go to the  ASHP (American Society of Health System Pharmacists) annual meeting in Las Vegas. Since we were competing against a bunch of third year students our chances are pretty low, but it was a great learning experience and a lot of fun.

Here's some photos of me and Kacie getting excited before the competition began.

First Post!

Hello Everyone!

My name is Katie and I'm a second year student in the Georgia-PCOM Doctorate of Pharmacy program. I'm starting this blog to help prospective pharmacy students get a glimpse into our program and to document all of the fun we're having.

To let you know a little about myself...

I am a 25 year old Georgia native.

I grew up just ten minutes from the school's campus.

I earned my undergraduate degree at Gainesville State College.

I spend my free time eating good food, crafting and hanging out with friends.

I love to read, write and spoil my little dog.

I am currently working on my PharmD in hopes of one day getting a residency and becoming a pediatric pharmacist. 

Thanks for reading and I look forward to telling you more about my life in our program!

Katie