Spring Break

Hey guys,

It's spring break A.K.A. "study break" here at PCOM and that means everyone's been taking a break to relax and recharge. I've had a great few days off and I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about some of the fun things we're doing for a break this year.

Georgia State Parks

Georgia is full of great parks and outdoors attractions if you love exploring nature. This month my good friend Will Brown and his girlfriend Courtney took these great photos of Tallulah Gorge. The next weekend I went camping and hiking there and it was a great cheap (and therefore student friendly) get away that we'll be repeating more this school year and summer.

Will and Courtney enjoying the views.

If you consider yourself more of a beach person than a mountain person we have a cure for that too. Savannah and Tybee Island are not too far away for a weekend getaway. Savannah is famous for it's St. Patrick's day celebrations but can be a lot of fun all year long. This spring break I decided to instead to go Pensacola, Florida. It's about a five hour drive from campus and is the beach is absolutely breathtaking. 

Here is a view of the sunrise from our hotel room:

And finally if you are most interested in city life, downtown Atlanta is only a half an hour away. This month there have been countless activities going on from concerts to arts and crafts shows to anime conventions. There is really something fun for everyone. 

And now it's time for me to get back to the grind and study for my Infectious Disease test. Hope you all have a great week!

Katie

Opportunities in Pharmacy Today

One of the things I love most about pharmacy is how diverse pharmacists' option are when it comes to pursuing their passions. There are so many different areas of pharmacy that pharmacists can head into. I wanted to tell you about some of the jobs that most people never hear about before they start school but are great opportunities for an aspiring PharmD to consider. 

Clinical Pharmacy: 

Clinical Pharmacists work in hospitals all across the nation. They work hand in hand with physicians, nurses, PAs and other healthcare professionals to care for patients. These pharmacists go on daily rounds in the hospital and evaluate patient's medication therapy. Often these patients need constant dose adjustments and medication changes and these pharmacists make sure the patient's medication needs are correctly being met. In many hospitals they are directly responsible for dosing and monitoring certain medications that can be dangerous to the patient if not done correctly. 

Managed Care Pharmacy:

Managed care is a great area for someone who loves pharmacy but also has a good mind for business. Managed care pharmacists review patient data, preform drug utilization reviews (reviews of appropriateness of medications and drug therapy), preform and review medication cost analysis studies, and often design patient care offerings for insurance companies.

Academia:

If education is your passion there are a lot of amazing opportunities in pharmacy. At PCOM our Pharmacy Practice professors work both at our school, teaching classes, and also at separate sites doing direct patient care. The students then often go to their sites on rotations and the teachers act as preceptors to the sites. It's a great opportunity to help shape a whole new generation of pharmacists. 

There are so many great opportunities for pharmacists in Georgia today. The head of the Georgia DEA and Georgia Poison Control are both pharmacists and there are countless places where pharmacists may find interesting, exciting work. If you have more questions just start doing research! You'll be amazed how many areas of pharmacy are open to you.

Katie

VIP Day

I wanted to update my last post with some pictures from GPhA VIP day at the Georgia Capitol.

These beautiful photos are all courtesy of my friend and fellow P2 Jis Joseph. Thank you Jis!

Can't wait for next year!

Katie

OSCEs

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

It's just a few days before our second term finals so right now I'm multitasking like a true pharmacy student. Today, while many of our classmates have gone to Georgia Pharmacy Association day at the capital I'm at home cleaning the house, writing this post, getting ready for a Valentine's Day date and studying for Infectious Disease. It's been a busy day and I still have lot's to do so I'll keep this short. I want to wish the first year students the best of luck with their upcoming OSCEs. OSCEs are practical finals for our lab classes where students have to present their ability to preform different tasks with patients. This term our first year students will be tested on some basic pharmacy tasks like counseling, teaching patients how to use their glucose meters and inhalers, and proper blood pressure techniques. These skills are incredibly important for a pharmacist to master and they will get lots of practice furthering these skills as they move forward in their rotations.

I'll leave you with a little Valentine's Day humor courtesy of my friend Melissa Cheung.

"Boy! I think I need to check your blood glucose, cause you're super sweet!"

"Did I take your breath away? Because I can counsel you on inhalers!"

Katie

Lesson #1: Studying

Hey there guys,

This week I wanted to talk about something I get asked about all the time: Studying. Studying is definitely the most time consuming part of pharmacy school and for many it's the hardest adjustment when starting the program. When I was in my undergrad I always thought I was a pretty dedicated student, but when I started at PCOM I realized I wasn't nearly as committed as I needed to be. I really had to change my study habits completely. While studying is different for everyone in my program I thought I would share with you what my study schedule is like.

During my first year of pharmacy school I didn't work so I had all the time in the world to study and I used it all. Every day at noon after class (except for lab days and IPPE days) I would head into one of PCOM's study rooms with a friend or two and start studying. We would often order pizza or get food to warm up in the cafeteria and stay for hours. Even if I didn't have anyone to study with I would try to go in for at least an hour or two. The wonderful thing about getting out so early in the afternoon was that I was able to study for a good while and still be home in time to eat a good dinner and have some free time. On Saturdays I would meet up with a group and study all day. It worked well for me and I was pleasantly surprised with my grades for the year.

This year my study schedule has had to shift drastically. In addition to an increase in the rigor of my classes I also started working first one and then two jobs. I could no longer study my afternoons away. That meant that I had to learn to work in the spaces that were left open after classes and shifts at work. It was hard at first, but I adapted pretty quickly. As it stands today, I still get to watch football and spend time with my friends. Now I just have to bring my notes with me and study while I do it. It's all about dedication and if you're willing and able to make studying a part of your daily life, you can succeed in pharmacy school.

Kate

Student Research

Good afternoon!

This week I wanted to talk to you about student research at PCOM. I am currently a work-study research assistant at school and have been working with one of my professors on projects since last July. Before I came to pharmacy school I had never really thought about doing research but after I took a class with the professor I currently work with, I knew I wanted to get involved in the process. There are so many different projects going on in our research labs and if you are interested in doing research as a student at PCOM you can talk to our professors about possible opportunities. Last year, I approached my professor about his project and during the summer he hired me to work with his current student. They both worked with me throughout the break to help me learn all of the diverse lab techniques I needed to know to handle my project. When school started the student I had been working with left the lab and I took over her work. I now work about 10-15 hours a week in the afternoons after classes are over. It been a lot of fun and because students from all of our programs work in the labs, I've met a lot of really awesome friends I would have never met otherwise. I have really enjoyed the experience and will be sad when it's my turn to move on to other things but I know that it will be opening up the position to someone else who will no doubt love the experience. 

Here's a picture of some of our pharmacy students who worked in the lab over the summer:

Katie

Case Studies

Hey guys,

The holidays are over and that means the second year students are all trying to get back into the swing of things at school. It can be a little difficult adjusting back to early mornings but we're surviving like always with a little caffeine and a lot of determination.

This week I wanted to tell you all a little about our school's active learning techniques. Let me first start out by explaining the concept of active learning. Active learning is a style of education that uses direct student participation to learn or reinforce course material. PCOM uses active learning techniques in a lot of our classes and throughout both second and third years everyone takes a set of courses that are basically all active learning. They are called Case Study courses. The Case Study courses follow hand in hand with our Integrated Therapeutics classes so that as we study each major disease state and how to treat it, we then are able to apply it in the case studies. Most Fridays this year we get together in groups and discuss the case study we have been presented. Usually is a fairly complex patient case with multiple disease states we have to consider. We then decide and document what we believe is the best course of action for the patient. After our plans are complete, the class all comes together with our professors to discuss our ideas and plans. It's been a great way to apply the things we've learned and it's great practice for when we get into the real world because patient cases are often complex. 

On another note next month is GPhA's VIP day at the state capitol and a bunch of us are signing up to go and represent our school and also have a fun day downtown. 

Here's a picture from last year when we got to meet Georgia Governor Nathan Deal:

Katie