Preparing for Pharmacy Clinical Rotations 101

Clinical rotations begin in less than a month. Before the nerves hit, let us help you get ready - starting now.

How to Memorize Drug Side Effects (While Decreasing Your Study Time)b

I spent so much extra time staring at a textbook or lecture slides with no idea what I should be focusing on, hoping that the knowledge would magically burn itself into my brain. Spoiler alert: That didn't happen.

The Complete (but Practical) Guide to Aminoglycosides

Before we get too far, let’s clarify what drugs fall in the aminoglycoside class. That way we’re all on the same page. When we talk about aminoglycosides, we’re referring to gentamicin, tobramycin, and amikacin.

HIV Boot Camp: PIs

PIs. Ahhh the ever-so-important private investigators.

Err...I mean protease inhibitors.

You may recall that we've already discussed protease inhibitors in our post on Hepatitis C.

Acid - Base Disorders: Essentials for Pharmacists

I have a confession to make...

I didn't "get" acid-base disorders until well after pharmacy school. They were something I was willing to skate through. To take an "L" on the exam if I had to.

The pharmacy profession is moving on...with or without you

In my former life (pre-pharmacy school), I was a manager for a chain drug store. For the purposes of this article, I will affectionately refer to it as "Globo Gym."

I was in this role during a pivotal moment in pharmacy practice--the year that pharmacists gained the widespread ability to administer vaccines.

Pharmacokinetics: Dosing Wars

So, you’re a second year pharmacy student sitting in pharmacokinetics class. You're listening to your professor animatedly discuss this strange new topic. But let’s be honest, you’re still trying to figure out what the word "pharmacokinetics" (or even regular "kinetics") means.

Frankly, you’re just excited to have a new super long word to use when playing hangman with your classmates.

The Struggle: Why tl;dr pharmacy exists

Hey everyone! Brandon and Sam here. We're the founders of tl;dr pharmacy.

Let's just come out with it: Pharmacy School is hard. No matter what program or year you're in, pharmacy school is the dominant part of your life. And what a stressful life it is.

Sleepless nights. Tests. Quizzes. Quizzlets. Exams. Quizzams. Presentations. Group projects. Monographs. Clinical labs. Sitting through 8 hour lecture days (and being expected to pay attention). Navigating a sea of professional organizations and fraternities. Ignoring friends and family for weeks at a time because you're "too busy." A growing six figure pile of debt. Picking up hours as an intern so you can buy food. Fire and brimstone falling from the sky. Cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria.

It's something we've come to call "The Struggle." Every pharmacy student intuitively understands it, but no one can really explain it to someone outside of the profession.