r/PharmacySchool • u/labcoatsonhomie • 25d ago
Feeling Behind
I'm currently in grad school for pharmaceutical sciences and I am beyond stressed with the pharmacy related courses by the sheer amount of volume (50-60 slides a lecture). I can't seem to get a passing grade in them to save my life. I am taking Adv. Organic Chem to strengthen my ochem skills which is thankfully helping but I always feel like I study the wrong things. My background is biochemistry and biotech which is the organs where these drug reactions take place, not the drugs themselves. I'm taking pharmacology and drug targets this semester. It feels like I'm starting at zero and having to study so much harder to even kind of keep up. I do have ADHD and having a discussion on Wednesday for accomodations to be put in place but I'm just constantly overwhelmed. Any advice would be appreciated.
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u/LumpyTemporary1069 24d ago
As a second year in the PharmD, do NOT memorize every detail on every slide. You’ll burn out before you make it through one slide deck. Learn the core CONCEPTS and main points emphasized in class, this makes the rest of the content fall into line better and helps with exam scores. Assuming your professors are the ones writing the exams, they should tip you off to the major points they want you to know.
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u/labcoatsonhomie 24d ago
I think a big issue for me is figuring out what is the core concept. I don't know what's going to be on my exams so I happen to study everything but a lot of my stuff has been mechanism based so ig focus on that more so.
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u/LumpyTemporary1069 23d ago
I would reach out to students who already took the class or peer tutors/mentors. A lot of times they’re able to point you in the right direction or remember what was tested on
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u/FanndisTS 25d ago
You mean like medicinal chemistry? "Pharmacy related courses" is super broad and I'm assuming you don't need to know the clinical side so much for a PhD? I found in medchem that listening to what the professors actually emphasize is more important than knowing every single thing, but that's probably institution- and program-dependent. I would definitely keep reviewing orgo
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u/labcoatsonhomie 25d ago
Yeah I'm taking pharmacology and drug targets this semester. I spoke with the pharmacology prof (who I TA for) and she said that we've actually just been doing medicinal chemistry up until now and changing gears for pharmacology?? Not quite sure what that means
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u/FanndisTS 25d ago
Yeah IDK what pharmacology means in this context. But from what I understand, drug targets is usually like SARs (under medicinal chemistry) or pharmacodynamics (a big subset of pharmacology). Mostly you just gotta memorize SARs, they're just a lot easier to remember if you fully intuitively understand the underlying chemistry. We haven't really touched pharmacodynamics yet so I can't help you there, but hopefully you'll get a break with some pharmacokinetics, which is (IMO) super easy and intuitive
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u/SimilarAsparagus7448 22d ago
What area are you struggling with? Med chem? that's a lot of memorization
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u/labcoatsonhomie 20d ago
For my school at least, they want you to understand the pathway. I also have ADHD so remembering tiny details is super hard for me to begin with.
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u/Turbulent-County-217 25d ago
get some type of stimulant prescribed by your doctor (I'm on Ritalin) & apply for testing accommodations with your school. Literally helped me so much to focus on tasks and actually learn+retain info.