Won't undergrad coursework prepare you for pharm school

[Kaxa2000]

I've heard some people say getting into pharm school is the hardest part, but once you're in then you're pretty much set. Then I hear people say that it's tough and they know people that study all day and still can't seem to get the grade(sounds like me in undergrad). I don't want to go through that again....but if I know that undergrad will prepare me well...then I shouldn't have much to worry about...would I?

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[Allure]

So what if I tell you that you have to go through it again? Is it going to stop you from pursuing pharmacy?

 

[nnguyenc]

to be honest...i forgot a lot of stuff i learned from undergrad

but having some background can let you see the big picture

for example, a lot of the pre-pharm students would ask basic questions such as "what is a gram stain?"

i really think they should do away with the pre-pharm program but it does look like we are heading that way (it will be 4 undergrad, 4 grad, & 2 residency = 10 yrs to become a pharmacist)

after you get in, it's easier b/c pharmacy school is known for its old exams which is why i think we are producing more incompetent pharmacists

 

[confettiflyer]

My pharmacist at this other pharmacy I work at told me that undergrad was more difficult than pharm school for him, so I'm not worried (we attended the same undergrad school).

He said you still have to work at it/study....but compared to undergrad, not as much.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Most people who go through WVU think pharmacology is the hardest class they've ever taken anywhere and it makes undergraduate stuff laughable in comparison. I dunno.

 

[Kaxa2000]

So what if I tell you that you have to go through it again? Is it going to stop you from pursuing pharmacy?

I think you misunderstood me. If pharmacy school made me go through it all over again ...I would gladly pursue it. Why? Because then all pharm school would be is a review of everything I've already learned, but then again this is my question I'm asking you guys. Is pharm school a review of undergrad...or is it learning new things associated to pharmacy? What undergrad classes/degree would help me the most in pharm school? I'm pursuing a Biology degree at the moment.

 

[fenixtnlfan]

Pharmacy school isn't a review of undergrad, otherwise what would be the point of you going through both? Some of the stuff you will use again, and you need it as a base, but you will also learn a lot of new material. Really any undergrad major is fine as long as you get the pre-reqs done. Some upper division in chem, biochem, bio would probably be helpful.

 

[RxWildcat]

Is pharm school a review of undergrad...or is it learning new things associated to pharmacy? What undergrad classes/degree would help me the most in pharm school? I'm pursuing a Biology degree at the moment.

Review of undergrad? A 4 year review of 2 years worth of undergrad? Pharm school bases the very basic things off of undergrad then builds with a TON of new info. A bio degree is an awesome start, there is much more bio and a&p than chem. If you haven't taken anatomy or physiology or your school only requires one or the other, I'd say take both.

 

[ethyl]

A lot of the basic material for the past 2 years has been review from my undergrad degree. I finished my bs in microbiology and the most material that's been pharmacy school related came from the following undergrad courses:
Hematology
Immunology
Microbiology
Molecular Biology
Neurobiology
Anatomy and Physiology
Biochemistry

I think my coursework prepared me very well for pharm school... it definitely helped me mature my study ethic. Difficulty wise though, none of it is comparable to my current pharmacotherapy course.
There will still be some courses where it doesn't matter how much you study. The questions may be so open to interpretation, tricky or detailed that it'll be left up to how lucky you are... unless you're one of the geniuses that manages a 100 on almost every exam no matter the subject There's always a few of those in every class.

 

[firefighter9015]

I think my coursework prepared me very well for pharm school... it definitely helped me mature my study ethic. Difficulty wise though, none of it is comparable to my current pharmacotherapy course.
There will still be some courses where it doesn't matter how much you study. The questions may be so open to interpretation, tricky or detailed that it'll be left up to how lucky you are... unless you're one of the geniuses that manages a 100 on almost every exam no matter the subject There's always a few of those in every class.

I agree, when I was talking about this with a professor she explained it like this, the pharmacy school took 132 of the brightest people they could find. They have to make it a little more difficult. Undergrad was a good for me to prepare for pharm. school. I did the pre-reqs in 2 years and the courseload I had to carry to accomplish that is very similiar to the courseload I have in pharmacy school.

To me pharm. school is much better than undergrad. I seem to have learned very good time management skills and have been able to be much more involved on the local and national levels.

 

[Tuck]

It really depends on where you go to school I think. The year with 30 credits of medchem was roughly 5-6 times more material than when I was taking 18 credits of science in undergrad. Either way it was not bad for me since I memorize well, but out of 84 students we lost 10 that year and another 5 or 6 more the following year with therapeutics.

 

[VCU2011]

I think pharmacy school is a different kind of hard than undergrad. Being a chemistry major in undergrad the material was really hard, and it showed itself on problem sets, ect...the courses itself were hard to comprehend. So far what i've seen in pharmacy school, the coursework is laid out really well and isn't hard to understand, you just have no time to look at it! I have never been tested so relentlessly in my life. The idea of having 14 tests in one month would have blown my mind in undergrad, but its not an unheard of in pharmacy school (namely the month of october).

 

[MR. C]

I don't really think its "harder" so far.. its just a lot more material. That said, I think year 2-3 will be tougher. Grades aren't as important to me as they where in undergrad, if I get a B I'm fine with that.