Rho Chis Annual Prescription for Success

1
Rho Chis AnnualPrescription for Success

• Presented by Courtney Meador and Susan Woodard
• Click here to return to Rho Chi homepage

2
What is Rho Chi?

• Academic Honor Society
• Top 15 of a class can be inducted after at least
  3 semesters
• 5 may be inducted after the 5th semester
• Grades are important, but they are not everything
• Some of the smartest people in pharmacy school
  are NOT in Rho Chi

3
Textbooks and Tutors

• Please utilize the book sale - they are usually
  sold cheaper than the bookstore
• Tutoring from the SASS is available! Please do
  not hesitate or feel too embarrassed to call us.
  Check the Rho Chi board for a list of available
  tutors.

4
The P.R.O.P.E.R. Reading Method

• Prepare
• Read
• Organize
• Paraphrase
• Extract
• Remember

5
Prepare

• Relax and focus your mind and body onto the
  material at hand
• Time management
• Physical environment
• Decrease distraction
• Physical posture
• Same location
• Mental Readiness
• Reaffirm what goals you want to accomplish during
  the study session

6
Read

• Phrase reading take in clusters of words,
  translating them into ideas and sensory
  impressions
• Slow and thorough pace
• Be aware of the tendency to regressuse index
  card to cover previous material
• Dont engage in conflicting physical activities,
  i.e. chewing gum

7
Organize

• Be conscious of professors line of reasoning and
  organizational structure
• Organize each section as you build on the big
  picture
• Organize each paragraph you read to get the
  details
• Tie concepts back to the objectives

8
Paraphrase

• Decide what is important and reword the contents
  so you understand it
• How do I paraphrase?
• Stop, Reflect, Summarize, Write
• What is important?
• Things emphasized by the professor
• Ask yourself
• What? (concepts, definitions, examples)
• Why? (causes, determining factors)
• How? (processes, steps)

9
Extract

• Use your critical reasoning skills to integrate
  and synthesize the material
• Integration- fitting pieces of a jigsaw puzzle
  together
• Ask yourself to compare and contrast the material
• Ask yourself to apply and utilize the information
• Synthesis- making the integrated information a
  part of you
• Seeing the big picture
• This is the most difficult step because it
  requires active thinking on your part

10
Remember

• Link the details to the big picture and be able
  to retrieve the material from memory
• Guidelines to a better memory
• Try to understand the big picture as you memorize
  the details
• Review often, recreating the material in your
  mind
• Use a combination of memory techniques (mnemonics)

11
Memory Techniques

• Acronyms
• Words that are made out of the 1st letters of a
  series of words you want to remember
• ROYGBIV the visible colors of the light spectrum
• SLUDGE cholinergic effects
• Acrostics
• Taking the 1st letter of the words you want to
  remember and making a creative sentence out of
  them
• Never Let Monkeys Eat Bananas- order of the
  leukocytes from greatest to least
• (Neutrophils, Lymphocytes, Monocytes,
  Eosinophils, Basophils)

12
Memory Techniques

• Rhymes and Songs
• Use rhythm to make the material more meaningful
  and easier to remember
• Charts and Note Cards
• Use classification systems to group information
  together
• Visualization
• Use color or pictures to differentiate
  information

13
Active participation

• This means you should go to class!
• Ask your professor questions, both in and out of
  class
• Dont rely solely on notetakers! Mistakes can
  happen, i.e. tape recorder might not work or
  notetaker may not emphasize an important point
• If you dont understand something, by all means,
  JUST ASK!!

14
Anticipate Exam Questions

• Answer lecture objectives
• Come up with potential questions and answers
• Quiz each other
• Review sessions before the test are a great way
  to assess what you already know and what the
  professor might ask

15
Study Groups

• Reserve rooms in the GEB
• Its only helpful if everyone is prepared
• Make sure everyone participates equally
• Keep the number in your group no more than 5

16
P1 Fall Semester Courses

• Pharmacology
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Introduction to Pharmacy Health Care
  Environment
• Basic Clinical Communication Skills
• Pharmaceutics
• Human Values Professionalism

17
Pharmacology

• Course is team-taught
• Answer the objectives and focus on what it
  stressed during each lecture
• Rely mainly on handouts
• Goodman Gilmans is a good reference book
• Lippencotts Review Guide is a helpful summary

18
Medicinal Chemistry

• 30 questions per exam
• Usually very tough in the beginning but course as
  a whole gets easier
• Optional textbook
• Memorize structures and rely on class notes for
  Dr. Miller
• All other professors will lecture with handouts
• Extra credit opportunities will arise, so be sure
  youre in class!

19
Pharmaceutics Parenterals

• Course is team-taught
• Focus on handouts from each professor
• Know how to do IV calculations
• Very importantattend Dr.Thomas review
  session before each exam!!

20
Pharmaceutics Physical Pharmacy

• Essay tests
• Describe and discuss
• Use your book as a reference
• Practice, practice, practice! You have to be
  concise but thorough. You will find yourself
  crunched for time in these exams, so a practiced
  answer eases the time constraints.

21
Pharmaceutics Pharmacy Math

• The book is necessaryits a good reference for
  the board review
• Work through the lectures online and do the
  homework
• Write and rewrite the conversion tables and
  abbreviations
• Use the test reviews

22
Test Reviews (TR)

• Responsibility of the class secretary
• Questions may come directly from the TR
• TRs are not 100 correct
• Look at the date and professor
• Best if used after you have studied

23

• Start forming good study habits nowfigure out
  what works best for you
• Keep in mindyour main priority here is your
  education
• Try not to get behindread over lectures after
  class
• If you think you are in academic trouble, get
  help quickly!

24
ANY QUESTIONS