Sunday, October 12, 2008

Study techniques for Pharmacology

Hey everyone. My desk is covered with Nursing 1 Study Notes and I am trying to get prepared for the final on Thursday. But I started thinking about Nursing 3 (my mind sometimes wonders). Anyways, I was just thinking about how I study for Pharmacology. On Test #2, I did all the reading and guided modules and studied for many hours but still made a poor grade. I was wondering how everyone went about studying for the test and class? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Good luck on the final. Nursing 1 is almost under our belt.

2 comments:

a.ha said...

i am going to try to compile the information from the GRM into more of a concept map-type thing so its easier to relate and compare things rather than using good ol flashcards because i think it would help to see the whole picture instead of memorization. there are other students that compile in the form of tables, charts, and concept maps and thats something i havent tried yet. i am on the same boat as you and would love some pointers, too, but thats what im going to give a try to this coming up exam. i think it also helps to do the GRM which will be on the exam early, instead of doing it week by week, so you can look at them over a longer period of time to really understand the massive amount of information.

Daisy said...

Hey everyone! I am here to put in my 2 cents worth...

1. I did all the GRMs before class, that way you do some of the "reading" ahead of time and had an idea of what he was talking about. ( I remember being completely lost before trying this)

2. I am a flash card person so I wrote everything down on flashcards, even though it seems redundant sometimes, you are actually learning! Key point: Re-word questions and place the site of action/mechanism, etc in the front and guess the drug name on the back. Do not just copy down slides, that is just memorization. Do these ahead of time if you are a flash card person (like after lecture, when OF COURSE you can't take one more second of pharm...but it is fresh on your mind and just jot down a few notecards once or twice a day!)

3. Mapping is great but only when you try to map the whole picture and leave out a lot of details (for me anyway)...For ex. I made a mapping of Sedative-hypnotics for my students BUT i wasn't able to scan and email it...nice! i love computers! Anyway, It included a very brief description of the categories of each and drug names. The details can always come later on. I believe the issue is learning everything at once. I always say it is better to learn the broad categories first, the drugs that Mr. Scott gives you in class,etc, and finally everthing else...ONLY then did things make sense to me)

4. Make a list of all the drugs you are having trouble remembering (some are always more difficult to remember than others)...group them by category like anti-emetics, antihypertensives, etc. you will start seeing the picture...only when you are sure you can name them and their actions, etc...should you integrate them with the rest.

And like Anh said, charts, tables, anything...they dont have to be all nice and coloful (mine are because I am paranoid)...just something quick but thorough should be good.

5. When you are a bit more comfortable with the medications, test yourself by asking what are the contraindications for this med, or what foods should my patient avoid while on this med...or vice versa

The key to N3 is to be flexible with your study habits...what works in N1 may not work here, etc etc.

To say the truth, I did everything and listened to his lecture again but then again, I was not taking N1

Ok, I need to get back so studying now...I will stop blabbing!