Today we finally took our exam on all the cardio drugs. If any of you readers are familiar with this area of medicine, you will know that there are many... MANY cardio drugs out there. Because of this, it was the largest fear I had about my future. Why? Because if I want to specialize in cardiology, I should probably know and understand the cardio drugs... if not? Well, then I should reconsider my future plans.
Studying for the pharm exam, I noticed that I was understanding the material pretty well. The concepts came naturally to me and the only thing holding me back was memorizing unfamiliar drugs. From working in the pharmacy, ER and ICU, I was very familiar with beta blockers, Ca+ channel blockers, diuretics etc. From my undergraduate days, I remember parasympathetic and sympathetic responses like the back of my hand. Baroreceptors, reflex responses, epinephrine, norepinephrine, isoproterenol, etc, this is the stuff that I like, feel comfortable with, and enjoy learning. I wish all topics required this type of thinking, reasoning, and problem solving skills.... instead of straight memorization that is just simply exhausting.
The biggest struggle I came across as I was studying was memorizing the classes of drugs that I never thought about before, like mixed alpha agonists, pure alpha agonists etc. Luckily, all my studying paid off and I did pretty well on this pharm exam! Once I realized this, I could breathe... I still have hope in cardiology... I think I can do it... I have a reason to believe it now. Now, I just need to survive and stay awake the rest of this term! -lol (<-- haha see what I did there? Beta blockers are funny!)
Studying for the pharm exam, I noticed that I was understanding the material pretty well. The concepts came naturally to me and the only thing holding me back was memorizing unfamiliar drugs. From working in the pharmacy, ER and ICU, I was very familiar with beta blockers, Ca+ channel blockers, diuretics etc. From my undergraduate days, I remember parasympathetic and sympathetic responses like the back of my hand. Baroreceptors, reflex responses, epinephrine, norepinephrine, isoproterenol, etc, this is the stuff that I like, feel comfortable with, and enjoy learning. I wish all topics required this type of thinking, reasoning, and problem solving skills.... instead of straight memorization that is just simply exhausting.
The biggest struggle I came across as I was studying was memorizing the classes of drugs that I never thought about before, like mixed alpha agonists, pure alpha agonists etc. Luckily, all my studying paid off and I did pretty well on this pharm exam! Once I realized this, I could breathe... I still have hope in cardiology... I think I can do it... I have a reason to believe it now. Now, I just need to survive and stay awake the rest of this term! -lol (<-- haha see what I did there? Beta blockers are funny!)