Rho Chi’s Annual

Prescription for Success

Presented by Courtney Meador
and Susan Woodard
Click here to return to Rho Chi homepage
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
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.
The P.R.O.P.E.R. Reading
Method
 Prepare
 Read
 Organize
 Paraphrase
 Extract
 Remember
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
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
regress…use index card to cover
previous material
 Don’t engage in conflicting physical
activities, i.e. chewing gum
Organize

 Be conscious of professor’s 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
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…)
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
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)
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)
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
Active participation
 This means you should go to
class!
 Ask your professor questions, both in
and out of class
 Don’t rely solely on notetakers!
Mistakes can happen, i.e. tape
recorder might not work or notetaker
may not emphasize an important
point
 If you don’t understand something,
by all means, JUST ASK!!
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
Study Groups

 Reserve rooms in the GEB

 It’s only helpful if everyone is
prepared
 Make sure everyone
participates equally
 Keep the number in your group
no more than 5
P1 Fall Semester Courses
 Pharmacology
 Medicinal Chemistry
 Introduction to Pharmacy & Health
Care Environment
 Basic Clinical & Communication
Skills
 Pharmaceutics
 Human Values & Professionalism
Pharmacology
 Course is team-taught
 Answer the objectives and focus
on what it stressed during each
lecture
 Rely mainly on handouts
 Goodman & Gilman’s is a good
reference book
 Lippencott’s Review Guide is a
helpful summary
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 you’re in class!
Pharmaceutics: Parenterals

 Course is team-taught
 Focus on handouts from each
professor
 Know how to do IV calculations
 Very important…attend
Dr.Thoma’s review session
before each exam!!
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.
Pharmaceutics: Pharmacy
Math
 The book is necessary…it’s 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
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
 Start forming good study habits now…
figure out what works best for you

 Keep in mind…your main priority here is

your education

 Try not to get behind…read over lectures

after class

 If you think you are in academic trouble,

get help quickly!
ANY QUESTIONS