October is Pharmacists Month | Let’s Celebrate Together!
Every October, we celebrate pharmacists with Pharmacists Month! Today I’m sharing a guest blog post by P1 Student, Chloe Anatasia Givens
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Guest Blog: Sage Advice: Finding Balance in Pharmacy School
By: Chloe Anatasia Givens, Student Pharmacist Year 1
Ask any student attending Pharmacy School and they will tell you that from orientation on, your life turns into a balancing act. Juggling assignments, test days, appointments, meetings…scheduling and prioritizing each moment of your day to maximize any down time you may have will quickly become your only way of survival. If this sounds extreme or like I’m over exaggerating, I promise you I’m not! Now that you have entered into Pharmacy School (or any other professional program for that matter), studying is going to become your full-time job so be sure that you’re up for that type of dedication to hitting the books!
Pharmacy School Curriculum Break-Down
First Professional Year: Your first year of Pharmacy School will lay the foundation for the rest of your time spent at your accredited institution. This is apparent because the courses you will be introduced to during this time will build upon each other in the subsequent years that follow. First year courses include classes like Pathophysiology, Biochemistry, and integrated courses like Integrated Medicinal Chemistry & Pharmacology. Pharmacy Calculations, Immunology, and Intro to Pharmacy Practice are also first year courses that you will experience. Student pharmacists in my program specifically (at South College School of Pharmacy), are given an introduction to patient care early on in our first year through our Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE’s). These rotations allow us to strengthen our patient care skills through a variety of different practice experiences.
Second Professional Year: The second year is a continuation of your didactic course work and you will have the opportunity to apply the knowledge obtained the previous year for your Pharmacotherapy Sequence. You will also be exposed to issues occurring in pharmacy and healthcare through your Pharmacy Practice courses.
Third Professional Year (specific for South College School of Pharmacy, Knoxville, TN): With your didactic course work complete, your third year is devoted to Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE’s). APPE’s will foster the culmination and application of all that has been learned in the previous didactic years of study.
With time in a typical day being eaten up almost entirely by attending school and studying, the little time you do have left for yourself should be focused on recharging and prepping for future endeavors.
My advice?
Find time to relax!!! Disconnect from social media for a few hours. Enjoy a little retail therapy now and then! Splurge on something spontaneous. Hit the gym! Whatever you find comforting and relaxing, delve into it.
Listed below are a few pearls of advice I’d like to offer you on how I like to maximize my down time during a typical busy week as a first year pharmacy student. Hopefully these examples will help you enjoy the journey and achieve balance as you conquer professional school!
Find Your Space to Decompress
Anyone who knows me is aware of my obsession with coffee shoppes. Stick me at a table with a potted succulent and an iced lavender latte and I’ll be set for hours! Even though I tend to study at coffee shoppes quite a bit, I still enjoy adventuring out to new spots and using my time there to destress. I enjoy sitting and exploring new music (through SoundCloud, Apple Music or YouTube), online shopping, and of course, if its been a very productive day of studying, I will reward my successful study session with some Pinterest-time!! (my absolute weakness is “pintresting”)!
Exercising the OTHER Side of Your Brain
Cooking is an absolute passion of mine! I only discovered this a few years ago and because I have since developed a knack for it, one of my favorite things to do is cooking for my friends and family!
It makes since that one way I like to unwind after a long day at school is to come home, kick of my shoes, turn the music up in my apartment and whip up something tasty in the kitchen.
My inspiration?
Attempting to essentially “eat the rainbow” and choosing foods that fuel my fitness.
As a classically trained ballet dancer and athlete, being and staying healthy are extremely important to me. I like to cook meals that reflect this lifestyle choice!
…BUT, its also important to always save a little room to Treat-Yo-Self!!
(A blog post on the food above is soon to come, so get excited!)
Relax & Unwind
Occasionally, I like to accompany my “cooking for pleasure” with a tall glass of wine! At the moment, Malbecs are a favorite, along with Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Sometimes I will switch out my go-to reds for a glass of Pinot Grigio. Either way, a glass of wine can drastically improve your evening study session.
Read for Pleasure
Growing up, reading for pleasure is something that used to bring me so much joy. However, toward the end of my undergaraduate career, there never seemed to be enough time in the day left over to devote to this type of quiet time. I would buy a new novel, start it, and then never find time to finish it…so long story short, I soon stopped trying all together.
However, since begining pharmacy school, I have learned how to prioritize my time and thus, reading for pleasure has found its way back into my routine!
Exercise…The Wonder Drug
I CANNOT stress enough the need to stay active and live a healthy lifestyle. For those in professional school, this is especially important. You will have to find an outlet that decreases your cortisol levels (those unavoidable stress hormones) and keeps you moving. When the majority of our day is spent bent over textbooks with little movement, staring up at a computer screen, exercising MUST be a part of our daily routine. There are many reasons for this. I just mentioned it decreases our cortisol levels. This also means that it releases “feel-good” endorphins that allow us to be more efficient when we return from the gym and dive back into study mode. It keeps our blood circulating and keeps our metabolism spiked (all the good things)! If you are still concerned you won’t have sufficient time to devote to a substantial daily workout or maintain healthy eating habits, there are still tons of little ways you can get your daily steps in and manage your diet appropriately. Here are a few :
Take the stairs, all the time!
Drink lots of water throughout the day
Pack your own lunch (avoid eating out at all costs when possible)
Exercise with friends to stay accountable
I promise you, if you exercise a little every day and find ways to incorporate healthy eating habits into your routine, your life in pharmacy school will improve drastically!
Savor Time Spent with Friends & Family
Regardless of how busy you may get throughout your pharmacy school journey, there is ALWAYS time for family and friends! These are the people that have supported you up to this point so it is extremely important not to neglect quality time with them. I savor every second I get with my friends and family. For me, they provide emotional stability when I’m battling burnout or having a rough day. They remind me why I am on this path in times where I may need a subtle reminder.
Just remember, you have made it this far! You may still have two or three years left ahead of you and at times this may seem daunting and even never ending, BUT remember, take time to reboot and recharge with downtime and you will be golden!
Bio: My name is Chloe Anastasia Givens and I am in my first year of pharmacy school at South College School of Pharmacy, located in Knoxville, Tennessee. I completed my undergraduate education at The University of Tennessee and graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. As a P1 pharmacy student in the midst of my first professional year of Pharmacy School, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to launch my blog, Phast Phorward Pharm . Each post you find on the blog will be centered around preparing for pharmacy school, how to survive once accepted into your program, study tips, controversial topics in medicine, what it looks like to be a minority in the healthcare setting and how our generation can advance not only the field of pharmacy, but medical practice in general. It is my intention and hope that documenting my journey throughout my program will help other aspiring pharmacists on the road toward that coveted Doctor of Pharmacy degree, as well as being an inspiration to other healthcare professionals. I am currently fascinated with Pharmaceutical development and integrated medical chemistry and intend to begin a pharmaceutical sciences research concentration to delve deeper into the realm of drug development and design.
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Jessica Louie, PharmD, APh, BCCCP is the CEO of Clarify, Simplify, Align and Host of The Burnout Doctor Podcast. Dr. Louie uses her signature Burnout Doctor Method to coach burned out pharmacists & professionals to simplify because work-life balance is a LIE. Align work into your life & break free from people pleasing, perfectionism and thrive in life on YOUR TERMS.