Study Pharmacy

What is Pharmacy?

Pharmacy is the science and technique of preparing and dispensing drugs. To become a qualified pharmacist you will need to graduate with a six-year doctorate. Students studying a degree in Pharmacy will continue to develop on core subjects such as physiology, chemistry, statistics, and microbiology.

Pharmacists work in a variety of settings and link health and chemical sciences to deliver safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs.

Did you know?

Famous pharmacists include USA Vice President Hubert Humphrey (who lost to Nixon by less than 1%) and also John Pemberton. Coca-Cola was originally created by Pemberton with alcohol, kola nut as well as damiana to counteract his own morphine addiction. Concerns, however, were raised about the alcohol content as opposed to the cocaine in Pemberton’s French Wine Cola!

Careers in Pharmacy

Pharmacists work in a whole host of challenging, hands-on roles. Take a look at the different jobs that pharmacy graduates can consider:

• Community Pharmacist
• Nuclear Practice Pharmacist
• Medical Sales Representative.
• Product/Process Development Scientist.
• Operating Suite Pharmacist
• Science Writer.
• Hospice Pharmacist
• Military Pharmacist
• Pharmacy Benefit Manager
• Pharmaceutical Industry Pharmacists

With a Pharmacy degree, you could work in a whole host of different areas from in industry, developing new medications to delivering hands-on-care to patients. Many pharmacists specialize in long-term complex drug therapies such as for hospice and oncology patients. Specialist pharmacists aid in operating suites and assist emergency room physicians in the case of poison and overdose incidences. If you want to find out more about a career in Pharmacy then the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and the American College Of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) have some great advice. You can also check out this video which features newly-qualified pharmacists describing their working lives.

Learning Pharmacy

Pharmacy students will be covering many areas of study, a large area of study content is conceptual aspects of physiology and chemistry. Pharmacy students also face the challenge of literally having to learn about hundreds of drugs.

Additionally, pharmacists are required to know areas of the law and may specialize in statistical analysis so there’s a broad area of advanced material that Pharmacy students need to become confident with.

Brainscape will help you to develop a strong base of theoretical and academic knowledge allowing you to go forward and excel in professional practice.  

Pharmacy in Brainscape

There are thousands of flashcards prepared by top pharmacy professors and students available to use, for free.  Take a little time to browse through the flashcards and you’ll see everything from Diabetes, and Elderly Care to Pregnancy and Anticonvulsant medchem - perfect for whichever pharmacy class you are taking.

You can also author your own flashcards for a personalized learning resource and it’s good to know that the authoring process also deepens the memory.  

Learn faster with Brainscape

Brainscape has developed a unique learning system known as Confidence-Based Repetition (CBR). By understanding the brain and how we learn in more depth, CBR allows optimal learning and more effective use of your allocated study time.

Brainscape differs from other online learning tools in that it incorporates a metacognition stage into the frequency algorithm. In practical terms, this simply means you rate the confidence of your answer along with your answer in order to power the algorithm.

For example, perhaps I was swatting up on antidepressant medications. Say I was asked a question on Fluoxetine - whilst I was super confident with dosages, and uses, I missed some important contraindications this time. Therefore, I decide to record a “3” from the 1-5 scale. The flashcard will now know to show me that card again soon until my confidence increases whilst it won’t show me the flashcards about Paracetamol that I scored a “5”.

Brainscape’s CBR system is made up of Active Recall, Metacognition, and Spaced Repetition which together make up an unrivaled educational tool.

Active Recall is the process of recalling information which is separate from just recognizing information. With many online courses geared to selling online qualifications rather than actual learning, you will often see multiple choice answers that are easy for learners to recognize but provide little learning value. Brainscape focuses on the retrieval of information allowing for better recall and everyday application.

The process of Metacognition when you reflect on your own understanding further deepens the memory trace for learners.

CBR also uses the proven method of Spaced Repetition to drill down information. Spaced repetition introduces bite-sized pieces of information at optimal intervals for effective retention. As you make the effort to try and remember information, researchers have shown that the neurons in the hippocampus must work harder and hence the memory trace is strengthened.

Brainscape’s unique use of these learning methods allows learners to learn twice as fast and remember for longer!

How to get started

Now you know how Brainscape can boost your learning, what’s the best way to try it out?

Essentially there are two ways you can choose to use Brainscape. Many of us have very individual learning styles and you may want to make your own flashcards. You are welcome to use our super easy-to-use software to start creating your own personalized catalog of flashcards. Just click on “make flashcards” at the top of the screen, to start now. You can keep your flashcards private or become a valued contributor in the Brainscape community by sharing your flashcards.  

The way many people choose to learn is to make use of the extensive selection of flashcards already prepared by top experts and students just like you. Choose from any of the flashcards below such as Pharmacy Law, Pharmacy Management or Pharmacy Lab and start learning the smart way.

Brainscape is about giving students the best educational tools available on the market to achieve their dreams. The Brainscape team wishes you all the best in your Pharmacy studies and career.