IPPE Day 2: Be Comfortable being Uncomfortable

I just completed two days of IPPEs but I am learning so much in such a short amount of time. Today, I did my first subcutaneous injection to a patient who need a Zoster vaccine! Woo! I have to admit I was kind of nervous at first because I completed my immunization training back in the fall. My only experience with immunizations was injecting saline solutions to myself and my colleagues. I haven’t had a chance to do any immunizations with real patients. The patient was rather knowledgable of her vaccinations so whenever you do vaccinations, it is important that you know 3 main things in addition to your injection skills: (1) what the vaccination is for (2) what are the side effects, and (3) what do you do after you vaccinate the patient [i.e. checking for allergies, etc.]

I consider this day as the day that I managed to overcome “the big bump” on the road. It’s similar to the feeling when you first counsel a patient on a medication. I learned that you just have to really trust yourself and feel confident especially if you are already trained to hone a certain skill. Don’t be afraid! This is your best opportunity to practice. And if you are afraid to mess up, then how are you going to learn if you never try it in the first place?!

I am so grateful that my pharmacist preceptor continues to push me out of my comfort zone. I mean the only time that you are truly learning is when you are outside your comfort zone. My motto in pharmacy school: ”Be comfortable being uncomfortable.” 

When you constantly challenge yourself, you just become a better clinician. And people around you will appreciate that you constantly take initiative. In fact, my preceptor today complemented me for taking initiative and told me that I am one of the best interns she’s had. It’s only been day two but you can make a powerful impression in just a few encounters. 

raindropsandcoffeee asked:
Hi! I currently transferred to ucsd as a pharm chem major and I'm suffering. Biology is a lot easier for me, but I find chemistry more interesting to study even though I struggle with it. It has been suggested for me to change my major for purposes of gpa. I know gpa isn't everything, but I wasn't involved in any extra currics at my cc. Now that I'm at sd, I feel the time crunch and I'm worried that I won't be able to pad my resume in time. Any advice?

I totally understand how you feel. I have some transfer friends who went through the same struggles so..you are not alone! And I hope whoever suggested you to change your major hopefully took into account that you are more passionate with chemistry over biology. I suggest that you stay in your major that you enjoy the most. Chemistry is always hard. But it can be very doable, if you constantly seek for help. Don’t feel like seeking for help is a sign of weakness. If you do so, I actually consider you smart by being resourceful. At UCSD, there’s OASIS. I’m not sure if you have heard of it yet but just go to Center Hall 3rd floor and there will be a big office there. They offer multiple tutoring services including general chemistry and organic chemistry. 

In terms of involvement, do 1 or 2 Extracurricular activities that you find fruitful. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Back in undergrad, I was heavily involved in the progressive / activist spaces such as the Cross Cultural Center. I highly recommend checking out the Cross cultural center. 

Good luck!


Anonymous asked:
Hi Mark, I have a few questions. What was your undergrad major? What would you say are the more challenging classes you took? Have you ever gotten any W's? What EC's did you do? Thanks a lot!

Hello. Undergrad Major: Biochemistry/Cell Biology at UCSD

Most challenging classes I took: I would have to say Organic Chemistry, Mammalian Physiology, and Cell Biology. 

Yes, I have gotten 2 W’s. 

EC’s: Asian Pacific Islander Student Alliance (APSA), Kaibigang Pilipino,  Alternative Breaks, Student Affirmative Action Committee, OASIS, TRiO. Those were the main ones I was involved in. 


Anonymous asked:
Hello! I've been hearing/reading that due to the overwhelming number of new pharmacy schools, it's harder to find a job. Of course, location is also a important factor. There's still storage in rural areas and such. Anyways, I was wondering what your thought on the "issue" of an oversupply of pharmacists entering the market.

There’s definitely been pharmacy schools popping out of nowhere. I’m not cool with it. The main reason why is that our state is already saturated with pharmacy programs to the point where it is affecting the quality and integrity of our profession. 


doreendoreen asked:
hello! So I'm going to major in pharm. chem. at ucsd next fall and then I plan on going to ucsd's pharmacy school after my undergrad. But I heard that doing undergrad and grad at the same school is a bad thing. Is this true?

congrats on getting to UCSD! I was a UCSD alumni and I have to say that the school is great for any science majors. Are you talking about the 7-year pharmacy program? You cannot do undergrad and grad school at the same time unless the programs are bridged together. An example of a bridged program would be UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy 7-year accelerated program. How it works is that they select undergraduates who applied for this program during the end of their 2nd year and then once they found out they got in to the program, they start taking grad school classes during their 4th year. So at some point, the student will be taking grad school classes and undergrad classes but they are still considered undergrad! They are technically undergrad b/c they haven’t graduated yet. But once they finish their 4th year and fulfill the requirements, they will be automatically registered as graduate pharmacy students. I hope that makes sense. 


Anonymous asked:
If I don't get into pharmacy, what could I do to improve my chances? Would I have to change my life goal if I don't get in? I'm considering changing my major because of the uncertainty.

If you really love what you wanna do, you will find ways to make it work for yourself. The common reason why people switch majors is that “they did not do well” or you have a “gut feeling” that this is not your forte. I personally believe that the second reason is more powerful. Follow your instincts! Try out different activities and see for yourself, what you truly enjoy. My question for you is what are your goals? I tend to ask people to break these goals down into three categories: long-term, intermediate, and short-term. By having all these three organized, you have a certain direction in your life and you are not just “wasting” your time. I guess the main pointer I wanted to address is that “not all people who wander are lost.” It’s okay to not know exactly what you want. Just try to soak in diverse experiences. 

In regards to your question about improving chances, there are many ways to improve yourself. There is always room for improvement. Here are some tips. 

- re-evaluate your goals. make them more solid. Literally, have a piece of paper and look at where you see yourself in 1, 3, 5, and 10 years. 

- interact with more students, faculty, and health professionals who work directly or indirectly with pharmacy. Being surrounded with these people tend to help you broaden your perspective of pharmacy and top of that, they might open doors for opportunities for leadership, mentorship, and internship :)

- organize your resume. Or if you haven’t create your resume. This is not only good for job outlook but it is also a great way to assess your work, leadership, and community service experience. 

- don’t spread yourself too thin. look at what you currently have on your plate and really start to see the value in all your experiences. For example, you might have been working at a place for a year. Instead of trying to find another job, maybe ask yourself first, “how can I make the best experience out of this job” before quitting and finding a new one. Sometimes, people tend to be impatient and not really see the value in their work and move on to another. I think when you start appreciating the little/simple things behind your experiences, you tend to start to re-energize and get yourself together. 

Those are just a few tips. I hope they help. Good luck!


Anonymous asked:
2.825 gpa for my very first quarter. Should I reevaluate my future?

I tell people who have already graduated or almost graduating that if you meet the minimum GPA requirement for the school you are applying for and you are extremely passionate about the pharmacy field, then I HIGHLY recommend that you apply. When you fall within this GPA range though, don’t expect that the admissions won’t delve deep into your application process. You better be strong in the other aspects of the application: strong PharmCAS personal statements, strong school personal statements and supplemental applications, strong letters of rec, and a strong interview. If you are strong in all those aspects besides your GPA, your chances of admission are dramatically higher than someone who has a 4.0 GPA who are weak at all those other aspects. 

Since it’s your very first quarter, I suggest to work harder and if you really are passionate towards this profession, you will find your way to improve and reinvent yourself. 

Good luck! 


i-am-luv-sic asked:
ello! I saw you said you only spent a month studying for the pcats? I assume you did well since you got accepted into a pharm school. I thought they were hard and I studied for about 3 weeks after fall semester ended. bombed the pcats hard! I don't know how people remembered shit for the bio/chem sections unless they retain stuff like a sponge lol.. -_-

I did okay! Study harder! Or even better, study efficiently by focusing on your weaknesses. To help improve your scores, I have the following recommendations,

(1) do more practice questions, particularly on the contents that you are weak on

(2) purchase a practice exam from the Pearson testing center. THis really helped me get a better idea of the exact format of the exam and the questions come from old PCAT exams. So…they are REAL exam questions. I know it might be a little pricey but it’s not too expensive. I think it’s worth an investment. 

(3) take random blurbs / cues that can help you understand big concepts particularly in the chem and bio section. For example, to remember which nucleotides are “Pyrmidines,” I just remember that you “CUT” a “PY” (sounds like pie). CUT stands for the 3 pyrimidine bases = Cytosine, Uracyl, and Thymine. 

(4) For the essay question, I recommend practicing on how you organize your writing. Just look at a bunch of prompts, and try to come up with proposed answers to the prompt. 

(5) The vocab and reading comprehension might be the hardest thing to improve on. I honestly struggled with this section of the PCAT. I recommend focusing on improving yourself on the sentence completion. But a tip that I have for the reading comp is to try to stay objective as much as possible for this section. Sometimes, people “analyze” the prompt but analyzing does not necessarily mean you are subjective. You trying to analyze the passage in an objective manner. In other words, the answer to the questions should come from the passage! It might be hard to see but it’s there!

I hope that helps! 


Anonymous asked:
How did you do your freshman year at UCSD? Fall quarter? I hear a lot of people don't get really high GPA's their first quarter and it ends up screwing them over.

I did okay my first year fall quarter but it was my worst performance, academically. So..you got me there! hahah. But I am sure that everyone has a different experience. From my own personal experience, I know a bunch of my friends who went through the same problem. I guess it had to do with the fact that many of us are still adjusting to the college environment and it could be intimidating at first. For me, it had to do with the fact that I was having some personal matters at that time. Everyone’s performance varies but…if you didn’t do as well your first quarter, use that as your motivation to perform at your best throughout your college career and the rest of your academic career. 


Anonymous asked:
How is University of the Pacific's both undergrad and grad school program?

I didn’t go to UOP and I never applied there so I have no idea :/