Summary of October

Let me first say that my experience here at UCSF Pharmacy School is just one voice and not representative of the diverse opinions about the curriculum and student life here. I have a lot of respect for the vast majority of my classmates because they are really genuinely caring, intelligent, and dedicated individuals. The first month is a flurry of orientations, social events, exploration of the city, and food food food!! Our biggest event was the White Coat Ceremony where we donned our new white coats and pledged our duty to the profession of pharmacy.

I attended this AIDS forum on October 13-14th as a one-unit elective class. It was pretty interesting to hear lectures about everything from the most recent research in AIDS treatment, epidemiology of the disease on an international scale, to real life anecdotes about what it was like to live with the disease. Since I did not have a strong grasp on the molecular biology of the disease, I learned that a patient's CD4 Helper T-cell count, the number of infected cells that spread the virus, can be used to measure the progression of the disease. New research suggests that CD8+ Killer T-cells may serve as a treatment solution to suppress CD4's. I learned a little about protease inhibitors, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, and these new integrase inhibitors that are coming out. Apparently HiV clinics have this 20 minute blood test for HIV, but it's ridiculous cuz there's a 99% chance that it tests positive when you don't have it.

In terms of classes...
I was stressing this whole weekend about this clinical pharmacy midterm that's coming up on tuesday. So far, we covered gas, hemmorhoids, diarrhea, and constipation. The major source of anxiety that I sense among the class is condensing all the important information we need to work in a pharmacy into a "self-study" format. In conference, we analyze two cases per class. But we barely have enough time to cover the first case before we can thoroughly discuss the second one. I feel like I'm being immersed in this task of memorizing all the condraindications of drugs, side effects, mechanisms of action, and brand v. generic names, and therapeutic classes without understanding how they really work. I think taking a crash course in physiology would have given us the foundation to understand and retain why drugs work a certain way. For example, if our professor would have explained in lecture that Ca2+ influx into Ca2+ channels into heart muscle cells leads to heart contraction, then many more people would understand why Ca2+ channel blockers like Amlodipine can lower cardiac output and blood pressure.

Biostats is just like undergrad statistics that I took in UCSD. The tests are more difficult though, but our professor is an excellent lecturer. The compilation CD that a Pharmacy Frat (Phi Delta Chi) made is absolutely essential for preparing for tests.

I have taken physical chemistry in undergrad, but this class is still challenging nonetheless because our professor expects us to know and have equivalent problem solving skills as chemical engineers. This class is not particularly necessary to pursue a career in pharmacy, but understanding thermodynamics, colligative properties, phase changes, equilibrium of chemicals may be an advantage in a compounding pharmacy or pharmacological research.

I think I was stressed out because I had this interview for a pharmacy internship position at Walgreens the day before my Physical Chemistry midterm. It was random because I had to take the 34 to Laguna Honda Hospital and switch to metro L to meet my interviewer at Walgreens. I passed through the more expensive houses west of downtown until I reached 40th and Tarval. Not only was my interviewer half an hour late, but I was worried cuz I planned this study session at later that night. I got so bored that I started passing down the aisles and studying the drug facts on the OTC drugs, since I needed to know them for my midterm.

The interview went pretty well. Since I volunteered at a homeless clinic before, he asked me my opinion of the growing number of people without adequate health insurance in california. Since I was taking this health insurance elective CP198, I pulled out a common theme that the professor kept reiterating, which was that pharmacists have this essential role in educating the patient about redeeming benefits of government-sponsored health insurance like medical or medicare Part-D. The pharmacist can play a key role in deciphering the world of formularies, co-payments, premiums, and quarterly changes to insurance policies that lead to a lot of confusion for people.

It was basically like going through another pharmacy school interview, but somewhat less formal. He said that I could start as a script writer even though I did not have my intern license yet, so I told him that I could start training in december.