Pharmacology Help!?!?!?!?

[newmommy82707]

So, I've been an A student up until this Pharmacology course. I'm quite literally failing and no matter what I'm doing I can't seem to learn this material. What all have you done to learn pharmacology? I've implemented all the suggestions my instructor has given and my scores have actually dropped as a result. I'm studying 60+ hours for my tests and not even managing a C on them. Any suggestions on how to remember mechanisms of action, adverse reactions, drug interactions, etc... for close to 100 drugs on each test? Thanks in advance!

[doublehelix]

You have to figure out a way to make it work *for you*... Try out flashcards, making posters or organizing the data in some way that makes it easier to break down and memorize, Mnemonics, or making little rhymes and things out of them that make sense to you.

Whenever I have a course that basically requires me to memorize dozens of things, I break it down. So if you have 100 drugs to know, start off with 10 drugs a night. Learn those drugs, then every other day learn 10 more, keep adding more on but make sure to go back and review all the others each night. It's a lot of work, but if you're already putting in a ton of work its worth a shot.

Another thing that helps is if you link them to something you already know; i.e. my mom is on a lot of medications for heart problems, so I have no problems remembering those.

When I took my HCA course back in highschoo, our instructor told us you learn better in groups of tens. Another thing is your more likely to remember the information if you review it within three hours after classes.

This site may be of help, I haven't started pharm yet but I bookmarked it when another member recommended it for someone else. It looks very helpful and might make things easier to understand!

http://www.pharmacy-tech-study.com