The Last of Uni...Again

I returned to uni this weekend for the final presentations of my postgrad course at university. I had one presentation to give on Saturday morning on a patient care plan, while my presentation on Sunday afternoon was on a clinical pharmacy service (I spoke on pharmacists being Quit Card providers). 

I was quite anxious in the lead-up to the weekend, especially regarding my patient care plan as I had only just managed to get access to patient notes a week out after a two week fight with red tape. After reviewing the notes I only realised how much more there was to this case than I first expected! I was a little overwhelmed, and didn't know what to do! 

Fortunately I managed to pull off a couple of over-nighters and come up with a care plan for this patient. I even managed some sleep the night before the presentation!

I was due to present early on the first Saturday morning. I started off a bit nervous, but pulled myself through. We had a time limit of 10 minutes, with a time penalty for every minute we spoke beyond 10 minutes 30 seconds. I had timed myself prior to the morning and my presentation was only nine minutes. I ended up speaking over time though! Yikes!

It was good to get it done early though, so I didn't have to worry for the rest of the day. I have to admit I was a bit tired though, and started dozing off a little! I was sitting at the back with one of my classmates. 

He gave his presentation a little later in the afternoon, and after his presentation he told me he saw me dozing off during his presentation and tried to change the tone of his voice! I felt really bad about that! I bought myself a coffee at the next break to keep me awake for the rest of the afternoon! We didn't finish till 5.30pm, which meant a long nine hour day at uni!

The next day were the clinical pharmacy service presentations which were a bit more interesting to me. My presentation was right at the end of the day though, so I had a long wait. I was hoping to avoid going beyond the time limit this time though.

It was eventually my turn, and I gave my presentation. I ended up speaking for longer than yesterday! Noooo!!

At least it was all finally done. No more presentations, assignments or deadlines! Now the only thing to do is wait for the results to come out in about a month's time!

While I have been telling myself throughout this year that this will be the last time I go back to uni to study, I always find myself thinking about what I should study next! I think this time I should focus on finding a job first before considering any more study. I'm glad I did extra study this year though, as I have learnt quite a bit and it has helped me refresh my memory on quite a few things. I've also met quite a few cool people in my class!

One of those Moments I'm Glad I'm Old

NCEA results are out! Oh how I'm glad I'm not at that age where I'd be fretting about them right now!

It's to be expected that no one can even log in and see them, but I guess everyone will eventually get there!

I'm quite anxious for a few people I know who are expecting results today. I hope they do well!

All the best, guys!

The Big Exam

Today was probably the most important day of my short-lived pharmacy career so far - my pharmacy registration exam! I woke up in my really nice double bed to the sound of heavy rain outside, WHHYYYYYY!

First things first though. I had to get up, have my shower, then go downstairs and find out if I had to check out of my hotel room. Uh oh..check out time was 10am, in half an hour!

I quickly went back up, packed all my things and left my room. Byebye Room 6! Now I was homeless! The only place I could think of was McDonald's across the road.

I dragged my carry-bag across the road to McDonald's and ordered the Big Kiwi Breakfast, then sat down and slowly ate it while I did my last minute exam preparation.

I think I was there for at least two hours! By then I felt like I had probably outstayed my welcome, so I decided to make my way to the hotel where the exam was to be held.

There were interns doing last minute studying in the foyer already! It was not too long till we were all called to come into this room where we would be debriefed on what to expect in the exam.

I don't think I'm allowed to say much about the exam, except that I had to do six roleplays and one interview at the end. I'm pretty sure I screwed up at the beginning, but as I went along, I started to feel a lot better and more confident. By the end of it I just wanted to keep talking in my interview!

After the exam though all those thoughts started entering my mind, like what if I did this wrong, or what if that was wrong? It was torture!

I dragged all my possessions to the shopping centre nearby where I feasted on Burger King. My pharmacy friend contacted me and I met up with him and told him about the exam. 

After our little catch-up, I headed to the bus and made my way back to Wellington Airport.

By then, it was dark and almost all the shops at the airport were closed. There wasn't much to do there except go on my laptop and try use up all the data on my data stick. 

Finally it was time to board the flight! Once again I had a window seat. I didn't have to worry about studying this time, so instead I just listened to music. I didn't make the same mistake of choosing the chocolate bar. ACTUALLY, they ran out of chocolate bars! I went with the BBQ chips instead. I tried tea this time, but before I even had a chance to drink it, the pilot told us to prepare for landing! Apparently we were 15 minutes early! That's very uncommon!

Despite arriving in Auckland early though, I still had to wait for my parents to pick me up at the airport. Once again everything was closed at Auckland Domestic Airport. I was almost by myself except for the security guards wandering around. 

Eventually my parents came to pick me up.

Tomorrow will be another day at work! At least I'll be able to enjoy my nights without having to worry about study! I'll find out if I pass in three weeks' time...

(http://youtu.be/kJgFmbumrrU)

Locked in my Room

It's exam eve. Tomorrow is the big day and I've been spending most of the day in my hotel room doing last minute study..well most of the time anyway!

I had to arrive at the airport this morning to catch my flight at 8.30am. I did all my packing last night so it was all last minute stuff. I'm only gone for less than two days, so I managed to fit everything into a teeny carry-on bag!

My flight departed ten minutes late, but that was OK. I got a window seat next to a couple. It didn't actually seem too long, but then again I was trying to read my pharmacy stuff while on the flight!

Guess who I saw on my flight though? Labour leader David Shearer and Labour MP David Parker! I only saw them from a distance though.

When they announced that they were ready to hand out snacks, they gave us the option of a Whittakers Chocolate bar, BBQ chips, or an ANZAC biscuit...yeah not such a great selection! I thought the chocolate bar would be one of those longer ones, but it turned out to only be one of those really small ones! At least the coffee kept me going!

I was surprised at how good the weather was when we landed at Wellington though! The weather report said it was going to be raining heavily with thunderstorms! I had dressed accordingly with my thick jacket!

I grabbed my bag and jumped on the airport bus. The trip to Lower Hutt was almost an hour long. When I got off, this other girl got off at the same time and was asking the driver for directions to somewhere. Afterwards she turned to me and asked if I was an intern pharmacist as well, and that's when I realised she was also coming to Lower Hutt to sit her exam! She had booked a room at the hotel we would be sitting our exam at, while the hotel I would be staying at was just down the road.

My hotel room was located above a bar. After finally finding someone who could help me, I was shown to my room and I have to say it wasn't too bad! I got my own table (good for studying!), double bed, TV, shower, toilet and hand basin! The only problem was that water would leak from the pipe below the hand basin. Fortunately this somehow stopped later on in the night!

I spent the next few hours trying to study. I admit I started to doze off closer towards the evening. That's when I realised it was time to go across the road to Westfield Queensgate to buy myself an ENERGY drink!

Luckily for me everything was literally across the road from my hotel - Queensgate on one side, McDonald's on the other, and the exam location just down the road!

I had a quick wander around the shopping mall so I wouldn't feel too guilty for wasting precious cramming time. I carefully selected my drug of choice - Demon (forgive me Lord)! I bought some McDonald's and headed back to my hotel room for more study.

Lun Shen, my pharmacy friend contacted me, asking if I'd like to hang out with him and another one of our pharmacy friends who lives down in Wellington now for dinner. We went to this Thai restaurant and I had some curry chicken on rice as we talked about the exciting changes going on in the pharmacy sector.

It was getting late and so we parted ways. I went back to my hotel room to do some study, and that is where I am now! I probably get some sleep soon too. Even though my exam is at midday tomorrow, I probably should wake up early enough to do some last minute studying.

I also don't know if I'm meant to check out of this hotel room sometime in the morning too...

The Beginning of the End?

It's been a while since I last posted, but in a couple days' time will be a very important exam for me, so I thought I better get back into it! I'll fill in all the gaps up till now a little later on.

The important exam I'm referring to is my pharmacist registration exam, to determine if I become a proper pharmacist. It's taken five and a half years to get to this point, with a few hiccups along the way. Even now I still don't feel 100% ready! Then again, I never really feel confident going into an exam. What makes makes me a little anxious is not exactly knowing what I'll be going into, and ending up looking like a fool!

In the lead-up, my preceptor and the other pharmacist at my work have been helping me, doing role-plays with me and giving me tips which has boosted my confidence a little bit, but it always seems as though there's a whole lot more I haven't covered that I'm afraid they'll test me on!

The exam, or 'Assessment Centre' as the Pharmaceutical Society calls it, consists of five role-plays and an interview. There will be actors/actresses posing as customers/patients that I have to interact with in front of a couple of examiners. I'll have to maintain my composure really well!

Anyway, I fly down to Wellington at 9.30am in the morning, then catch the bus to Lower Hutt where I'll probably be spending all of Monday in my hotel room doing last minute studying before the big exam at midday on Tuesday. I'll then fly back home that evening, ready for work the next day! Talk about a tight schedule!

Oh well I better get some sleep. I will try keep this updated from down in Lower Hutt, wish me the best of luck!

Exam Revision Time

Tonight I had an intern exam revision session in the pharmacy building at the Grafton Campus which brought back many memories of my time at uni up there. 

One of the new buildings is almost finished and looks quite flash! I didn't get a chance to go in and have a look though since it was closed.

We got into three groups and went through some cases and learnt more about what to expect in the exam.

It was good seeing all the interns again, but the revision session has left me feeling a little anxious about the exam!

Re-prioritising My Goals

I think I've finally decided what my study goals will be alongside doing my pharmacy internship and becoming a registered pharmacist!

For a while I've been set on trying to either do some online distance learning course or taking evening classes to get a Graduate Diploma/Certificate in something like Arts (Chinese), or maybe something relating to the health field. However, it would require me to take university papers which cost almost $1000 each, and I would have to study part time which means I wouldn't complete it within a year. Because I plan on doing post-grad studies next year anyway, I don't want to waste my money on a half-completed qualification! It also costs so much that if I end up not being able to study properly for these papers because of work or the assignments/tests I have to focus on for pharmacy and end up giving up on those papers, I'll have wasted a whole lot of money!

Therefore, I've decided instead to aim for two exams that are a lot cheaper to sit and I can study for on my own...more or less:

- HSK Test: This is a test on a non-native Chinese speaker's ability to read, write, listen and speak Mandarin Chinese. I've been meaning to learn Chinese for a while, so this will give me motivation to keep on going and recover all of the Chinese I've lost over the past four years since high school. I should really get my Chinese blog going again!
- Trinity Grade 6-7 Music Theory Exam: I bought several music theory books late last year, so I might as well make use of them and fulfill my dream of passing grade 8 music theory!

At least by working towards these two tests/exams, I will also be trying to fulfill my New Years' Resolutions:

12. Sit a music theory/Chinese exam

20. This should've come earlier but study Chinese and return to at least NCEA Level 3 Chinese level..and be more Chinese (throw that in as well) 

Once I finish my internship, I may even consider going to China for a few weeks or maybe a semester to study...if it's feasible. If not, I'll just do post-graduate study while working part-time! I think I'm starting to get somewhere with my life planning! Any further advice or suggestions welcome!

14. Decide what I want to do with my life after I (hopefully) complete my pharmacy internship

I'm Graduating!

(Not mine just yet!)

All my marks came back this afternoon, and....I'm graduating!! (OK so I kinda already knew that after attending Completion last Monday but at least this doubly confirms it!)

Overall my marks were a lot better than I thought they would be, because I was pretty much expecting to scrape by. I was hoping my research dissertation mark would be a bit better than it was, but I can't be too disappointed with it!

Now to wait for May graduation and hopefully my graduation teddy!

Please PLEASE be the Last!

This morning I had my PHARMACY408 OSCE (oral exam). I don't do so well in the dispensing lab and with this whole lab process as I always end up making stupid mistakes, or get criticised by the supervisors for one thing or the other.

I hadn't really done too much study in the weekend for it as I didn't really know how to, but it had to be done anyway! I was in the IC half an hour before the exam, and instead of studying I was reading the news on the internet!

It was finally time for the oral exam at 9.35am though! We were in the second lot of students going in. Last semester I was right at the end, but this time I was right at the beginning (it was sorted by alphabetical order).

I can't talk much about the case, only that it wasn't too bad. We were told in advance that we would be dispensing two products, but when I got to the doctor consultation station, I could only think of one drug to recommend!

I was recommending to the patient some suppositories to take for a condition though and couldn't think of too much counselling to give her, so I advised her not to put the suppositories in her mouth!

70 minutes later and the exam was over! We all had to remain in this room until everyone else in our session had done their exam, which meant we were stuck in that room till midday! They had King Arthur playing on the projector though which was quite depressing, especially for after exams.

When we were finally allowed out, I spent an hour or two uploading photos to Facebook before checking out sheet music in Central City Library (we can borrow books from there now thanks to the Supercity!!).

To finish off the day and mark what I hope was my last ever exam at uni, I went to McDonald's to try a McSnack Wrap Value Meal. I've tried a McSnack before and found it to be small, but that was quite a while ago and I couldn't remember. I thought I'd give it another chance! It is still quite small but I guess I can't expect kebab size though!

So that's it for uni...I hope! I'll find out this time next week!

The Final Written Test

This morning was hopefully my last ever written exam - my pharmacotherapy exam! Pharmacotherapy is usually the toughest subject, as there's so much to study for! We also usually have the oral exam before the written one as well. 

I wasn't sure how prepared I was, so I wasn't overly confident, especially after Thursday's exam which didn't go so well! 

I was originally going to catch the 6.50 bus (yip, early for a Saturday morning!) but I missed it, so my dad drove me in. It was quite deserted! I just sat outside reading my notes before having to catch the uni bus to the Tamaki campus where the exam would be held.

I actually wrote quite a bit in the exam! We had to answer four short answer questions and write up four pharmaceutical care plans. One question was 

'Discuss the pathophysiology of meningococcal disease'

which I had absolutely no idea how to answer! I ended up trying to think of some creative way to answer that question that would sound remotely plausible!

I actually wrote quite a bit for the cases, but obviously not as much as James, the guy sitting behind me. One of the exam supervisors would regularly go over to him to hand him extra answer booklets!

By the end of the exam, my hand was cramped! We all went outside to see each other and talk (or avoid talking) about the exam, as well as to get our 2010 Pharmacy t-shirt! This year I actually remembered to buy one, which had a 'Pharmopoly' board game on the front of it.

My friend Natalie then offered to give me a ride back to Grafton along with Kunsala and Anisha.

When we got there, Kunsala said she had a spare train ticket and that I could catch the train with her! That was nice of her! We got to the train station to discover that the next train would be arriving in an hour's time, so we walked back to Subway for a bit of a feed before returning to the train station to catch the train.

Even though I have an oral exam on Monday, I don't think I've done too much study all day since the exam! I'll have to get back to it tomorrow...if I can!

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxqgOjZBNqE)

Off-Count

I had my first written exam today - PHARMACY409B, which really means Professional Pharmacy Studies...which really doesn't mean much to anyone!

Anyway I spent all of yesterday studying at the Henderson Library, which almost froze me towards the end of the day!

Whenever I try studying in the library I always seem to start off half falling asleep before finally being wide awake and able to do some proper study! I guess I have to plan ahead and allocate some dozing off time before I ever do any study in the future!

The library closed at 8 and I ended up taking a little 'dinner' break (mainly just to avoid the noisy school-kid period) and ended up buying a cheap bag of chips!

Anyway, I thought I was more or less prepared for today's exams, except for a few lectures such as wound care and skin cancer (why do we even need to know about incisions and biopsies?), and OTC...which I probably should know...

The exam was over at Tamaki, and got off to a rocky start for our room. We were sharing the theatre with another group of students sitting an exam for another paper. All of us pharmacy students at the back though only had question booklets, but no Scantron sheets for the MCQ section, nor any answer booklets! While we had our 10 minutes' reading time, the exam supervisors tried to get it sorted out and ended up giving us one extra minute at the end of our exam!

I had to make up a lot of stuff and guess quite a few MCQ questions in that exam.

After the exam I did something I usually don't and shouldn't do...I went back through my notes to see if what I wrote was correct in the exam, and it turns out some of the stuff wasn't!

Now I'm a little scared...As my friends have tried telling me though, I've got to move on and focus on the next one!

The Big Presentation

Today was the big day of our pharmacy research dissertation presentations! There was greater pressure on me compared to others though as I was the only person in my group speaking.

I spent the night before practising the speech with my cue cards (instead of studying!), and freaking out over the fact that I couldn't get the speech within six minutes. According to our guide, it was recommended that the speech was six minutes to allow for four minutes of question time and a total presentation time of ten minutes. My group and I eventually decided that we'd just stick with what we had rather than cut things out as everything was kinda important.

The very next morning I got to uni, wearing pretty much the same clothes I usually wear for dispensing lab plus my old school (Rutherford College) tie, not that you could really see much on it since I was wearing a vest!

I did a quick run-through with my group members in the IC before we all went into the Lewis Lecture Theatre to begin presentations. Our group was at 10.30am so at least we'd get it done early on. While we were all asked to stay to watch all the presentations, there was some talk that some people would leave after their group had presented their own presentations so that they could go and study. I guess at least by being early in the morning, at least most people would get to hear about our research!

I set up a camera to film the research presentations but I was later told I wasn't allowed to upload them anywhere as they contained details on unpublished data.

Some of the presentations were quite interesting. There were quite a few pharmacy staff in the theatre, either watching the presentations, marking presentations or asking questions. 

It was finally our group's time to present. We didn't have a chance to check if the sound in our presentation worked though as we had to start pretty much straight away. As it turns out, it didn't work! We originally had a few quotes read out in our slideshow, but I don't think the sound files were attached, so they didn't play, and Becky (one of our group members) had to read them out instead.

I was relieved that the presentation went smoothly! Maybe it was because I was standing behind the lectern that made me feel more confident and able to speak more fluidly. 

When it came to question time, we got quite a few questions from students in our class! I guess they were interested in what was being taught in pharmacy schools. Becky answered all the questions really well. Professor John Shaw, the head of the pharmacy school was sitting in the back and spoke last. We thought he was going to ask us a question, but instead he explained to everyone how there was a bit of discussion on our research topic, how he was interested in watching our presentation and how impressed he was!

I was surprised afterwards at the positive response from everyone about our presentation! Everyone was complimenting me! I suppose I don't really do much public speaking in pharmacy these days ever since I left high school. Even our group's supervisor came up to me afterwards to say that she thought she had heard me speak more in that presentation than in the whole year! 

Straight after our presentation there was some finger food for morning tea provided for the pharmacy students.

 After morning tea we went back to the lecture theatre to watch more presentations, right through to the afternoon. We were also provided lunch too which was nice!

Once presentations were over, we all got together for another class photo, the one that would be sold to us. We took several photos before we all dispersed.

(Thanks to Ravnit for taking this photo!)

It was a great feeling knowing our research dissertation was finally complete. At least one paper was over! Now we just have a couple of written exams and an oral exam to go till we all hopefully graduate!