TR072 Pharmacy

For any 2nd, 3rd or even 4th years... what's the practical MCQ for PH1001 like? I can't say i'm hugely worried about it as it's only worth 25% of the practical component (5% in total) but even so a bit of advice as to what to expect wouldn't go amiss.

JeaicMaG wrote: »

Any words of wisdom?

If you don't want a hellish year, go to all your lectures. You don't need to constantly spend your time in the library. You can relax all you like throughout the year so long as you pay attention in lectures, take good notes and work as hard as you can on your coursework.

Some tips for JF modules:
Biochemistry:
The lectures are incredibly detailed and very intimidating for people fresh from LC Biology and Chemistry. Some of the lecturers in this course will take it at a reasonable pace and have absolutely excellent lecture notes. Others give their lectures at an unbelievable pace while assuming huge amounts of prior knowledge and have no lecture notes to boot. Additional reading is a must for some parts of the course. A consolation is that the assessment for the module is a ridiculously easy project and fairly straightforward MCQ exam.

Biology:
One of your double credit modules. The lecture theatre is huge and dark, the seats are uncomfortable and there's something very soporific about the whole lecture experience. The material is very interesting but there are *vast* amounts of it and you often need to do additional reading to make sense of things. Couple that with the fact that it's only for the first semester and you get examined on it in May you absolutely need to keep this module under control. There is a practical element to this module. The labs are very well organised and the experiments you carry out are quite interesting. All I can say for it is to try and ace the MCQ exam and coursework as they're worth 33% and are trivially easy in comparison to the final written exam.

Physiology:
Has a reputation for being incredibly difficult and with good reason. Like biology, there is a vast amount of material to cover. The lecture slides mention a lot of topics but are ridiculously sparse in content. The book is huge, tedious and full of interesting but not necessarily essential information and it's hard to find what you're looking for at times. For Physiology, make sure you look at the course handbook and read what the lecturers suggest. It won't be enough to make the information stick but it's better than learning everything from scratch in April! Another thing is to go to the lectures. Most of the people who had to sit vivas or outright failed this year were the ones who didn't go to the lectures (They're all 9AM lectures). There's also an in-course MCQ assessment run online at the end of every topic. It's not easy but it's only worth 10% and it's a great way to see what you need to revise.

PH1001 (More or less organic chemistry):
One of the easier modules. Your first lecture in the course will be PH1001 with Dr. Quigley (Who is incidentally a legend of a man ). Coming from LC Chemistry it starts off with familiar topics about Bohr's model e.t.c. and then instantly veers off in to seemingly complicated mathematical models of wave equations. A shocking first lecture that had everyone worried but as you'll soon discover, it's a very tame module. All in all, there's nothing to worry about in the theory. It's very doable. There are labs in PH1001 and they're fairly straightforward as well but keep in mind that your yields/quality and your lab reports are marked. There's also a 20+ page drug report that needs to be handed in before February that you need to put a lot of effort in. It's not marked easy so make sure it's high quality.

PH1002 (Physical pharmacy):
Not particularly easy but not that difficult either. Pay attention in lectures and you'll be fine. There are labs in this module but be warned that they're not particularly exciting. You're marked on the lab reports so put in the effort for them. It's an easier way of getting marks than the final exam.

PH1003 (More or less pharmaceutical chemistry):
A very varied and content-packed double credit module. All of the lecturers covering this module are excellent and their lecture notes equally so. All that you really need to do is keep on top of things and make sure you understand everything that's going on. Do extra reading if you must. Again, there are labs and your reports are marked so do your best to get some marks before the exam.

PH1004 (Pharmaceutics):
One of my favourite modules. The theory is quite easy. The practical's also straightforward but has a notoriously high fail rate and those that pass rarely do well. You need to pay close attention to detail as even slight mistakes in your preparations can cost you dearly. All said and done, it's by far one of the more enjoyable modules you'll do.

PH1005 (Mathematics and Pharmaceutical calculations):
Not at all difficult if you did HL Maths. That said... with project maths lacking integration and matrices it may not be as much of a breeze as last year. Personally, i'd go to the lectures just to be sure. The other thing you need to watch out for is the calculations test (There's another one in PH1004). You need 7/10 in each to pass and there's no leniency.

PH1006 (Practice of Pharmacy):
The written paper isn't too bad (So long as you don't question spot :rolleyes:). The practicals are very good too and you shouldn't have any issues with them. There's a written dissertation worth 10% that you should keep on top of. It's usually marked quite hardly so don't hand up any old thing.

PH1007:
Group assignments that culminate in a final assignment (Problem based learning) where you (or others in your group) have to give a presentation. There are no grades, only pass or fail and being honest the only way to fail is if you actively try to fail. That said, it's actually one of the best ways to broaden your knowledge and learn so i'd put as much effort as possible in to it.

Finally, one final word is wisdom is to try and always remember that it's not *that* difficult. It will all seem incredibly overwhelming at times throughout the year but with a bit of work it's not difficult to do well. I paid attention and attended all year, put in a lot of effort in to my coursework and managed to get a high 1.1 by intensely cramming three weeks before the exam. I definitely wouldn't recommend it as it's both physically and mentally stressful but what i'm trying to say is that even if you're a bit relaxed all year you can still do well if you put in the right amount and type of work at the end of the year.

Oh yeah and find time to relax and enjoy yourself throughout the year. College isn't all about work after all :P

JeaicMaG wrote: »

Thanks very much Scortho and partytatmygaff Huge amount of helpful information By the way are the exams all in May?

Yeah save for a few small informal quizzes (Not worth any marks...) and practical exams / MCQs.

If you'd like an idea of what the exams are like, past papers for the annual exams held in May are found here.

JeaicMaG wrote: »

Sorry to bother ye again but I fell sick Monday of the first week of lectures (w5) and have been home since Thursday. There's a decent chance I will miss this week also (w6) Will I be able to catch up?

You should be fine aside from labs. Make sure to get a sick note when you're back.

Pharmacy ball in full swing...