Any pharmacy students out there?

Cateym

Hi,

I am considering doing Pharmacy in UCC. Can anyone tell me what the first year time table is like??

Cat

Lucas10101

Busy

Carsinian Thau

Here it is:

http://timetable.ucc.ie:8007/reporting/individual?objectclass=programme+of+study&idtype=id&identifier=BPHARM1%0D%0A&t=programme+of+study+individual&days=1-7&weeks=5-16;20-30;35&periods=1-20&template=programme+of+study+individual

It's a lot better than it looks! Mainly because you're not taking every module all the time.

Lucas10101

So how many hours to UCC Pharmacy students do?

anieoh

i don't no im goin in to 4th yr so it is possible to get thru it go for it itll b worth it at d end o d day.dont stress bout it

Lucas10101

How was the three years you have done? Is there much time left to do clubs/societies after study? Is the timetable relatively full or spacious? Thanks.

Lucas10101

I keep on looking at that timetable and yet it still doesn't make a bit of sense to me, can anyone please provide an explanation for it.

Tazzle

PF100X or PL144X or BC144X are the module codes, ie. the subjects that you might be learning and what times they are on, have a look at http://www.ucc.ie/en/ck703/ and http://www.ucc.ie/calendar/medicine/med004a.html to see which ones you can choose and which ones are compulsory. The code under that, eg. C_BHSC_102 is the room that the lecture takes place for set weeks, if we look at PF1007 on a Monday you can see it takes up multiple rows and appears in different rooms. This is probably due to scheduling clashes, or maybe it needs to rotate between different rooms? I don't know, but you can see that Wk(Week), 5 is in C_CPB_LG52, and then Wk 6,8,10,12,14 are in C_BHSC_102. See http://timetable.ucc.ie:8007/roomlist.htm for a better idea of the roomlist. Any other questions about UCC just shoot, just bear in mind I'm not a Pharmacy student

LLouise

Tazzle wrote:

Any other questions about UCC just shoot, just bear in mind I'm not a Pharmacy student

Do first years turn up on the registration day for their course or do we spend all of registration week (17/9-21/9) at UCC?
eg Law students register on Thursday the 20th, do I come down on Thursday morning or spend the week in Cork??

Tazzle

Your lectures won't start until the following week. Give yourself that Thursday and Friday to orientate yourself, figure out where all the buildings are. There'll be loads of stuff to do Thursday to keep you busy, and the following week won't be heavy on lectures either so don't worry. They'll break you in easy for the first week Just relax and enjoy the college experience, it's fun!

Lucas10101

Tazzle wrote:

PF100X or PL144X or BC144X are the module codes, ie. the subjects that you might be learning and what times they are on, have a look at http://www.ucc.ie/en/ck703/ and http://www.ucc.ie/calendar/medicine/med004a.html to see which ones you can choose and which ones are compulsory. The code under that, eg. C_BHSC_102 is the room that the lecture takes place for set weeks, if we look at PF1007 on a Monday you can see it takes up multiple rows and appears in different rooms. This is probably due to scheduling clashes, or maybe it needs to rotate between different rooms? I don't know, but you can see that Wk(Week), 5 is in C_CPB_LG52, and then Wk 6,8,10,12,14 are in C_BHSC_102. See http://timetable.ucc.ie:8007/roomlist.htm for a better idea of the roomlist. Any other questions about UCC just shoot, just bear in mind I'm not a Pharmacy student

Thanks, it makes a lot more sense now.

bleg

don't do it in UCC, go for RCSI or Trinity. my career guidance counsellor told me this in 6th year and i wish i listened to her

Lucas10101

What is the point of saying this, without a full and frank explanation???

tictac88

Hiya im a 2nd yr pharmacy student in ucc and all i have to say is DONT DO IT!!!

seriously though, its a very very difficult course. i was told by a career guidance councellor when i was doin my LC that the course in ucc is by far the toughest...that there was ppl who got practically max points in the lc who were struggling...i wish id listened! the timetable in 1st year is pretty hectic, mostly 9 oclock starts,.finished at 5 most days. 2nd year was even worse!! i wish before id come into this course someone had warned me bout the evil labs too. in first year there is about three diff labs a week(in 2nd yr sometimes we'd hav 4 or 5!!)...they can go on for 3-4 hrs (not good wi a hangover on a fri mornin). and then you have to write up a lab report for the next week which can be torture at the best of times...and when ur not in a lecture or a lab or doin a lab report, you'll have to try and squeeze in time to study because its so far to fall behind...especially wi chemistry you're completely thrown in the deep end form day 1! i never get to go out as much as id like too and lounging around in the evenin after ur day at col rarely happens because ur constantly under pressure for the next exam or whatnot. in my opinion u dont get the same col experience as those in other courses do...im constantly bein told to stick at it "itll all be worth it in the end" but with the crisis in the HSE im not even sure if it will be...


be prepared to have to spend some fri nites, sats and suns in the library..especially when it gets to 2nd yr. if u really wanna do pharmacy, i think u should look into it in dublin aswell cos apparently its not AS demanding!! i jus felt obliged to write this as have experienced the stress first hand and i wish i had talked to someone from UCC when i was in ur shoes before gettin into it...
hope it helped!x

bleg

i'm in 3rd year, i agree with what the previous poster said. 3rd year is by far the worst so far. a long long way. if you plan on j1ing go this year, i'd say i'll be back from america in august...

bleg

and by the way, the staff are the nastiest group of people i have ever encountered in my life.

CantGetNoSleep

LLouise wrote: »

Do first years turn up on the registration day for their course or do we spend all of registration week (17/9-21/9) at UCC?
eg Law students register on Thursday the 20th, do I come down on Thursday morning or spend the week in Cork??

Go down for the week, get langers!

OP - I'd do Commerce or Law

Lucas10101

tictac88 wrote: »

Hiya im a 2nd yr pharmacy student in ucc and all i have to say is DONT DO IT!!!

seriously though, its a very very difficult course. i was told by a career guidance councellor when i was doin my LC that the course in ucc is by far the toughest...that there was ppl who got practically max points in the lc who were struggling...i wish id listened! the timetable in 1st year is pretty hectic, mostly 9 oclock starts,.finished at 5 most days. 2nd year was even worse!! i wish before id come into this course someone had warned me bout the evil labs too. in first year there is about three diff labs a week(in 2nd yr sometimes we'd hav 4 or 5!!)...they can go on for 3-4 hrs (not good wi a hangover on a fri mornin). and then you have to write up a lab report for the next week which can be torture at the best of times...and when ur not in a lecture or a lab or doin a lab report, you'll have to try and squeeze in time to study because its so far to fall behind...especially wi chemistry you're completely thrown in the deep end form day 1! i never get to go out as much as id like too and lounging around in the evenin after ur day at col rarely happens because ur constantly under pressure for the next exam or whatnot. in my opinion u dont get the same col experience as those in other courses do...im constantly bein told to stick at it "itll all be worth it in the end" but with the crisis in the HSE im not even sure if it will be...


be prepared to have to spend some fri nites, sats and suns in the library..especially when it gets to 2nd yr. if u really wanna do pharmacy, i think u should look into it in dublin aswell cos apparently its not AS demanding!! i jus felt obliged to write this as have experienced the stress first hand and i wish i had talked to someone from UCC when i was in ur shoes before gettin into it...
hope it helped!x

What a load of rubbish!!

I'm just about to pass first year Pharmacy and yes it's busy, but not as crazy as these crazy people make it out to be. If you have an aptitude in chemistry, it helps a lot, but not completely necessary. And it's not impossible to pass either, quite simple if you do a little bit here and there.

If you can cope with all of that, go to UCC...it might be tougher, but at least you'll be better qualified.

bleg

while i wouldn't agree with the friday and saturday night comment (unless you want to be top of the class) it definitely is a very tough course. lucas all i can say is wait til you get into 2nd and 3rd year. they're alot worse than 1st year.

Anthony16

Im in 6th yr at the moment and considering pharmacy in ucc.I would lik to know if pharmacy students generally have free time during the week and how many hours per week is the course??

phoenix89

I cannot believe what I'm reading!

What's with all the negativity? The course is EXCELLENT - interesting, diverse and practical! Of COURSE you have to spend some time in the library - this isn't a pfaffy Arts degree. We still have a great social life (well, our class do anyway). Pharmacy is worth the effort - don't let them put you off!

Anthony16 - the first semester there's about 26 hours a week, including two proper labs and a physiology lab (which is computer simulated). Nine o'clock start every morning but you'd finish early in the day most days. Semester two is roughly the same to begin with but with a few late starts and labs which might only go on for three or five weeks, so theres huge variation - one Friday we were on from 9 til 5 (a tutorial and two labs) and another Friday we had one tutorial from 10 til 11! Some days you'll have gaps of only one or two hours, usually you'll have one three or four hour gap as well. Good for doing lab reports or just for heading to the Common Room to do nothing productive

captainspeckle

phoenix89 wrote: »

I cannot believe what I'm reading!

What's with all the negativity? The course is EXCELLENT - interesting, diverse and practical! Of COURSE you have to spend some time in the library - this isn't a pfaffy Arts degree.

:mad: holy fucc. it always comes back to the arts. wat is the story with that. a pharmacy student dissing arts? shocker.:D notice its always people who have no clue about arts who say this.

change the "arts wasters" record. please. especially if you dont even know anything about it:cool:

bleg

when you finish your pharmacy degree/masters in UCC you'll also have to pay about 5 grand to the PSI for the privilage of doing a pre registration year.

phoenix89

captainspeckle wrote: »

change the "arts wasters" record. please.

Where did I say arts were wasters? I merely pointed out that we spend more time in the library.

thebigcheese22

phoenix89 wrote: »

Where did I say arts were wasters? I merely pointed out that we spend more time in the library.

Dude you were clearly insinuating it.

captainspeckle

thebigcheese22 wrote: »

Dude you were clearly insinuating it.

thank you.
i believe the term "pfaffy arts degree" was used.

phoenix89

Look, I'm not going to argue about this with you, this isn't a thread about arts. Just ask yourselves exactly why you are so touchy about this.

captainspeckle

whatever. im obviously really bitter coz i aint doing such a prestitgous course as you are. nail on the head there! best of luck with pharmacy anyways, me and my "pfaffy arts degree" will be off.:cool:

phoenix89

captainspeckle wrote: »

best of luck with pharmacy anyways

Thanks. You too

Lucas10101

phoenix89 wrote: »

this isn't a pfaffy Arts degree.

I'm doing Pharmacy...in 2nd year. I -hate- people like you. Always thinking you are intellectually more superior to the Arts students. Who the hell do you think you are putting down thousands of students in such a stupid patronizing generalizing sweeping comment!!

Angers me...Pharmacy and Medicine are full of people like you who always think ye are better than the Arts students...and not just your comment, I heard it all the time where Pharm students in my year and others condescend to the Arts students as if they are stupid or something.

I'm sick of people like you...****ing idiots who think in terms of academia and social prestige given to Pharmacy. As I've said, I'm a Pharmacy student and I wish more people thought like me...unfortunately Pharmacy is filled with pompous ****'s.

phoenix89

Lucas10101 wrote: »

I'm doing Pharmacy...in 2nd year. I -hate- people like you. Always thinking you are intellectually more superior to the Arts students. Who the hell do you think you are putting down thousands of students in such a stupid patronizing generalizing sweeping comment!!

Angers me...Pharmacy and Medicine are full of people like you who always think ye are better than the Arts students...and not just your comment, I heard it all the time where Pharm students in my year and others condescend to the Arts students as if they are stupid or something.

I'm sick of people like you...****ing idiots. As I've said, I'm a Pharmacy student and I wish more people thought like me...unfortunately Pharmacy is filled with pompous ****'s.

Oh get over yourself. I don't think I said anywhere that I was better than any arts student. I was referring to workload and library hours. Obviously I'm really envious becasue they have so much more free time on their hands... Fewer lecture hours, no back breaking labs, can spend day time rather than night time in the library etc. FYI Arts was second on my CAO. I'm fed up of being attacked for a flippant comment that you're placing such weight on. Get off your high horse.

It's people like you that make me hate boards.

Lucas10101

phoenix89 wrote: »

Oh get over yourself. I don't think I said anywhere that I was better than any arts student. I was referring to workload and library hours. Obviously I'm really envious becasue they have so much more free time on their hands... Fewer lecture hours, no back breaking labs, can spend day time rather than night time in the library etc. FYI Arts was second on my CAO. I'm fed up of being attacked for a flippant comment that you're placing such weight on. Get off your high horse.

It's people like you that make me hate boards.

You have a cheek telling me to get over myself. I think your the one with the superiority complex, so you get over yourself and get off your 10ft high horse.

It's also very easy to say here first Arts was on your CAO...moving from a science oriented course to a arts course...hmm...something tells me your making it up. (Although there are people who have this)...even if it was your second choice, because you got your first choice, it led to that discriminatory comment and pompous statement.

I wish I could defenestrate you from a 50-story building and hope you land on a bed...of incredibly sharp needles. I hate people like you. I hope a van runs you over later on.

thebigcheese22

phoenix89 wrote: »

It's people like you that make me hate boards.

And you're posting here why?

Tbh it does sound like you have a superiority complex just because your degree has higher points, IMO.

Also, Lucas - don't rise to his bull****, it doesn't reflect well on your argument

ReacherCreature

Lucas10101 wrote: »

I wish I could defenestrate you from a 50-story building and hope you land on a bed...of incredibly sharp needles. I hate people like you. I hope a van runs you over later on.

thebigcheese22 wrote: »

Also, Lucas - don't rise to his bull****, it doesn't reflect well on your argument

thebigcheese22's right mate.

I can see the Mods handing out bans or warnings. :rolleyes:

bleg

bitching like that is a very regular occurance in pharmacy too

ronn90

Lucas10101 wrote: »

You have a cheek telling me to get over myself. I think your the one with the superiority complex, so you get over yourself and get off your 10ft high horse.

It's also very easy to say here first Arts was on your CAO...moving from a science oriented course to a arts course...hmm...something tells me your making it up. (Although there are people who have this)...even if it was your second choice, because you got your first choice, it led to that discriminatory comment and pompous statement.

I wish I could defenestrate you from a 50-story building and hope you land on a bed...of incredibly sharp needles. I hate people like you. I hope a van runs you over later on.

I was reading this tread and thought WOW a bit harsh. I'm a Pharmacy student. I did my primary degree in Physics/Maths and I'm finding the Pharmacy much much harder. Maybe I'm stupid or something but I have to work at it every day,hard, just to get average results. Granted my background is Physics and not chem which is a big minus but I have studied to degree level and thought I knew what to expect. I'm starting to wonder does it really need to be this hard especially now as we may not even get jobs if we qualify (thanks Mary H!)
Having said that I don't feel I'm better than anyone else because I'm studying pharmacy, far from it. Lets be nice and share the planet!

bleg

just because you can't get jobs doesn't mean you shouldn't be properly taught. there are loads of jobs in the UK and an increasing number of pharmacists in industry.

ronn90

bleg wrote: »

just because you can't get jobs doesn't mean you shouldn't be properly taught. there are loads of jobs in the UK and an increasing number of pharmacists in industry.

Absolutely true, and it seems to be a great career in the States. Unfortunately I'm a mature student with a wife and mortgage. :-) I was in the UK for a couple of years and IMHO you need to be very sure you want to leave Ireland for a career, home is home after all. And, I’d like to pay tax in Ireland where I received my education.
As far as training goes, and I'm sure it's the same for any degree course, if you were to ask a person 5 yrs out of there degree anything about their course you'd get a blank look. Which makes me wonder, if all the stuff we learn on a course is essential, then I guess we should remember it. I suppose a degree course is set up to give a broad base for the student to go off and specialise. It raises the question though, should a person wanting to practice in hospital or industry, should they learn different stuff? Stuff maybe more relevant to that particular field. (apologies for the over use of the word stuff :-))

What I'm hearing on the grapevine has made me reconsider my career choice. As always in life economics comes into it. I'm a fee paying student and the potential earnings don't seem to be there any more. I came across a post which mentioned a drop in CAO applications for Pharmacy (not sure if this is correct). What will that lead to in the future? I think ultimately the community loses out unfortunately.


Don’t get me wrong I’m not bitching, I feel very lucky to be on a very interesting course with the potential to help people in a real and positive way when qualified, assuming I can qualify as the pre-reg year seems to have become difficult to get. :-) We need it to to practice but we depend on business to get it, not like medicine or nursing.

This message is a bit off topic Ah well.




Keep it country!

bleg

the reason pharmacists are becoming more and more popular with industrial employers is because of their wide base of knowledge on everything to do with drugs e.g. R&D formulation legislation etc...

yup drop in applications alright which will more than likely result in a drop in points. i certainly wouldn't recommend anybody to study pharmacy in ireland with the new legislation brought in with the pharmacy act (higher registration fees and a fee for the pre reg year etc..) and the lack of progressive thinking amongst decision makers in the hse and dohc regarding supplemental prescribing, generic substitution, just 2 that come to mind.

i definitely regret doing it here but at least i have graduated and sorted out my industrial pre reg placement. most people have found 12 month placements this year by the way but it's going to get worse in years down the line with an increase in the fee (up to 5000) and the expectation for pre reg students to work for free.

ronn90

bleg wrote: »

the reason pharmacists are becoming more and more popular with industrial employers is because of their wide base of knowledge on everything to do with drugs e.g. R&D formulation legislation etc...

yup drop in applications alright which will more than likely result in a drop in points. i certainly wouldn't recommend anybody to study pharmacy in ireland with the new legislation brought in with the pharmacy act (higher registration fees and a fee for the pre reg year etc..) and the lack of progressive thinking amongst decision makers in the hse and dohc regarding supplemental prescribing, generic substitution, just 2 that come to mind.

i definitely regret doing it here but at least i have graduated and sorted out my industrial pre reg placement. most people have found 12 month placements this year by the way but it's going to get worse in years down the line with an increase in the fee (up to 5000) and the expectation for pre reg students to work for free.

Congratulations on graduating and getting sorted with a pre reg. Yep it's a worrying time. I still have years to go and I couldn't afford to work for free for a year.
It's hard to get info from the powers that be regarding how the industry is changing. Do you happen to know is there an organisation that represents student pharmacists?
WOW 5000 what's that for?
At this stage if something suitable came up I don't think I'd finish the course.

Can you do your pre reg in the UK?


Good luck with your future career.

bleg

i found out about industry from my lecturers. the pharmaceutics lecturers will have contacts still working and will know how things are. there are 2 in ucc that are excellent in helping out students interested in industry, pm me if you want to know who they are.

when we were having our troubles with the psi we had 2 excellent class reps who fought our corner, rcsi and trinity had similar representation, so choose your class reps wisely in 4th year!

i'm not too sure about the UK for the pre reg, you'd have to ask one of the lecturers.

our fee this year is 1500, the lady from the psi said that this will increase. we're getting a masters for our trouble. she said in future years that the fee will be in line with other masters' fees, which is roughly 5000.

i wouldn't be too worried though if i were you, pharmacy in this country is still extremely strong as a profession. just today over 2/3 of the pharmacies in the country pulled out of the medical card and DPS schemes. with so many withdrawing and with some towns having no pharmacy in the schemes the hse will have to back down.

the psi has also shown a few gestures of goodwill to us this year and have taken our concerns on board. hospital placements that were gone 5 months ago are now starting to come back on stream again.

ronn90

bleg wrote: »

i found out about industry from my lecturers. the pharmaceutics lecturers will have contacts still working and will know how things are. there are 2 in ucc that are excellent in helping out students interested in industry, pm me if you want to know who they are.

when we were having our troubles with the psi we had 2 excellent class reps who fought our corner, rcsi and trinity had similar representation, so choose your class reps wisely in 4th year!

i'm not too sure about the UK for the pre reg, you'd have to ask one of the lecturers.

our fee this year is 1500, the lady from the psi said that this will increase. we're getting a masters for our trouble. she said in future years that the fee will be in line with other masters' fees, which is roughly 5000.

i wouldn't be too worried though if i were you, pharmacy in this country is still extremely strong as a profession. just today over 2/3 of the pharmacies in the country pulled out of the medical card and DPS schemes. with so many withdrawing and with some towns having no pharmacy in the schemes the hse will have to back down.

the psi has also shown a few gestures of goodwill to us this year and have taken our concerns on board. hospital placements that were gone 5 months ago are now starting to come back on stream again.

Didn't know about withdrawal from medical card and DPS schemes. Good advice regarding class reps in 4th yr cheers. Glad to hear the hospital placements are back. Heard a hospital pharmacy position came up and 70 people went for it. I was surprised. Heard it second hand though so probably shouldn't be repeating it.

bleg

ronn90 wrote: »

Didn't know about withdrawal from medical card and DPS schemes. Good advice regarding class reps in 4th yr cheers. Glad to hear the hospital placements are back. Heard a hospital pharmacy position came up and 70 people went for it. I was surprised. Heard it second hand though so probably shouldn't be repeating it.

definitely could have been 70 CVs sent in. I think that was for St. James' and they offer a couple of places I think. I don't really pay too much attention to the hospital placement side of things, doesn't really concern me.

ronn90

bleg wrote: »

definitely could have been 70 CVs sent in. I think that was for St. James' and they offer a couple of places I think. I don't really pay too much attention to the hospital placement side of things, doesn't really concern me.

Maybe is't not as grim as everyone thinks. I'll know in 3 years.

bleg

ah it's pretty grim alright. just heard the person that got top of our class lost her placement because of the cuts.

JSK 252

Im hearing a mixture of good and bad about the course in general! but that would be the case with any course really. I chose pharmacy on my cao because of the broadness of the qualification. I can go into industry/hospital/community or even academia by the end of it. Having done work experience in transition year in glaxosmithkline I would be attracted to industry! Its 4 years down the road anyway so things might change.

All I need now is to get the points on the 12th of august!

cm..

Fair just read all these comments after i applied for pharmacy in ucc... Dang!! I see people are all for pharmacy in Dublin but the reason I chose cork is because I started a course in Dub last year and was totally unhappy there. I was under the impression cork was more personal and a lot more craic no?? But sure judgin by these comments i wont have time to enjoy it anyway even if it is.... great

confusticated

Ah you will, don't worry. The pharmacy first years last year seemed to be out a lot, had great class parties and all got to know each other pretty well, looking at them I'd say your social life'll be fairly hectic!

i'm a smiler

Pharmacy is on my cao after med and dent but I prob have the best chance of getting pharm seeing as applications have plummeted this year...

My question is, do you think I should accept pharm if I get it seeing as there is sooo much scandal about community pharmacists these days? Is the future of pharmacy pretty bleak?

JSK 252

580 points!:D

Im now a pharmer.

Lucas10101

Well Done JSK252,

I'm starting 2nd year myself. Your first year is different to mind though, the chemistry has been reduced by 25% for you now, but you have a new module called Introductory Pharmacology now.

If you have any questions about Pharmacy, give me a PM, I'll be happy to answer any queries you may have.