Fall PY2 - Week 6

It was another crazy week, so I apologize for failing to post this week.  Let's get right to it.

Monday
The first test of the week happened after lunch.  I had the joy of coming in early to remake my Coal Tar solution.  My first attempt had too many particles in it, so I spent an hour with two spatulas and yellow goo.  Then came the Diabetes test.  I did not do as well as I thought that I should have.  That came from complacency.  The dermatology test was so easy and my team tied for first in diabetes jeopardy, so I went into the test expecting it to be easy.  But it was much more about memorization than rationalizing.  The questions I missed were bullet points on the different drugs instead of other parts.  It is completely my fault.  I definitely should have studied much, much more.  Now I will have to make up for it on the test test.

Tuesday

Norepinephrine

The second test of the week happened first thing in the morning.  Exam #1 for Drug Lit was a mystery to me.  I did not really know what to study for it.  I decided to go back over the objectives, and I felt that it went much better than the previous diabetes test.  I still don't know how I did, but I felt pretty good about it.

Med chem has changed from histamine to adrenaline.  We reviewed the structure of norepinephrine and epinephrine.  This section will really get into all of our heart medicines.

Therapy was a divided class that began with more medicinal chemistry related to sex hormones.  Afterwards we started the next unit about contraceptives.  Lots about contraceptives.  In the remaining 30 minutes of the class, we flew through 90 slides about contraceptives.

Wednesday
More contraceptives.  Lab started by reviewing the brand and generic names of contraceptives and looked at two bags of examples.  I had to explain the advantages and disadvantages of Plan B and Novum.  Then we went to compound misoprostol vaginal suppositories.  Used to induce labor, the compound might have been the easiest formulation yet.  You just had to wait for the base to melt, mix and harden.

Kinetics went through the concepts related to multiple dosing.  If you don't know, steady state concentrations are reached within 5 half-lives.  If you have any doubt just multiply by five.  It was less about actually calculating things and more about the concepts.  Change the clearance, what do you expect to happen.

Thursday
More statistics for drug lit.  This time about risk assessments.  The students succumbed to a common mistake.  Would you take a drug that increased the incidence of something bad from 2 in 1000 to 4 in 1000?  Would you take a drug that doubles your risk of an adverse reaction.  Most people would say yes to the first but a definite no to the second.  Except the two are exactly the same.  Doubling your risk of something of something incredibly rare doesn't put you at a lot of danger.  Statistics are fun.

Med chem went into more about adrenergic receptors.  I like the new professor, but I could not understand him a few times.  He was very funny and trying to engage the students.

Norepinephrine in the binding pocket of its receptor.

After lunch, we had a professor from Asheville to come and talk to use about Contraceptives.  Instead of a lecture about the different types, we did a case about a patient who wanted to start using something.  We went through each category to see which would work for her and which wouldn't.  You do have to be careful.

Thursday night was a scholarship dinner at the Alumni Hall.  The Chancellor spoke to the crowd, the food was great, the conversations were better.  I don't know how you get on a board for a foundation, but I would be interested in doing something like that.  Overall it was a great evening celebrating the scholarship recipients and their donors.  I was most excited by meeting with the Chancellor.  I made sure to go up and talk to her.  She is incredibly nice and enthusiastic about Carolina.  She's doing a great job.

I had one last event on Friday.  As a Recruitment Ambassador, I gave a tour of the pharmacy school to prospective high school students.  They came from all over the state.  We gave them a quick tour and taught them how to take blood pressure.  That's it for the week.  No exams next week, but two quizzes.  I should get to do some relaxing this weekend.  We;ll see.

Fall PY2 - Week 5

Bryant Park, New York City at 11 pm

That was a heck of a week.  I apologize for not posting but everything got a bit hectic.  When things
get crazy, I will probably resort to only posting on Fridays.  The most important thing for me was coming back from New York City!!!  It was my first time in the Big City.  My wife and I went for our 5th wedding anniversary to see the sites and Manhattan and the Broadway play, Book of Mormon. It was a great weekend, with lots of walking.  But I felt a little behind all week, of course so did everyone else who didn't spend a weekend elsewhere.  So let's get to the events of Week 5:

Monday
This Monday started differently with an hour of Med Chem before therapy.  The professor wrapped up Second Generation Antihistamines and Mast Cell Stabilizers for our exam on Thursday.

If you can guess, in therapy we talked about diabetes!  This time we went over some different insulin regimens that people use.  We had a very hard pre-class quiz that took me 9 tries to finally get a 100.

Prelab was also about diabetes - specifically our MTM for a diabetic patient.  We were given prescriptions and we talked about what might be wrong with them and what we should prepare to ask the patient in Lab.

Later that night, I attended the training session for the Recruitment Ambassadors Program.  Now I can give tours to people, talk up the school of pharmacy, talk up pharmacy in general.  I could do that before, but now I get credit that I can put on my CV.

Tuesday
More statistics in Drug Lit.  Probabilities and Power were the main focus.  You show know that studies are powered (by sample size) to find the correct answer, but there is always a possibility of finding an answer that isn't there (Type I Error) or missing the answer that is (Type II Error).  The best part was the quiz halfway through which I passed to give myself a few hour to work on the other things due this week.

Med Chem brought in one of my favorite professors to provide the clinical details of antihistamines.  The main goal of antihistamines is to block H1-receptors which cause inflammation.  But the G1s are non-selective and easily enter the brain that they cause many side effects: sedation, dry mouth, increased appetite, etc.  So clinically, you can use those side effects as a potential treatment.  Colds do not have anything to do with histamine, but cold medicine usually contains an antihistamine.  The small molecules also block ACh receptors which dry out the sinuses to relieve your runny nose.

Therapy finished up the diabetes module.  We finished going over the insulins for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Wednesday
This was going to be the rough day.  Two quizzes, a SOAP note and an MTM all were on the schedule.  So lab begins by going over our SOAP note for a diabetic patient.  My answers were similar to everyone else so I feel okay about it.  I might not get a 100, but I should at least earn an A.  I did the worst I have ever done on a lab quiz - worst of all it was because of the calculations.  I worked everything out to discover my two answers were off by 1000x.  In finding a mass, I messed up the Weight Percent (like 3% NaCl) as mg/mL instead of the correct g/mL.  I got cocky and it cost me 5 points out of 25.  The rest of lab was just talking about insulins.  We took a look at insulin pens and the subcutaneous needles.  Then we actually gave ourselves the shots we will have to teach patients to give, but with saline.  I did not feel a thing.

Kinetics was another quiz about continuous infusions and multiple dosing.  I was worried about this one because I tried to read the chapter on the plane headed to NYC.  That environment and the anticipation meant that I did not really grasp the fine details from the book.  When I got back to it on Monday and Tuesday, it made sense leading to a redemptive 100.

Thursday
Drug Lit was another article class.  The article was about? Diabetes!  Specifically a controlled, phase 3 trial for Canaflagozin, an SGLT2-inhibitor.  We went through the article in tedious detail (professor's words).  The major concern is the first drug lit test next week.

Med Chem was our first big exam of the semester.  GPCRs and Histamine.  I studied off and on all week.  That included taking the practice test on the plane ride home, when I only missed 2.  I was pretty confident.  Comparing answers with other people, there is a high probablity of a perfect score.

Therapy was an Q and A session on diabetes before our Monday exam.  I kind of didn't pay attention but instead focused on making a study guide for me to work on this week.  After the questions, a new professor flew through 90 slides about contraceptives.  It was so fast!  Some of it sunk in, but I will be looking over that again.  Any time she mentioned copper IUDs, all I could think about was the House episode with the nuns.

Thursday night included Diabetes Jeopardy for a CAPS event.  We got some CAPS points, but most importantly was review of diabetes and questions from previous exams.  I missed more questions than I thought I should have, but somehow we ended up tied for first place!!!  We both missed the first tie breaker, and then the other group got the next one right.  So we technically ended in second place without the certificate or mug.  I don't like losing, but we did beat everyone else!  Hopefully that bodes well for the test next week.

Well, that is all for a hectic week.  Next week will probably be the same with two exams on Monday and Tuesday.  I am looking forward to it.

Fall PY2 - Week 4

Week 4!  The Labor Day Edition.  The week went easily with only 3 days of class and something to look forward to this weekend.  So let's see how it was:

Monday - Labor Day
No classes today which meant some quality time with the wife.  And a little preparation for this week's classes.

Tuesday
Drug Lit actually turned out to be pretty painful.  We were assigned two articles to read and then discuss in class.  The idea was that they were random controlled trials and we would analyze them and discuss how they worked.  But it did not feel like many people actually read the articles as the professor worked to pull 150 students along.  I really liked the step-by-step method of going through the articles from the title to the abstract and then into the body.  There were many layers to breaking down what was in a paper.  In the end, we only got through one of the articles.  It was about the use of long term hypertonic saline in patients with cystic fibrosis.  They thought that their lung function, measured by FEV1, should improve significantly.  It didn't, so the authors added a couple of numbers together to force in some significance.  While it wasn't their goal, they did show that hypertonic saline correlated with less infections in CF patients.

Med Chem was also a difficult class with another new professor talking about histamines.

Diphenhydramine - popular antihistamine

 Specifically at this time we are focusing on the antihistamines that block the H1 receptors mostly responsible for allergic reactions.  Mast cells in your skin release histamine when they sense injury which causes inflammation by triggering H1 receptors.  The first generation of antihistamines do a good job of blocking this reaction, but they can also cross into the brain which also has some H1-receptors.  This makes a person drowsy and we can use something like Benadryll (diphenhydramine) to help people sleep.  Newer, or second generation, antihistimines are designed to stay out of the brain.  Zyrtec (cetirizine) reduces inflammation but is also non-drowsy.

Therapy in the afternoon focused on the management of Type 2 Diabetes.  As it runs through my family, I have an interest in Diabetes.  The first treatment is easy - diet and exercise.  Then you get into the drugs - primarily metformin.  After that, things get complicated.  What do you add and when do you add it.

Wednesday
Lab was also about diabetes.  We checked our feet with a monofilament for neuropathy.  We checked our blood sugars - 95 after breakfast.  And we made an ointment for a foot ulcer.  The product took four hours to produce.  Lots of melting, mixing, and stirring.  Lots of stirring.  I stirred the mixture fairly constantly for an hour.  We had to come back later to package the ointment into a jar.

We didn't do any calculations this week in kinetics, but talked about the concepts of the equations.  I liked it better than the calculations which I could have just done on my own time.  These actually sparked intense discussions within our groups and as a class.

Thursday
Statistics in Drug Lit.  Only an hour going over descriptive statistics like mean, median and standard deviations.  A quiz determined if you needed to come back for the second hour.  Since I got all six right, I could go work on other things.

Med chem focused more details on the structures of first-generation antihistamines.  I had read the book on the section and felt a little lost.  But class really helped focus on the important details.

Therapy wrapped up the non-insulin portion of diabetes.  Start on metformin, add another drug, add another drug, start on insulin.  There are a lot of choices when it comes to diabetic meds and a lot to consider.

So that's the week of class.  I actually did a lot more for getting ready for next week when we have MTM, SOAP note, diabetes quiz, kinetics homework, kinetic quiz, lab preparation, and exam #1 for med chem.  My wife and I head to New York for our anniversary so I won't be doing to much school work.  I got many things done, but next week might be rough.  Until then, Have a great weekend!

Fall PY2 - Week 3

It has been a long strange week, but it is coming to an end with a long Labor Day Weekend.  So here's what happened in Pharmacy School this week:

Monday - Exam #1
With the morning off, I spent a good deal of time studying for the first exam of the year - Dermatology.  I didn't think the test was that bad.  Rumors were spread about the impossibility of this first exam.  But the professors anticipated it and seemed to have changed the format.  Then again, I never expected it to be too hard because the answer should usually be hydrocortisone, moisturizer, sunscreen, and/or antihistamine.  I will admit that because of this section, I used moisturizer on my face for the first time.  The result: several pimples on my nose.  No thanks!

By the way, the exam took about 30 minutes which meant a 90 minute break before the next class.  Jumping on a bus to head home was a thought that crossed my mind.  But I stayed for our Pre-Lab.  We had our first MRAP - an action plan for the patient's medication problems - due this week.  I wanted to make sure that I knew what I was doing.  I am still not sure, but it is done and I have three more this semester.

Tuesday
Back in Drug Lit we went through examples of searches through Secondary Resources.  We answered some questions by searching PubMed, EMBASE or Google (jk).  Simple process.  I like MeSH terms when applicable and I need to remember when to filter out options.  I particularly liked the article about the professionalism of pharmacy students on Facebook.  Hint: They are not too professional.  But then again, is this?

Med Chem finished up a lecture about G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCR).  Essentially a specific drug will either turn the receptor up, down or off.  Therapy returned with our first day on Diabetes.  It is a big section, and getting bigger.  A full 40% of Americans will be diagnosed with Diabetes during their lifetime.  Even more will have a loved one with Diabetes.  I expect a lot of future questions about managing the disease.

Wednesday - 2 Quizzes, Again
Today we made Coal Tar in lab.  We started with a quick quiz and more practice with Drug Information questions.  In the lab, we combined coal tar and salicylic acid into a cream/ointment to treat a patient's psoriasis.  The mixing process took a long time.  It looked and sounded like a training session to work at Coldstone.  We also made another batch using an unguator that only took 90 seconds.  Much easier.

At lunch we had a CAPS meeting and I was forced to do a Phlash Mob dance.  I ended up on the side out of the way expecting to follow the person next to me.  But she didn't know it either.  Oh well.  It was all good fun.  Afterwards we had another quiz in Kinetics about the basic equations that we used last semester - V, Cl, X, etc.  I think that I will like kinetics.  It's a math class.  Basically plug and chug.  But sitting in the class reminds me of my first year teaching physics.  While I might think that the algebra is intuitive and easy.  You have to go through everything step by step.  I worked my way through the practice problems for the day and then worked on the crossword puzzle.

Thursday
Drug lit featured one of my favorite professors giving the classic scientific method lecture about randomized control trials.  Instead of lima beans in saltwater, we talked about Cystic Fibrosis patients and hypertonic saline.  Med chem flew through Histamine receptors and their role in the body.  Histamine is released during an allergic reaction, but it also controls the acidity of your stomach and even your wakefulness.  That's why Benadryl makes you sleepy and Prilosec treats acid reflux.  After lunch, we had a second med chem presentation on diabetes drugs.  The number of medications just to treat a diabetic patient's blood sugar keeps going up.  They all have different methods of affecting the body.  We get to learn/memorize all of them.  Yeah!

It was a good week of classes.  I get a bonus day by working in the Inpatient Pharmacy on Friday.  I will be pulling drugs from the large, turning carousel from 7 until 3:30.  But after that it is Labor Day Weekend and the beginning of College Football!!!

Fall PY2 - Week 2

Made it through another week.  It still feels like they are easing us in a bit.  My week was easier that it didn't involve a dog emergency.  Augi is doing much better now.  His liver enzymes dropped from almost 8,000 to about 1,500.  Still above the 700 value of a normal, healthy dog, but he is headed in the right direction.  So let's look at how the week went.

Monday was a half-day.  We had the morning off, which I appreciated to get some work done.  I really only go 3.5 days on and 3.5 days off this entire semester.  I am going to enjoy it.  The first class of the afternoon was some more pharmacotherapy of dermatology.  Just so you know, the answer is always sunscreen and/or moisturize.  Has to be.  We talked about sunburns which was helpful for our SOAP note due on Wednesday.  The Large-group Lab class was more introductory and prepping for the labs this week.  There was much concern over how much we needed to learn about how the drugs work.  Since it is supposed to be about explaining things to patients, you didn't have to go into too much detail.  Instead of "amoxicillin inhibits the penicillin-binding proteins which damages the cell wall and leads to cell lysis due to osmotic pressures", you just needed to say "amoxicillin is a bacteriocidal antibiotic".  Done.

Tuesday went back to a full day.  We went through some cases (or applications) of tertiary sources in drug literature.  The type of question determines the source, but most of the time you should use Micromedex.  IV questions go the Handbook of Injectable Drugs.  Pregnancy questions go to Brigg's Guide to Pregnancy and Lactation.  Otherwise, go to Micromedex.  Med Chem was more about receptor signaling.  Specifically, about turning off the signal.  Cyclic GMP is turned off by
Phosphodiesterase (PDE) into GMP.  Viagra blocks PDE to keep cGMP on and help with erectile dysfunction.  The professor also talked about oxytocin.  It is such a weird hormone to me.  Oxytocin manages milk production and uterine contractions - both female jobs.  But males make it too, plenty of it.  That's because it is also related to trust and stress relief.  An increase of oxytocin makes us feel more relaxed and the easiest way to release the hormone is through hugging.  Which is why a good hug can make all of our problems fade away.  After lunch we had more therapy and more about sunburns and sun cancers.

Wednesday is lab day which means dressing up.  Or at least I thought so.  The number of ties on the male population dropped dramatically from week one to week two.  I will continue to represent.  We talked about our answers to the SOAP notes about a 20-year-old female with severe sunburn and acne.  I felt like I had all of the right answers, but I didn't give enough information.  Last semester's intense notes got Eurostile font to give myself more room.  I will have to go back to that.  Our quiz was straight forward.  The drugs aren't that difficult and the calculations are all review from last year.  After some other work, we looked at ourselves under the UV light (like the post from Monday).  I was scared.  I've coached outside through the middle of summer for a long time and very rarely ever used sunscreen.  A lot of freckles and clogged pores showed up, but nothing too bad.  There will not be a dermatologist trip in the near future.  After lunch came Pharmacokinetics and our first quiz - a review of pharmacodynamics.  Straightforward.  We answered some cases as a group by holding up letters to our choice.

Thursday rounds out the week.  Drug lit introduced secondary resources.  Pubmed and the Cochrane Review are my favorites.  I feel confident searching a database for articles.  But the term Boolean search through me off.  I could only think of boullion - the cubes of dehydrated meat stock - or boulliabase - French stew.  It only means the use of conjunctions to make to search broader.  Med Chem dove more into the important GPCR, receptors that make up about 1/3 of drug targets on the market and the most of drugs in the research pipeline.  Therapy, after lunch, returned to more about skin cancers.  I shared the UV video with the lab professor who sent it to the derm professor, who wanted me to introduce and show the video to the class.  Now, we have to get ready for the first exam of the year on Monday.  Thirty-six questions about dermatology.  That will make up a large chuck of my Friday.

Your Skin Through UV

In our therapy class, we are talking about dermatology.  Our first SOAP note, due Wednesday, is about skin care and sunburns.  Most of the damage caused to our skin comes from Ultraviolet Radiation.  UV rays come in three flavors - UVA (aging), UVB (burning), and UVC (blocked by ozone layer).  To protect yourself from burning, aging, and potential skin cancer, everyone should use sunscreen.  The fairer your skin, the higher the Sunburn Protection Factor (SPF) should be.

The video below will show you why.  We have ultraviolet cameras now which can show you what your skin actually looks like.  Thomas Leverit took a UV camera into a park to show people their skin.  The more freckles that appear the more damage had been done.  Look at the kid's skin compared to everyone else.  BUT most importantly, stay until the end and see the effect of sunscreen on the camera.  You will not be disappointed.

Fall PY2 Week 1

Classes have officially begun on a new school year!  The PharmD program always begins a week earlier than the rest of the university, but then we also finish earlier too.  As expected, this was a week of introductions.  But any excitement for the new year was quelled by a family trauma.

Augi had a ruff week

To start the week, I had an afternoon meeting of CAPS leaders.  Deciding to get to campus early and work a little in the library, I took the dogs out for their last pee break about 10 am.  After a few moments of running around like normal, Augi got a weird look on his face.  He stopped moving and stood in place.  I had to tug on him to get up the stairs and into the house.  I thought he was going to throw up or have a problem on the other end.  He didn't respond to any commands or even his name.  He just laid down struggling to breathe through his very white mouth.  I called the vet who told me to go to the emergency vet immediately.

Getting a collapsing Augi into the back of an SUV was not easy, but he was in the emergency room within 30 minutes of showing signs of shock - white gums, cold ears and limbs, unresponsive.  He did not care about any of the people in the waiting room.  And the nurse had to put him on a gurney to take him back.  The scariest part was signing a sheet to authorize CPR on a dog, which is $600 and has a 10% success rate.  The vets in the emergency room did a great job though.  He was hooked up to fluids immediately and started getting some tests done.  He started getting fluid in his abdomen and had low platelets and high ALT.  Augi was in Acute Liver Failure.  The cause is still unknown.  Maybe a mushroom or some kind of infection.  But thanks to the staff at the Vet Specialty Hospital of Durham, Augi is back at home after 3 days in the ICU.  We are still worried about him and giving him a wide assortment of medications.  Most importantly though, he is home again.

So a lot of my enthusiasm for the beginning of classes was diverted toward worrying about Augi and Emily.  But I did have some excitement and learned a lot in just three days.

Monday - No classes yet.  
We had a CAPS Leaders Meeting at 1 pm, which I was late to.  My main role that day was to take the pictures of the leaders.  Sounds easy, but for some reason I am missing quite a few people.  Some of my spare time this week was spent updating the CAPS website.

Tuesday - Official first day of classes.
Our first class of the day begins at a lazy 9 am - two hours of Drug Literature.  After some introductions, the Drug Information Specialist at UNC Hospitals began the first of three classes.  This is all about how to handle requests for information from doctors, nurses, or patients about a medication.  Most important message - understand the question.  All requests fit into some kind of category - Interactions, Reactions, Compatibility, etc.  Knowing what kind of question you have lets to pick the right resource and tailor your response.  Remember, an expert is not someone that knows all the answers, but the most efficient way of reaching it.

After Drug Lit, we were introduced to Medicinal Chemistry.  The professor went over the syllabus and that class ended in about 15 minutes.  After lunch we met with Pharmacotherapy.  Our first unit is dermatology and we jumped right in.  We had to review 100 slides before class to be ready to go over the first set of cases.  Not to bad.  Remember to moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.

Wednesday
During registration I chose the Wednesday morning lab.  I like it.  We met the professors in charge of the class, and then headed to our groups.  My group was very quiet, but efficient.  I think I decided I am ready to take the lead in the small section.  I want to assert myself and answer questions.  Taking the backseat just gets you through.  For the agenda, we took a quiz (23/25) and went over the drugs for next week's quiz.  For compounding today, we made a hydrocortisone semisolid in what looks like a deodorant stick.  The process was more complicated than I expected.  We used beeswax as the stiffening agent, which had to be melted.  No problem there until you remove the heat.  Beeswax cools incredibly quickly, even when mixed with mineral oil and hydrocortisone.  I cannot guarantee that my compound will pass inspection this time around.  I may be going back to redo it in a couple weeks.

After lunch, we had Pharmacokinetics.  As another introductory class, the professor explained the course and his travels over the summer.  Mostly he was making time until the Dean showed up for the second hour.  The Dean talked about the tragedy of a professor that was murdered over the summer just off campus and the changes to the school.

Thursday
The courses are a repeat of Tuesday's schedule, but we did more work.  In Drug Lit, we went over the Tertiary Sources for Drug Information.  These are the textbooks or databases that we all search online.  I have two booked marked on my computer.  There are some resources that are specific to certain questions, especially IV drugs or Pregnancy questions.  Essentially, a tertiary source provides a summary of the research available.  Some are more detailed and others are more specialized.  It is just important to know where to look for what information.

MedChem had one of my favorite professors reviewing some terms.  Autocoids are signaling molecules that usually send information over a short distance.  They usually activate a GPCR (G-Protein Coupled Receptor).  All of this was covered last year in Biochem and Therapy.

Dermatology was very similar to the previous class.  This time we talked a lot about fungal infections like dandruff and an allergic reaction to codeine.  The answers are fairly similar.  If it itches, take diphenhydramine (Benadryll).  If it is inflammed, a steroid should work (hydrocortisone, triamcinolone).  Always check the vehicle that carries the drug.  Creams, ointments, and lotions are not all the same thing.  Apparently, general practitioners only pick the right vehicle 50% of the time (they aren't dermatologists).  This is where the pharmacist can intervene and make sure the patient gets the right combination.

Friday - NO Classes
Friday is my day off.  Well, off is a relative term.  I hope to write my weekly update on Fridays.  And then I have a lot of work to do for the next week.  We already have our first SOAP Note due next week.  SOAP Notes are a patient case that we have to analyze and make recommendations for treatment options.  This one is about dermatology so I am sure moisturize will be one of the answers.

Last Day of Summer

My summer break has reached its final day.  This weekend I go to work at the Hospital before a CAPS meeting on Monday and the first day of classes on Tuesday.  Surprisingly, I accomplished a lot during this unexpected break.  The plan was to work at the hospital during the weekdays during the months of June and July, but too many new full time technicians were starting that they moved me to my weekend schedule.  That meant a lot of free time for the entirety of July.

Chivalry returned to BBC America on Sunday Nights

I know that I shouldn't complain, but I was worried that I would go a little crazy.  Usually my summers are filled with football practices and planning for the next year.  Not anymore.  I have no control over the requirements for this year.   I really did not want to revert to a month of TV watching, so I turned to more constructive ideas.  The closet under the stairs got shelves for better organization.  The guest bathroom was quarterrounded and the master bathroom received two shelves in a completed wasted space.  Our screened in porch now has carpet and a dinner table.  The cats litter box was concealed inside a table looking box.  I also kept the house very clean - which I think my wife will miss the most.

There was some TV watching though - Under the Dome, The Musketeers, Orange is the New Black,
and the World Cup.  I went to seen Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and read The Patriot Games and Allegiant.  The Hobbit was on HBO yesterday.  While I did a lot of work, I did get plenty of relaxation in.  Of course some relaxation isn't so relaxing.  I took the dogs on a lot of walks and Charlie, the black lab, pulls incessantly.  I tried to train them without going to someone.  It helped a little, but he can still be annoying.  Running also fits into the relaxing but not so much category.

But all that is behind me now.  It might have been better not to have worked at the hospital so I could get more done at home.  Then again, I could have used the experience.  Next Tuesday begins Pharmaceutical Year #2.  I met several PY1s at the social led by CAPS leaders at McAllister's.  The all seemed excited about starting their journey, like I was last year.  While I began the semester with a combination eagerness, anxiety and worry that I made a life-altering mistake for my family, PY2 begins with confidence and yet more excitement.  They say PY2 is the hardest year of pharmacy school - tons of material and an exam every week.  Clearly they weren't a high school football coach with an "exam" every week.  I am not worried about this semester, but I might feel differently in a month.  We do have a quiz on the first day of lab and an assignment has already been completed.  Before I know it, it will be December.  I will try to keep writing throughout the semester but I might miss a day here or there.  I should have plenty of material for a weekly update on PY2.  Here is a look at our classes for the Fall Semester:

1. Drug Literature
2. Medicinal Chemistry
3. Pharmacokinetics
4. Pharmacotherapy - GI, Respiratory, Dermatology
5. Pharmaceutical Care Lab #3