The Final Crunch!!

PHM428 - Psychology of Patient Care taught by Prof. AZ

The Culture Shock Model
1) Euphoria, expectation - July 2003 - "omgosh!!! I got into Pharmacy... this is sooo cool!! I can't wait to learn how to provide pharmaceutical care!!"
2) Irritation - September 2004-present - "What's with the cruddy marks, that do not correlate with the amount of time I spent studying", "what's wrong with the Faculty?!", "8 courses each semester?!"
3) Rejection of Host Culture - July 2008 - "Is this what pharmacy practice is REALLY like? What did I get myself into??"
4) Idealization of Host Culture - July 2008 - "hmmm... maybe being in school wasn't that bad."
5) Projection onto Host Culture - August 2008 - "I hate this." (having a difficult time adjusting)
6) Adjustment - September 2008 - "It's not as bad as I thought it would be... it's getting better."
7) Adaptation - Somewhere in the future - "Meh." (at least the money's good)

So... I can almost see the finish line. It's almost the end of my undergraduate pharmacy career. Say goodbye to bad skin, increased cortisol levels, hypertension secondary to taking 8 courses and marks that bounce all over the place. I can't say I'll miss those stressful times though.

One thing I'll definitely miss, the friends I've made over the past 4 years. If I could go back in time, I'd do it all over again, just to be able to have met them. Sure there are some things regarding the curriculum that could be improved, but I like what I've learnt, and I will be able to make good money and shop on Bloor St. XD

Young and Rich and Dating "Down"

Jim Plagakis posted a blog about this.

I know we live in the 21st century, and it shouldn't 'really' matter what either party makes, but seriously, if the woman makes substantially 'more' than the man (and by 'more', you set your own standards on what you think that means), how feasible are those relationships?

I guess this adds another problem to our "Intimacy vs. Isolation" crisis that Zubin suggests all 20 something year olds are going through. It's tough being a young, female professional who makes good money. But then again, I like my money. You might meet guys who only want to date you for your money (or maybe that's more common in the States), or you'll meet guys that might be intimidated by you (if they're not a doctor/dentist/pharmacist/other professional that makes lots of money). Do you think that by being a young female professional, you might be placed at a disadvantage in the dating field? Does being a young male professional bring an advantage to the dating field?

The things you do for friends....

I admit it. I'm a pretty good friend if I want to be!!! So, if I'm not willing to cross the ocean for you, chances are I don't want to be your good friend j/k.

Anyway, back to the story. There's a reason why I'm up at 1:41 am blogging in the middle of the night.

My friend AF (no, her name is not atrial fibrillation), calls me at 11 something pm tonight and asks me for a favour. Basically, she owns a pitbull, and Toronto Animal Services as well as Public Health want to put her dog down. She asked me to write her a letter (as a witness) that her dog is friendly towards my family and Willy. I say, "okay, I'll try my best... when do you need it?" Her: "I need it by tomorrow morning because my lawyer told me last minute that I need letters from people that have met my dog". Thanks for the short short notice... I really appreciate it.

So anyway, I wrote her the letter, even though I am pretty stressed right now. But, owning a pet, I know how distressed I would feel if something like that happened to me. People may wonder why I'm still doing intramurals and choir, when 4th year is insane. Well, first of all, I like to exercise. It's one way to make sure I don't turn morbidly obese when I'm stressed. Second of all, as a HCP, I think it's great to set a good example. How can you tell someone with hypertension to exercise 4-7x/week for 30 minutes when you don't exercise at all yourself. With regards to choir, I just can't help it that I love to sing. Also, if you haven't noticed, I'm not a quitter. These are responsibilities and obligations that I committed to, and I don't just 'shake things off' just because I'm busy.

When do you find time to study?? Well, I'm taking it out of my sleep time, duh!! And that letter writing came out of my sleep time too. Back to theRAPEutics..... but I think Health Systems might rape me more =(

I actually like studying for Substance Abuse

You know, even though Hell is upon us --> See my post-it on Facebook, or see below, studying for my first midterm (Alcohol and Substance Abuse Disorders) is actually interesting and useful. I can apply this to practice, and it's good general knowledge as well. After going through this in other courses (eg. PCL 361), now I know what Naltrexone, Naloxone, Methadone is for. Now, just because I like to study for this course, doesn't mean I'll do well on it... let's hope I do though :)

Living with other people - 2nd edition (Round 2)
The people this year are actually pretty good. Except for the periodic loud 'bass' downstairs, everyone is really quiet. I actually have no problems studying here =) I have 2 (soon to be 3) people from Vancouver, and 3 tenants from Hong Kong. We have two guys living in the house, which makes me feel a bit better. (If you recall the homeless man incident from last semester, you know why).

How are the girls on my floor?
Pretty good actually. As I mentioned, they're quiet. I got used to them leaving their stuff in the shower, I don't really care anymore. A couple of them left their dirty dishes in the sink overnight, but I set them straight :P The washrooms are generally pretty clean.

The only thing that kind of bugs me is that there is a girl that likes to take showers late at night (like I do). And, sometimes she gets the shower first.. and I end up having to stay up much LATER than I anticipated because I can't stand sleeping with the feeling of being dirty. She takes like... 40 minute showers. Seriously, who takes showers that long?? Even when I end up washing my hair, I take 20 minutes max. If it's just a regular shower, give me 10 minutes. And I'm not one of those girls that uses a gazillion moisturizers either, maybe that's why. Anyway, back to the girl. She ends up going in at like 12am... maybe 12 something.. add in 40 minutes... I end up sleeping at 1 something, which explains my fatigue in class!

But I could take earlier showers, right? Well, I could... but I LOVE the "clean" feeling I get right after I shower.. and I'm used to that feeling right before I go to bed. Now, my plan is to steal the shower before she does :P

PHM425 Lit Review - Oct 12th
PHM462 (sub abuse) midterm - oct 15th
PPL Lab!
PHM421 Exam - oct 19th
PHM427 Exam - oct 22nd
PHM459 Assignment - Oct 26th**
PHM428 midterm - Oct 26th
PHM425 Midterm - Oct 29th
Residency Application
Book review

SPEP//Other

The good news: I'm NOT getting shipped to Thunder Bay or Sault Ste. Marie. :D
I'm going to a Pharmaplus by Vaughan Mills for Community and Humber River Finch site for my Hospital. Now, it's not downtown Toronto, but I can still commute there. I just need to get my dad to drive me there so I can figure out how long it might take by Subway/Viva/other transportations. I really wish I had my G license >_<

Haha, I was going to go on Facebook and post it there, but I realized that everyone who posted had REALLY BAD places. So, I'll just keep mine, I won't be greedy :)

The bad news: I'm going crazy and it's only the second week O.o

School is dry

Day 2 and I've already lapsed in and out of consciousness in one of my classes. I have noooo idea what the professor is talking about. I didn't even take economics in high school or university!

Class hours aren't bad, but I feel as though the work is going to start piling at an exponential rate if I don't start now.

I've been feeling a wide range of emotions lately. I'm getting irritated with people when I'm usually quite easy going. Sad that this is my last semester of classes and exams. Happy that I'm going to be done my 4 year journey. Scared of venturing into the life of being an adult. Not looking forward to working for 30+ years.

How do you take your mind off something?

Guess this treatment?

1 Suprax (cefixime) 400 mg stat
4 Azithromycin 500 mg
28? Tetracycline 250mg bid x 14 days