Other ways to study: Videos for visual learners

Different people have different learning styles and this can make it difficult to prepare for standardized exams. Personally I am a somewhat visual learner so I really appreciate charts or images to help me study. One of the tools I discovered when preparing for my exams were YouTube videos on health topics. These videos are informative and were great review for me. Often I would watch them as I ate or when I was taking my study breaks since they require little effort. I did not rely heavily on them but like I said, they offered a different way to repeat and strengthen the information I was reading as I studied.

Here are some links:

Dr. Najeeb – I especially liked his lectures about antibiotics (this is a link to the first of 4 videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9U_JDMgB7M&feature=related). He has other lectures also available on his YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/DoctorNajeeb?feature=watch).   

Armando Hasudungan – These are really creative and pictorial lessons for a multitude of therapeutic topics (http://www.youtube.com/user/armandohasudungan?feature=watch). He has a specific section for pharmacology (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL601B2E69B03FAB9D) but I only found the hypertension videos useful.

There are many more (although these were the ones I watched) and if you search key terms, like pharmacology, I’m sure you can find others.

I also must stress that you watch the OSCE vignette videos that PEBC has online (http://www.pebc.ca/index.php/ci_id/5021/la_id/1.htm). These are sample scenarios that prepare you for what to expect on the actual exam.

I hope this helps!

Resources I used to prepare for the PEBC

To prepare for the PEBC exams I found the following resources to be the most useful. I had a really hard time in the beginning deciding what books to use. In fact that was one of the parts of the preparation process that made me feel the most overwhelmed.  I felt that there was so much information and I didn’t know what would be the most efficient resources.

I found each of these books great for its own reasons (which I’ve briefly mentioned below). These references helped me so I hope they can help you too!

The Canadian Pharmacists Association Therapeutic Choices

·         Available from The Canadian Pharmacists Association: http://www.pharmacists.ca/index.cfm/function/store/ProductDetail.cfm?ProdCompanyPassed=cpa&ProdCdPassed=cpa-20116-W&PriceCategPassed=std&indexstart=1

·         This is the foundation for preparing for the PEBC exams (MCQ and OSCE)!!!!

·         I recommend you know this book as much as you possibly can.

PRO’s:

·         The summary charts are a great quick reference, especially the columns on side effects and drug interactions.

·         The chapters as short and give the key points on all the major/important topics. I read this book a lot and used it as my quick review. Whenever I had free time I would read a chapter or two.

CON’s:

·         I also feel that for some things it is not detailed enough and that is why I sought out other books too.

DiPiro et al. Pharmacotherapy: A Pathophysiologic Approach

• Available from Amazon: http://www.amazon.ca/Pharmacotherapy-Pathophysiologic-Approach-Joseph-DiPiro/dp/007147899X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364920399&sr=1-2 and other sources too.
• This book has general information and the pocket (small) edition is similar to Therapeutic Choices except that it is an American publication, so some standards, dosing, and medication availability may differ from Canadian pharmacy practice.

PRO’s:

• I bought the pocket edition and found it great for reviewing. It had some chapters that Therapeutic Choices did not and also an additional level of detail.
• The larger (full print) version of the textbook provides even more detail and information. It is a great reference and a well-known standard in pharmacy practice.
• I think the information in DiPiro was most useful for preparing for the MCQ component of the PEBC.

CON’s:

§  It’s expensive and has A LOT of information. It can be overwhelming and I only used it to augment what I read in Therapeutic Choices and to do practice questions.

Koda-Kimble and Young’s Applied Therapeutics: The Clinical Use of Drugs

• Available from Amazon: http://www.amazon.ca/Koda-Kimble-Youngs-Applied-Therapeutics- Clinical/dp/1609137132 and other sources too.

·   This book is similar to the larger (full print) version of DiPiro in terms of its content. It has chapters on all the major therapeutic topics.

PRO’s:

• I found this book special because it presents therapeutic topics through cases. It gives scenarios and provides questions to get you thinking about drug therapy problems and how to apply your knowledge in order to correct the issue. There are also sample questions with solutions.
• This book helped me get into the right mindset and prepare for the OSCE.

CON’s:

·     It’s expensive and has A LOT of information. It can be overwhelming and I only used it to augment what I read in Therapeutic Choices and to do practice questions or look at therapeutic scenarios.

Comprehensive Pharmacy Review

• Available from Amazon: http://www.amazon.ca/Comprehensive-Pharmacy-Review-Leon-Shargel/dp/158255711X and other sources too.
• This is a great summary resource. It contains great chapters on topics that I could not find in other places, like calculations, compounding, drug information resources, therapeutic drug monitoring and pharmacology. I loved this reference and the way it managed to summarized so much information so well.

PRO’s:

• I really liked this book!
• There are sample questions after each chapter and the book also comes with an online version too. I found this book helped me for the MCQ component of PEBC.

CON’s

·         Some chapters were specific to American pharmacy practice (ex. a chapter on Federal Law) so I had to keep that in mind.

Ansel. Pharmaceutical Calculations

• Available from Amazon: http://www.amazon.ca/Pharmaceutical-Calculations-Howard-C-Ansel/dp/1451120362/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364920927&sr=1-1 and other sources too.
• A great source for calculations!!!!!! I used this book as my main study tool for calculations. It had lots of practice questions with answers provided, tons of examples and also an online question bank to provide even more practice.

Here is the link to PEBC's website for the references and resources they recommend (some are the same I've mentioned here but there are MANY more too): http://www.pebc.ca/index.php/ci_id/3149/la_id/1.htm 

Hope this helps!

Some more advice

When I was preparing for my exams one of the few posts I found online that offered any useful advice was this one (http://pebc.forumup.org/about2232-0-pebc.html). In it you will find great advice from someone who also survived the exams and what they did to pass.

Blueprints to success

When preparing for the PEBC Pharmacist Qualifying Exams (both OSCE and MCQ) and the OCP Jurisprudence exam two resources that I printed and used from the beginning were the examination blueprints provided for both exams.

Here are screen shots and links to the blueprints:

http://www.pebc.ca/index.php/ci_id/3139/la_id/1.htm

 

http://www.ocpinfo.com/client/ocp/OCPHome.nsf/d12550e436a1716585256ac90065aa1c/750a3262c13b9c4e85257b3400487a3e?OpenDocument&Highlight=2,jurisprudence

 

These blueprints literally break down the exam content for you. They tell you the pertinent sections that will be covered and their percent on the exams.

From my personal experience I read these before I started studying in order to get a general idea of what would be on the exam. I also highlighted the top three most heavily weighted sections (the ones that would have the most questions on the exams) in order to really remember these as I started to read and look over notes.

Midway through my time studying I went back and looked again at the blueprints in order to make sure I was on the right track. At that time I also looked to see if there were any points that I did not recognize or know so that I could make sure I did not forget to study those.

At the end (probably about 1-2 weeks before the exams) I again looked at the blueprints to make sure I had covered everything. I also used this as a semi test for myself. For example, with the OCP Jurisprudence Blueprint I made sure I knew all the terms and could define them for myself or knew what they were referring to. If there was something I could not remember I went back to my notes and covered those points.

I really found these blueprints useful tools to guide my studying. One of the scariest parts of the examinations is not knowing what to expect but these lists are great ways to ease the nerves and get an idea of what will be asked and how.

The OCP and PEBC websites: Two very important resources

Whether you graduated from an accredited pharmacy program in Ontario or you are a foreign graduate the most important resources that will guide you through the process of becoming a pharmacist in Ontario are the Ontario College of Pharmacists website (http://www.ocpinfo.com/) and the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada website (http://www.pebc.ca/index.php/ci_id/3374/).

The OCP site has all the information regarding the requirements for becoming a pharmacist in Ontario.

This information is vital. I used it as my blueprint to ensure that I had met all requirements. After graduation some will need to complete a studentship, then there is the internship and there are also the three major required exams (a fourth Pharmacist Evaluating Examination is required if you are a foreing graduate). I really recommend you check out the OCP website.

This site also has vital information for the required jurisprudence exam (http://www.ocpinfo.com/client/ocp/OCPHome.nsf/web/Jurisprudence). You can apply online for the exam and there PDF files with all the relevant jurisprudence presentation slides, an exam blueprint and also sample questions.

The PEBC website is also an essential  tool since it is the primary resource regarding the Pharmacist Evaluating Examination and the Pharmacist Qualifying Examination (both the Multiple Choice Exam and the OSCE Practical Exam).

You can apply to these exams online through this website. This website also vital resources like sample exam questions, sample OSCE scenarios, learning resources and even an examination blueprint (http://www.pebc.ca/index.php/ci_id/3139/la_id/1.htm). I cant stress enough how important all of this is.

 

 

These two websites are very important and I think it’s a good idea to check them out early in order to get the most out of them.

 

Welcome

This blog is meant to provide lessons learnt, tips and ways to successfully become a pharmacist in Ontario. I have survived the process and I know how difficult it can be so I want to help you by sharing the lessons I learnt along the way. Pharmacy is a beautiful career that offers an incredible array of possibilities. I am certain that with hard work, perseverance and dedication you too will successfully become a Registered Pharmacist.

I do want to clarify some things about this blog from the onset:

1.       I will NOT be giving any information about the actual PEBC or OCP jurisprudence exams content. As pharmacists we agree to keep the confidentiality of these exams and I am sworn to do so. I will NOT be telling you what was on the exams so if you are looking for that sort of information this is not the right place for you. Instead I will share how I prepared and what I found useful. If those things helped me pass I think they might help you as well.

2.       The process is unique for each person. This blog is just my advice based on what worked for me. That means that although these things helped me succeed they might not work for you so please don’t shoot the messenger because I am only trying to help. Your most important and vital resources will certainly be PEBC (http://www.pebc.ca/index.php/ci_id/3374/) and OCP (http://www.ocpinfo.com/). I hope my advice helps you.

 I hope this complements your study regimen and I wish you success!