Guest ikaj Posted May 23, 2003 Report Share Posted May 23, 2003 So many drugs! so many side effects etc. Does anyone have any suggestions of how to memorize it all? I usually just memorize for the exam, then forget right after. As a physician I will have to be able to keep track of many symptoms of various illnesses...how do we store this info in long term memory?? I have made flash cards, but seriously...how many can you have! Some people tell me to make up songs--but I am not that creative! Any other suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest druggist Posted May 23, 2003 Report Share Posted May 23, 2003 Hello As a pharm student, memorization is a huge key. Every drug not only has a name, but differing mechanisms of action, pharmacokinetics, adverse reactions, and to top it all off, DOSES. Not only that, but drugs interact with diseases, concomitant meds, and even foods (the infamous grapefruit juice as an inhibitor of cytochrome P450 3A4 and other isotypes). The best way to memorize drugs is to list them according to their category/therapeutic class into a table containing listings of MOA, ADRS, etc. etc. and then just write HOW THEY DIFFER. Similarities do not matter, so dont list them. Hope this helps, works for me quite well. As far as diagnostic differences, hopefully Ill come up with an ingenious study mechanism for this In meds. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nurze06 Posted May 23, 2003 Report Share Posted May 23, 2003 as a nursing student i completely agree! begin with the pharm/therapeutic classes and then identify differences. it makes it was easier! cramming for this type of thing is no good in the long run. i can only suggest that you refer back to your summary sheets/study notes regularly for now. essentially it's just practice, and that takes TIME. there is nothing wrong with consulting your references--doctors do this everyday. and finally, drug exams are one thing, giving them to people is another. the sheer gravity of affecting someones health helps me remember--and i'm sure it will help you too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest grandmellon Posted May 24, 2003 Report Share Posted May 24, 2003 I agree with the two strategies above... cramming will definitely not help you with this one... regular review will! I have found that the drugs used most frequently in the hospital are easy to remember but when it comes to less common ones its harder to remember all the details... but that is what the CPS is for... or for me my palm pilot. I have an amazing program on my palm pilot which has all the drugs and their details. It is a quick reference and is most useful for checking drug interactions when your patient is on multiple drugs. In sum, you will find memorizing the differences are easier and as you study you will start to remember common s/e's etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OncologyMike Posted May 25, 2003 Report Share Posted May 25, 2003 Memory works primarily on two levels. There is long and short-term memory. Believe it or not, you have things that are difficult to forget. Example, it’s very unlikely you’ll forget that you have a “foot” or specifically the identifying name “foot” or really any other basic body part for that matter. There are many things that your mind has been accustomed to understand as convention over time. These fall under long-term memory. Develop a list of maybe 50 of these… and call them memory joggers or pegs. What you’ll want to do is bind or attach short-term recalls to the long-term memory pegs through visual animation. You will easily remember actions along with vivid descriptive animations (cartoons if you will) of what you’ve learned in the short term if they’re attached properly to these joggers or pegs.. Finally review these every 24 hours ( a technique called layered learning). After a week or so. They’ll be apart of you. It’s all like a filing cabinet. If you file it correctly (the way you mind works) then retrieval will be easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shelleyrn Posted May 26, 2003 Report Share Posted May 26, 2003 Hey there! Just curious as to what Rx program you are running on your Palm (I have a pocket pc)....? Shelley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest grandmellon Posted May 26, 2003 Report Share Posted May 26, 2003 Hey Shelly I use a really good program by epocrates http://www.epocrates.com Unfortunately they charge a small fee for using their program (Around $50 american for a year). When I first started using it 3 years ago it was free. They really got me hooked. They have constant updates and revisions that automatically load onto your palm pilot when you put it on your cradle. /www.epocrates.com/catalo...=Epocrates That website has a free version of it... I don't know if it's time limited or not. but check it out, you might be pleasantly surprised. I know that in the future everything will be put onto palm sized computers as everything goes paperless. I can't wait til that happens... I hate writing with a pen! :rollin (plus my writing isn't exactly the neatest out there either... in fact my grade 8 spelling teacher made me rewrite my whole spelling book... how rude!) IT's really fascinating to see how they have computerized X-rays now and have them stored on computers that can be accessed around the world... just imagine!!!! WOW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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