 to another True Life episode. For those of you who are new to my channel, go ahead and subscribe right now. And if you're not familiar with my True Life series, take a moment right now. Go in my channel search bar and just type in True Life and you'll see all the various different True Life documentaries that I've done so far highlighting OBGYNPAs, just some minority PA students, an emergency medicine physician. And now, for you guys, I have a pharmacy student. I'm really excited about this, you guys, because I know some of you've seen my videos talking about, is PA school right for you? In PA school, the PA profession is not for everyone, but there is so much more in the healthcare field that you can get into and pharmacy is one such field. And so today you're gonna be introduced to Donicia. She is a third year doctoral pharmacy student and she is gonna talk to you about the pharmacy field and being a student in pharmacy school and what all that takes in entails. So without further ado, here is Donicia. Hi, my name is Donicia Cork and I am a third year doctor pharmacy student and this is my True Life. He is jealous of me, love me. So I'm 25 years old and I live in Westchester, New York. For those of you who don't know where that is, I can tell you that it is not upstate. A lot of people think that it's upstate, but it's not, so I'm just gonna make that clear. It's not upstate. Growing up, I was a very energetic little girl. I always had so many dreams and desires in my heart and I would do anything to achieve them and I always had so much passion to achieve whatever was in my heart. And honestly, not much has changed, which is a good thing. So I love hanging out with my friends. I love trying different restaurants, going to New York City, trying different restaurants there, hanging out, going to the movies. I love going to the movies on Tuesdays because it is cheaper. So go to the movies on Tuesdays. But those are just some things that I love to do when I have some free time. Bending beneath the weight of his wind, I must say. Honestly, growing up, I always wanted to be a pediatrician and when I started undergrad, I thought that that's what I was going to do. When I did more research into the career, I realized that that wasn't the lifestyle that I wanted for myself and I just wanted a little bit more flexibility but I still wanted to be in the healthcare field. So one summer I did an internship at a pharmaceutical research institute and I had a great time. We were working with different anti-coagulants and I was just like, oh my gosh, like this is really cool. So I said, let me take a look into pharmacy. I did some more research and I saw that it was a career that was at the heart of medicine, honestly. And I was just like, that's what I want to do. I want to be a pharmacist and I want to be a drug expert. And I felt like the career kind of matched with the lifestyle that I wanted for myself or just having that flexibility, being able to be in different areas of healthcare. And so I was just like, okay, we're gonna do this. And that's kind of really how it all started. And then the summer before my senior year, I kind of just did some more research into the application process and all that stuff and started to prepare to apply to pharmacy school. All of a sudden, I am on the... So the doctor pharmacy program is four years and I received my bachelor's in biology at an undergraduate university and that was also four years. So for me, it's eight years, but for some students, they start out of high school and they can do a six year program. So you don't necessarily have to do the eight years or you can get your prerequisites at another school for two years and then you can start in the four year program. So it could be either six or eight years. It all depends on which path you take. And my school days are like a typical work day, honestly. There are some days I leave my room at eight a.m. and I don't get back until like four or five. Or there's some days I leave at like 10 and I don't get back until like five or six. And that's because usually after class, my friends and I, we will do an assignment together or we'll study together. So typically classes end around like two, three and we'll do some work until like five, six. So typical work day, honestly, being a full-time student is a job. So typically like that nine to five schedule that is what it's like on a regular school day, but it varies on each day because we have different classes. So it all depends on what day it is and what classes you're taking. And your classes are pretty much set for each semester. However, you get to pick different electives that you want to take or you can pick which lab section you want to be in. So it all varies depending on the year that you're in and what day it is, honestly. I realize just how beautiful you are to me. How do I memorize all those drugs? I'm still trying to figure it out. Let me know if you have the answer. No, but in all seriousness, I use flashcards a lot. Like I heavily rely on flashcards and I utilize Quizlet because I get to have the flashcards on my phones I can study on the go or on my computer iPad. So that really makes it easier to study the different drugs because for each class, we need to know the brand and generic. So those are really helpful to just know those really quick. And also working at a hospital or any area in pharmacy is helpful because I constantly see the drugs over and over so it really helps them to stick into my brain. So really like flashcards, working really helps to see the drugs and also understanding the drugs mechanism of action where the drug works because sometimes the name is connected to that but not all the time because some drugs have no rhyme or reason as to why that's the name but it's just the name. So that doesn't always help but definitely flashcards I would say is the biggest thing that helps me memorize all those drugs. So what is the most challenging part of pharmacy school? I would have to say memorizing the side effects, the contraindications, all that stuff connected to one drug because it's easy to say like, oh yeah, this drug has this many side effects and this drug has this contraindication but when you have an exam that has like 20 to 40 different drugs that you need to know all those side effects and contraindications for it gets to be a lot. So I would have to say that that's the hardest part of just making sure that you understand the side effects contraindications and like all those little things about each drug because it's a lot. So I would have to say that that's the hardest part but like I said before like really understanding where the drug works can really help you figure out what side effects are attached to that drug. So if a drug acts like in the stomach and you know, you can know that the side effects is like nausea, vomiting, like stuff like that because I found that memorizing you can remember it for the exam but after the exam it kind of just floats out of your brain. So I found that understanding makes it a lot easier to know what the side effects and the contraindications are for each drug. So those are just some of the challenges that I've experienced but overall pharmacy school is a challenge in and of itself but at the end of the day it's very doable if you can really like take your time to manage your time, prioritize and just figure out what works for you. So one of the main things you need to know to be a competitive candidate for pharmacy school I would have to say to be involved. That's one of the biggest things that I saw when applying to pharmacy school because in one of my interviews all they asked me was about the things that I did that I had on my application. So they were really focused on, you know what else can I bring to the table? Like yes I had grades but what else is there? And so I think that's really important that a lot of students don't realize that community service, getting involved, volunteering. Like being a well-rounded person is what a lot of schools are looking for. So I would say like don't neglect that. I know sometimes you wanna be so focused on getting the grades. Yes the grades are important but also being involved to show that you are a well-rounded person is really important too. So that's like the biggest thing that I would say is to get involved in your community, in school, whatever the case may be. And also I will say grades are important. I don't know what the specific GPA is for different schools. It varies honestly and a lot of schools look at applications holistically so they don't necessarily just look at your grades. So it really depends. However I would say that like if you are above 3.0 that's like a really great place to be but like I said it varies for every school. And also the PCAT which is the Pharmacy College Admissions Test. That's something that you wanna take time to study for and prepare for because that's also what a lot of schools use to determine your acceptance. I don't really remember how like the scoring goes but I would just say to study in advance and to really prepare for that so you can do well so that way you can be a competitive candidate for a pharmacy school. I would have to say no. Before starting pharmacy school I looked up the stats of my school and saw that it was only 3% black and I was really like shocked about this but at the same time I wasn't really surprised because when I spoke to other pharmacists they said that that number was the same in the career. And this is really sad and I hope that it changes in the future because diversity in medicine is so important. It really helps to add that cultural competency that I feel like is lacking in a lot of areas in healthcare. So by having more diversity I feel like we'll be able to be more culturally competent and be able to relate to a lot of our patients. So hopefully in the future we can add more diversity in pharmacy and just healthcare overall because I think it'll help us to be better healthcare providers in the long run. So you do have free time as a pharmacy student. I don't want anyone to think that all we're doing is studying 24-7. You can't study 24-7. That's not healthy because you will experience burnout really fast. But yeah, we do have free time. I actually work two jobs in pharmacy school. I work at a hospital as a pharmacy intern and I also work on campus as a student ambassador where I give tours and stuff. So I have the time to do that. And I also still have time for myself so that way I can just relax. I can stay in bed. I can hang out with my friends, go out to eat, still go to church. So I have that time available. It's just all the matter of prioritizing and managing that time. I have a planner that I heavily rely on. So I just make sure that I set aside that time in my schedule. And I feel like this is for every student. You just have to really prioritize your time and schedule so that way you can have that time for yourself. So the average salary for pharmacists is around 120 to 140 to $50,000 a year. So it's a pretty nice salary and it all depends on your location and what area of pharmacy you decide to go in. Whether it's clinical, whether it's retail, whether it's like research, there's a lot of different areas in pharmacy. So it all depends on which area that you choose. But according to Google, it's around like 120 to like 140 to $150,000 a year. So it's a pretty nice salary. I wish I knew that studying with friends and classmates is really helpful. In undergrad, I used to study by myself all the time and it worked for me. So I was just like, okay, I'm gonna continue the same thing in pharmacy school and it did not work. And I quickly realized that studying with friends and classmates really helps you to understand the material a lot better. And it really helps to know the material in and out because in pharmacy school, they make sure that you know the material. And it makes sense because they wanna make sure that you are going to be a great pharmacist and be successful in your career. So by talking out different mechanisms of actions, by talking about different drugs and really trying to understand the material together, we're able to do a lot better. So I would say study with classmates, study with friends, go to peer tutoring. That's a big thing. Tutoring is really helpful because a lot of times people who are tutoring that subject did really well. So they kinda know what works and they can provide you with some of those tips that they use and that they found helpful. So I would say also to go to tutoring. Another thing that I would say is being organized, like really organized, that can make a huge difference in your career as a pharmacy student because if you're organized, it can make preparation easier. It can make studying easier, getting assignments done easier. And not even just organized, but also submitting things ahead of time is a big thing. I used to always submit things at the last minute. And I realized that when you take time to get things done ahead of time, you can fix different errors that you have. And so I find that submitting things earlier, I do better on those assignments. So that's something that I wish I knew earlier as opposed to a little later. Honestly, I would have to say my faith in God, especially with my story of getting into pharmacy school, I did not have the PCAT score that I needed. And I did terrible on that exam. And so I was really fearful about getting into school. And so when I did get into the school that I wanted to go to, I was just like, wow, like God, that was really you. And so it just really shows that, wherever you are supposed to be, and if you're meant to be somewhere, you will be there. So that's always been my encouragement to always just continue to trust God because he did not bring me here for no reason. So that's like one of my biggest motivation is my faith in God and just trusting him. And I would also have to say my family and my friends, there are plenty of moments where I've called my parents crying my eyes out, freaking out over a class or exam and being fearful of not doing well. And they were always just like, keep going and encourage me to just know that I'm able to succeed. So that's been really great. And my friends have been there for me from the get go and they always cheer me on and give me the motivation that I need to finish. So I'm truly grateful for them. And lastly, I would have to say in my YouTube channel, oh my goodness, I started my channel when I started pharmacy school to kind of just document my journey, not even just as a pharmacy student, but as a Christian. And that has been one of the biggest motivations for me because as I go through this journey and I share that process, I see how impactful it is for so many other people and how encouraging it is, not just for pharmacy students, but for other Christians. And so that really helps me to keep going to know that I'm also helping others. So that's like one of my biggest motivations as well because YouTube really has allowed me to, you know, step out of my comfort zone and to really just be motivated, you know, via other people and helping other people. So that's what I have to say motivates me to finish pharmacy school. So what do I look most forward to about becoming a pharmacist? I would have to say being at the heart of medicine. Pharmacists are drug experts and I feel like a lot of people don't realize how important pharmacists are. So I'm pretty excited about just, you know, being that resource for not only patients, but physicians and nurses and other healthcare providers. And even like helping out patients and counseling them on how to take their medications properly and live a healthy life. And I also like that pharmacy is so flexible and there's so many different areas. Like you can never get bored in pharmacy. So I'm pretty excited about that and just to see the different areas, especially when I start my rotations. So that's gonna be really fun to see and I'm looking forward to that as a pharmacist. So the last thing that I wanna say is that if you wanna pursue pharmacy and if you have that passion in your heart, then pursue it. I know that there are people out there that talk about the pharmacy career being saturated. However, what people don't realize is that healthcare is constantly evolving and growing. Just recently, I don't remember which state, but they granted pharmacists provider status. Like that is huge. And I wouldn't be surprised if in the near future, other states did the same thing. So, you know, the pharmacy field is growing. The scope of practice is growing. So don't let other people, you know, discourage you from pursuing the dreams and desires that you have in your heart. And not even just for pharmacy, but for any field that you wanna go into. Like if that's a desire in your heart and if you have a passion to do it, then do it. Don't let anyone stop you. So if you wanna pursue pharmacy, I will be on the sidelines rooting for you because I believe that you can do it and I believe that you will be successful, okay? Informative. I learned like three things from this video. I learned that Westchester is not upstate New York, which I always thought that it was. So thank you for teaching me that. I also kind of learned, which I kind of already knew, but I was really excited about hearing it, that flashcards are king. You guys saw that I talked to you guys about flashcards all the time and I love flashcards, especially for farm. If you are in pharmacology right now, use those flashcards so that you can know generic and brand names and mechanism of actions and all of that stuff. And then the third thing I learned, which I saw while I was working in the hospital, but it just kind of comes even more to the forefront, is that the pharmacists are so helpful. I was on my ICU rotation and the pharmacists, they round with us and they're so helpful when you're dealing with each particular patient and they're like, oh, okay, so do you want to, what are you trying to treat here? So do you really want to use this dose? I think we should use this dose or we should switch it to this drug because it works better on this organism. So it's really cool having pharmacists in the healthcare field. I mean, lots of you may not necessarily know your pharmacists personally, but they are very much a part of the whole healthcare field. And as she said, they're like the heart of the healthcare field. So for those of you who are interested in pharmacy school, go ahead right now. Follow Donicia and her YouTube channel at Be His Masterpiece. I'll leave a link for that. And also follow her on Instagram as well. And follow me on Instagram if you haven't already done so at Adana the PA. Thank you guys so much for watching. Thank you again, Donicia, so much for sharing your story. I hope you do well in pharmacy school and as a pharmacist in the future. If you guys have any questions, please leave it in the comment section below. Let me know at least one thing that you learned from this video and something that interests you. And if you have any ideas on what you might wanna see next in one of my True Life series, please leave that in the comment section below as well. Thank you guys for watching. I'll talk to you guys next time. Bye. So that's it. I hope that this video was really helpful. I hope that you were able to learn a little bit more about pharmacy and being a pharmacy student. So thank you so much for watching. I don't know how to end. I'm terrible at ending videos.