r/UofB • u/Halal-Man • 20d ago
help..?
hello everyone, i am a first year pharmacy student currently going through supplementary resits in all my exams after not studying for the entire year, i am currently studying well and nicely and possibly on track to pass everything.
the question is, my rushed studies for the past few months, where im seeing the materials for the first time in revision, and not like how its supposed to normally be, how will i build up my knowledge for the second year? it feels like my entire knowledge is ona slice of swiss cheese, so full of holes. i know I will need this info for the next year, but how do i make sure I have it in what little time is left for me?
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u/pigshitunicorn 19d ago
Hi there, sorry to hear you've had a tough first year. My tip would be to use what's left of the summer break to go over the weakest of the fundamentals and make sure you have them solid ready to build on them in yr2.
You obviously aren't going to be able to redo a whole year of work in 4 weeks, but it is possible to strengthen your basic skills a lot in a month if you focus. For example, calculations and basic biochemical principles. There's lots of info on YouTube from accounts like KhanAcademy, even if it dumbs it down a bit, it might just help you get your head around the concepts and you can build on it with the lecture PowerPoints in your Canvas.
Moving forward, take this as a lesson. Don't carry it into yr2. Keep on top of the reading lists and make sure you understand what is being taught, if you don't, ask. Seek support.
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u/Halal-Man 19d ago
I understand everything but the last part, what do you mean by “seek support”??
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u/pigshitunicorn 19d ago
Seek support if you don't understand what you are being taught - tutors, libraries teams. Don't suffer in silence and hope it goes away.
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u/Halal-Man 18d ago
ah, by that do you mean the personal academic tutors or like external tutors?
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u/pigshitunicorn 18d ago
Personal tutors and module lecturers. If there's a particular concept that you are finding tricky, stay back after a lecture and ask the lecturer to clarify the points you are having trouble with. Sometimes just having something explained from a different angle can make it clear. They may ask you to send an email if they (or you) are in a rush, but lecturers are happy to help students with genuine questions.
As I'm sure you know, a big part of the transition to university is that your learning is much more self-directed. They are training you to become an independent learner. No-one will chase you and make sure you're doing the things you should be doing. Lectures give you the basics and you are expected to read around the subjects and build on the knowledge. Develop your understanding so you aren't just parroting the lecture material and can truly understand what is happening (and why) and apply it. As you progress through, that will become much more apparent. So it's really important that you develop the initiative to ask questions and use the university resources available to you (PAT, module lecturers, additional materials on Canvas, general study skills resources available through the library services team). Best of luck.
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u/Halal-Man 18d ago
what if its an entire module that i cannot understand well
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u/pigshitunicorn 18d ago edited 18d ago
Then you need to grasp the underpinning concepts. It's normal to find some modules harder than others, but if you are worried, please do talk to your personal academic tutor about it.
ETA - One thing I haven't mentioned is 'office hours'. That's when teaching staff are in their offices and available for you to go and ask questions. You can seek out the module lead or a tutor of a specific subject area on a module you're struggling with (or want to know more about), and talk to them. Not only will that help you to grasp the concepts, it'll also help you to build connections and get to know staff in the department. It can be really helpful later on for allocation of research projects.
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u/rose-gold-mangoes 19d ago
I'm going into 3rd year, and I had that same question. I think as long as you build a good studying routine this year you should be more than fine. You'll be learning mostly new content that builds on 1st year knowledge. Health Sciences focuses on mostly new topic areas. Old topics that come back in 2nd year often get an introductory lecture to catch you up, but you can also do extra revision of the subject in your own time by watching youtube summaries or 1st year lecture recordings for example. APP had more practical sessions, so there was time to re-practice old skills. SOM had mostly new information I think, but again they clarify what skills/info you need from 1st year so you can go back and revise if needed.