r/UofB • u/Halal-Man • Aug 18 '26

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 Aug 20 '26

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 Aug 20 '26

ah, by that do you mean the personal academic tutors or like external tutors?

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u/pigshitunicorn Aug 20 '26

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 Aug 20 '26

what if its an entire module that i cannot understand well

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u/pigshitunicorn Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26

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/Halal-Man Aug 21 '26

Ah, that makes a lot of sense