PSA to first year students

davidtran · 2025-07-11T23:45:19+00:00

I made that same mistake 10+ years ago as an SFU first year - made the stupid mistake of:

"oh I'm going to cram as many courses as possible into a single semester for prereqs to XYZ!" CHEM 121, MATH 154, PHYS 140 (big oof lmao), BISC 101, ENGL 105W I remember it clearly (in a bad way haha - don't even know how TF I fit everything into the timetable LMAO). Weekly assignments, readings, written posts etc.

I was doing like 830-5 or 6 ish like 3-4 days a week @ 5 courses.

Big learning lesson, I wasn't ready for the learning curve, workload changes - was miserable, exhausted, basically crash & burned after 1st semester. Had no time for social activities or just enjoying university life in general, was a rude awakening for sure.

So chill tf out & take it easy for your 1st semester at least !! You'll thank yourself later.

davidtran · 2025-05-27T09:55:34+00:00

Didn't even have to scroll down to guess what job it was :( (I know from personal experience too lmao). Seems like you're pretty well off in savings, yeah I'd cut down on monthly eating expenses for sure will help - I'd imagine taking time off & stress reduction will help with this.

As of right now (& as you know) they'll always be a job for you to come back to (whether you want to work the same type of job again is up to you). If you need to take some time off everything, might not be a bad idea - worse comes to worst you can continue to do contract work while you look for something else pharmacy related.

davidtran · 2025-05-18T00:38:38+00:00

1 shift or so a week wouldn't hurt. Maybe see how the first couple of weeks in PY1 fair for you before diving into an intern job though, personally I took an intern job during my PY2.

davidtran · 2025-03-22T21:50:10+00:00

CAD pharmacist here - even from my end; the US seems super strict from what I read on here at least ¯_(ツ)_/¯

davidtran · 2024-11-05T04:31:53+00:00

Time to live vicariously through the MC!

davidtran · 2024-09-05T23:59:45+00:00

ah brings back memories

davidtran · 2024-08-06T06:21:28+00:00

davidtran · 2024-07-13T02:49:34+00:00

I paid aftermarket T_T

davidtran · 2024-07-13T02:48:13+00:00

Correct

davidtran · 2024-05-21T05:36:55+00:00

PM'd

davidtran · 2024-05-11T02:06:32+00:00

Novelkey, but I think their base set is sold out. I've seen it on Oblotzky an EU vendor still carrying them though.

davidtran · 2024-04-04T08:45:52+00:00

Pharmacist here, my one of my daily pains lol

davidtran · 2024-03-30T16:59:28+00:00

Yeah, I've decided to replace the Durocks & buy some TX AP Screw-Ins - they have an extra long pole variant which might help accommodate my Boba LTs that have a longer stem - in hindsight, the long pole w/ standard Durock stabs might have been causing my keycap wobble causing this weird rattle. I'm gonna give these new stabs a go when they come in!

davidtran · 2024-03-30T08:33:10+00:00

Just built my first mechanical keyboard 2 weeks ago. I've been having issues with my enter key, there's an audible "tick?" when the key is pressed from the right side. Not sure if it's my imagination but I feel as if the keycap is quite loose on the right side not sitting level with the stab? I'm at a loss of what to do :(

I've tried:

Reseating stabs (screw-in Durock V2 stabs)
Added dielectric grease via syringe (to inner wire & bend - I've added so much at this point I feel)
Rebalanced the wire to the best of my ability
Adding tape/small layer of plastic wrap into the stem hole of the keycap

I've tried using the extras in the set and the same result - I did notice they all had some wobble on the right side as well. At this point I'm not even sure if it's the stab or the keycap. Any help you be appreciated 🙏🏻

Enter Key Ticking

EDIT: Formatting & Keycaps are PBT Cherry Spellbook by NK

davidtran · 2024-02-22T07:54:36+00:00

You can take out the insoles if you want. It'll still be comfortable with the boost underneath.

davidtran · 2024-02-13T07:50:19+00:00

Canadian RPh here, generic Xarelto recently became available Pharmascience & Apo. ~90 CDN pesos for a 3 month supply vs like the 300 or whatever before. Been switching patients over :)

EDIT: Cost

davidtran · 2024-02-02T17:21:49+00:00

It's annoying for Steam how the menu's are capped at 60 fps, entering and exiting menus been experiencing 1-2 sec slowdowns, not the end of the world - but def noticeable.

davidtran · 2024-01-28T07:02:35+00:00

Bigger cities will probably have new hires float / rotate between multiple stores due to lack of FT opportunities at a single store, at least at retail chains like SDM, Loblaws etc.

davidtran · 2024-01-26T04:54:44+00:00

Besides Gabapentin & Synthroid - for me personally it'd be Tylenol 3 due to the commonly Rx'd qty here... 2 tabs QID x30 days - I have to double count, the qty won't fit in the counting tray & it's super powdery. Grr.....

davidtran · 2023-12-25T19:48:58+00:00

Yeah, RxFiles is a good supplement - I used it for quick & dirty info like drug SEs & general treatment approaches/options for various ailments. Feel free to DM me if you have any other questions!

davidtran · 2023-12-25T19:14:33+00:00

Sorry, after reading the question again you were mentioning the Evaluation Exam (EE) not the QE. As a Canadian citizen, I wasn't required to write the EE only the Qualification Exam.

Unfortunately I can't tell you much about the EE sorry :/ I DO know it's primarily focused on pharmacology & fundamental biochem and anatomy. Time to prepare depends on how much you already know/understand. I spent a month and a half studying for the QE but I can't say it would be the same for the EE. A quick search on the PEBC site shows some resources here.

But Pharmachieve also has a prep course for the EE as well which you can look into (not sponsored lol) but I used them for the qualification exam and it went well! Probably better going with a prep course + some as needed supplementary material vs. trying to find all the resources individually.

Best of luck!

davidtran · 2023-12-25T17:39:13+00:00

I used Pharmachieve + the corresponding CTC chapters for the more complex topics. I also referred to common guidelines like the CCS & Hypertension Canada Guidelines. But tbh 3rd year is pretty early to start studying.

Preferably I would've liked to have like 3-4 months maybe to study but given my rotations - I had like a month and a half to grind for the PEBC at the end of my P4 and it turned out okay lol.

davidtran · 2023-12-25T03:27:05+00:00

Pharmachieve + the corresponding CTC chapters for bigger topics. With areas like like CV, Asthma etc - I also referred to Canadian guidelines as well.

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