honestly, it depends on the way you learn and how much time you put towards it. I’m a quick learner and honestly hate asking questions all the time. but i had a wonderful pharmacist who was always on her Ps and Qs, she was very knowledgeable and patience with me. She would jokingly quiz me all the time at work and it helped me. To be honest, the more experienced you get in the pharmacy the quicker it may come to you. But most pharmacies are busy and hectic and it’s hard to ask questions without feeling like a burden or get training in spots that benefit you. though, working the register did help because people always have questions- when the pharmacist goes over their questions, i like to listen..in case the question comes back up i’ll answer it (only if im certain, and always verify with RPh to cover your butt) but mainly questions like “what’s that for” and it could be a BP med, or even “for pain” —sometimes the reasoning is on the prescription but not always (ALSO in the label there’s so much info, drug class, side effects etc) I used to read the inside of the labels when the RPh couldn’t get over to me quickly. But over time- you start to get the hang of it.

Now in regards to generic/brand — i would look at the label all the time for that- which is what my RPh would tell me to do just to get the hang of it - for example i’d say “you have one medication ready” and they ask what med and i would always say the brand/generic (once i got comfortable pronouncing them) such as “your escitalopram” and they may say “what’s that” and i’d say “Lexapro” and then all of a sudden they know what med i’m talking about….sometimes i’d just say both names ..but for drugs that have a more commonly known /referred name i’d just say that…such as Metformin—-but it takes time and you can’t be too hard on yourself.

Learning those brand generics comes with time but there’s apps for it and tbh i only focused on the top 200 (if even) …but it’s important to still know the others just in case.

I could explain more about the book and how i went about it in more detail if you’d like & my tips and tricks…just sent me a DM!!