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[my previous shelf exams: Anatomy, Biochemistry, Behavioral Sciences, Physiology, Microbiology and Neurosciences]

How I Study for Shelf Exams

Brandon has been cycling through these flashcards for pretty much two days straight. today we write our one and only shelf exam of the MED 4 semester: Pharmacology. since Pathology has enough material to span two semesters, we don’t write that shelf exam until the middle of MED 5-ish.

yes, that’s right. we only have ONE shelf exam this semester. it’s like we’re already on holiday (and in this household, we sorta are). i keep thinking back to the end of MED 2 when we wrote three shelf exams AND four cumulative finals. thankfully, MUA has replaced the cumulative final with the cumulative shelf exam in pretty much every class.

according to the NBME, here is a list of things we can expect to see tomorrow:

Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics
Antimicrobial Drugs
Carcinogens, Environmental Insults, Antineoplastic/Immunosuppressant Drugs
Organ Systems (including mechanism of action, therapy, adverse effect)
Hematopoietic & lymphoreticular
Central & peripheral nervous
Anesthetics
Hypnotics
Psychopharmacologic agents
Anticonvulsants
Stimulants, amphetamines
Antiparkinsonian drugs
Botulinum toxin
Neuromuscular junction blocking agents
Antiglaucoma drugs
Drugs used to decrease intracranial pressure
Antimigraine agents
Drugs affecting autonomic nervous system
Skin & related connective tissue
Musculoskeletal
Respiratory
Cardiovascular
Gastrointestinal
Renal/urinary
Reproductive
Endocrine

i’ve reviewed Kaplan and First Aid and my notecards and the BRS flashcards and USMLEWorld and and and… and i’m ready to have it done and over with already.

oh, and i’ll send a Christmas prize from Canada for anyone that comes up with the answer to the flashcard in the picture. there are a couple of “right” answers, so bonus points will go to the person that can name the drug on the back of this particular card. and Brandon, you don’t get to play. : P

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Comments

There are 13 comments for this post.

  1. BCWB on December 4, 2008 7:48 am

    The answer is **********, so I will expect my prize waiting in your arms at the airport in Regina!! : )

  2. Tim on December 4, 2008 8:03 am

    *buzzer* Is it diazepam or lorazepam?

    Have I won a mini Maddy? :)

  3. Jay on December 4, 2008 11:40 am

    Hmm, Alprazolam (Xanax)?

  4. Xavier Emmanuelle on December 4, 2008 1:28 pm

    Darn, I know this, I know this…

    It’ll come to me. (I have an exam on this next week, the fact that I can’t remember is worrying!)

  5. Amber on December 4, 2008 2:20 pm

    My guess is Lorazepam!(ativan)

  6. Xavier! on December 4, 2008 3:11 pm

    I’m going to go with either Clonazepam or Lorazepam.

  7. BCWB on December 4, 2008 5:59 pm

    I hate to tell you guys, but only one of you is right and the answer is given : )

  8. Sydney on December 4, 2008 10:16 pm

    It’s Carib. The SKN government just hasn’t gotten around to classifying their benzo’s yet.

  9. jhawke on December 5, 2008 7:31 am

    Alprazolam was the main answer on the back of the card and Clonazepam was also mentioned in the description because they are both “intermediate-acting” benzos.

    Diazepam and Lorazepam are good answers, but Diazepam is a longer-acting benzo and Lorazepam is shorter-acting, used for pre-operative sedation and as an anti-emetic adjunct to cancer chemotherapy.

    soo… Jay and Xavier! congrats! send me your mailing addresses.

    : D

  10. RAEB on December 5, 2008 12:50 pm

    Haven’t taken pharm yet. . . .but. . .

    http://leda.lycaeum.org/?ID=140

    ??
    Alprazolam is short term, no? Totally out of my element here.

    This week will not end soon enough!

  11. Kendra on December 5, 2008 6:59 pm

    I was gonna say alprazolam but then I saw that you already gave the answer! Dang you! I’ll settle for a Christmas email, though. :)

  12. GHouse on December 6, 2008 4:31 pm

    In real life, no one really pays attention to the generic names of the benzo’s. You should seriously start memorizing the trade names.

    Another important distinction to make, almost all of these medications are BID-QID dosed, so whether they’re short, intermediate, or long-acting isn’t so important. Another thing to keep in mind is whether they’re IV, IM or PO. And why is that important? A patient in status epilepticus for example, will get an IV dose of Ativan for example (4mg IV x 1; can repeat x 1 in 10-15min), instead of Klonopin PO since it’s not available in IV; even though they’re both considered intermediate acting. Good luck!

  13. sms on December 7, 2008 10:27 pm

    good luck…my fingers r crossed…

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