In CANADA not only are our skilled and well-educated immigrants typically underemployed in their professions and earn less than equally educated Canadians, we neither value nor do we properly employ their social capital in their home countries to extend the reach of our own industries and further our exports,”
Pharmacy Evolution Examination, A Very Very Difficult Exam by PEBC.
- Thread starter Akrum66
- Start date
BTW, I'm done with all PEBC exams. With God's grace I took both MCQ and OSCE in May and I passed both. It was my second attempt at MCQ and first at OSCE. It was hard but doable. You just need to know how and what to study.
jon delinger said:
Research- Scientist,
Can you please share the material you used in your study, my email is may_ismaeil@hotmail.com.
Thanks.
Can you please share the material you used in your study, my email is may_ismaeil@hotmail.com.
Thanks.
Hi Guys,
I am a Pharmacist. I recently cleared all my exams of PEBC and am officially a licensed pharmacist in Canada now.
I have been observing this forum, and specifically this very post since over 2 years. And I specifically want to explain what I felt, what this post did to me, what this post helped me with, and what this post didn't help me with.
Dear Akrum66,
I can understand how hard and difficult it must have been for you. We all are in this together.
You said this exam is tough, I agreed.
You said this exam is very very tough, I agreed.
But when you said we need to raise voice against PEBC etc, I ignored the comment believing that you are in anger right now. Maybe you are hurt and you needed to ventilate yourself.
Comes today, 2016 and we sit in July. I saw your last comment in April 2016. and I had to change my opinion.
You were not angry in 2013. If it was, it would have withered away by now.
Dear Akrum66. Please, please, please stop spreading word of hatred. Stop spreading the word of double standards, stop spreading the word of racism. When you say "skilled and well-educated immigrants typically underemployed in their professions and earn less than equally educated Canadians", this is blatant blaming and mug slinging bro.
I am an immigrant too. I landed here last year, in 2015 may. Before coming down here, I have been reading all forums online and I came across this post several times. (as it is one of the first page google search results). Believe me, if you may, this post did nothing more than discouraging, planting seed of hatred in my heart, absorb negative thoughts and feelings.
Canada is a beautiful country, with loving people. Good and bad are everywhere. I faced hardships with people too, calling me a terrorist only because of my religion, even though I have never hurt an insect in my life. The point I am coming to is, absorb the love here, and ignore the hatred. The glaring example of love of Canadians is the open arms with which they have always allowed immigration policies to be so soft compared to many other countries. In just one year of mine here, I have noticed that unlike many other countries, Canada is trying their utmost best to maintain the quality of not only education, but healthcare beyond your imagination. (The two professions which relate to our topic of discussion here).
Your original complaint was valid to an extent that the exam is too tough and one feels that there is a lack of proper guidance as to what is needed to be done to meet Canadian standards. I agree. But our incompetence cannot be mistaken as brutality by people trying to maintain Canadian standards. But as I read in your April 2016 comment, your basic and genuine complaint as turned into a tragedy of racism, then please my friend, you need to change your thinking now.
PEBC exams are tough, as they should be. I am an IPG (international pharmacy graduate) just like you are. I found that there is not way around all three PEBC exams, and I learnt it the hard way, just like many of us. Don't blame PEBC for maintaining their high standards. Blame if you have to, our previous educational systems we come from.
Yes you are right, many of people failing left right and middle are those who are PhDs also, are teachers back home. That doesn't necessarily mean that their knowledge is going to help them get through a Canadian Exam. PEBC expects of you a certain way of applying knowledge. Every single one of their MCQ or OSCE case is taken from a real life situation in a real pharmacy in Canada. If you say that's tough and unfair, yes bro, life is tough and unfair since these cases happen in everyday real pharmacies. All they want from you is to make sure you are ready for that.
Who cares, brother, who cares if people like us are ready for it or not, if people like us got to know about the depth of the water after immigrating here or before. And why should anyone be. Canada needs experts in their fields, not half experts, or those who are experts elsewhere. I might be a pharmacist in my home country, but I am not until Iam licensed here. and it makes perfect sense, no ifs and buts. If Iam not licensed here, I have to find my own living, be it sweeping floors, be it a diaper cleaner. Thats life. Thats life indeed with its own harsh truth of so called toughness and unfairness.
I cleared my EE in first attempt, I cleared my OSCE in first attempt, and it took me 3 tries to clear the MCQ exam. I am proud of the fact that I NEVER TOUCHED ANY OLD PEBC EXAMS which I know many people do. And here is what I have learnt. "There is not shortcut".
Please please please, to all out there reading this post. This exam indeed looks like a mountain to cross, but it isn't impossible. All you need is dedication and honest sincere effort. I studied 3 months for EE in my home country. I came on a visit visa to give the exam. I refered to CPR for EE. I migrated here. I studied 1 month for OSCE and MCQ (attempted together). I cleared OSCE somehow and failed mcq exam. Then I got busy with internship, jurisprudence, first aid, injection training, etc etc. I was over confident. I studied for Nov-15 exam only one month. I failed again.
I realized there is no short cut. You have to, have to, have to sit down for it, make a plan and follow it. I sat down for 3 continous months, left nothing to chance, and I cleared my exam of May this year. I used TC, CTMA and CPS as my initial resources and then I used lots of primary literature of real clinical trials etc.
If you are a pharmacist, aspiring to get Canadian license, its not going to happen through a magic wand, or a magic book (I have heard people call Misbah's book as the magic book, its utter bullshit, with not disrespect to Dr Misbah, he is a learned scholar, his intention is helping, unfortunately people misuse his notes). So, there is no magic book.
The most intriguing fact of the matter is, once you get the license, you feel like "Phew, I have done it." entirely oblivious to the fact that it isn't the end. It is just the beginning my friend, just the beginning. If you have your mindset offset to negative mode from the EE stage itself, then what about MCQs, OSCE, juri, first aid, inj training, clinical review courses, lab work courses, smoking cessation courses, and ABOVE ALL, WHAT ABOUT YOUR DAY TO DAY PHARMACY ACTIVITIES!!!!
Do you actually plan to live in a country where you feel you are being wrongly done, hate their nationals since you think they get better wages than you even though they are lesser qualified than you are??!?!?
It is an entirely wrong approach. It is an entirely false claim of racism. You are in a country, better than millions inflicted with war and what not, you are in a fair country where your hard work does pay you back. There will always be people luckier than you in life, who gets things easier than you in life, but dont let those facts discourage others out there.
Coming back to PEBC. To help others, following is what I did:
1) I printed out the PEBC competencies and stuck em on my wall infront of my study desk. Marked their percentages, and calculated the amount of Qs asked in each competency.
2) I got a big calender (in which I can write my daily schedule) and got it affixed on my wall.
3) I devised a plan. Plan was in relation to the competencies, and how much effort each competency needs. I fixed a schedule to eat well, exercise well and sleep well alongwith my 10-12 hours of daily studies (out of which usually 6-8 hours would be procrastination, lol)
4) I would wake up, eat well, hit the gym moderately (not intense), and feel fresh to study. I would read until daytime, take lunch, take a break of 30 mins to any kind of enjoyment activity (to avoid burnt out feeling). I would get back to book, read till 4ish, take a nap. wake up, do just 6-8 mins of running on treadmill, feel fresh to start again. study until dinner, hang out with family for 30 mins, then back to books until as long as I can keep my eyes open.
5) Now, here is the success formula. Yes, there is not magic book. But you can make your own magic formula here
. The mind-set needs to be changed compared to what we are used to from back home. Desperate times, desperate measures. SO what new I did was, after I finished learning a topic, I video recorded my own lecture. Its like, I gave myself a lecture in that video. Because the biggest complaint I had after failing 1st and 2nd attempt of MCQ was that Iam not able to retain all info in my mind. I tend to forget it. I need to revise again and again. and that is the key. REVISE, REVISE AND REVISE. don't let info sit in mind for over a week without stirring it again. otherwise forget about it. it wont come back to you when you need it the most during exam. So, I found out that if i read a chapter, I know all ins and outs of it. but only until the night, the next day, or max 2 days. then I start loosing little details and remember only a structure of the concept. after a week or so, that structure collapses also, lol. So, I found that I need to have a way to remember all the minute details, as good as it is once I finish a chapter freshly. Thanks to technology, phone video making seemed like the easiest method. I started video recording my own lectures. for example, I finished pyelonephritis topic, I video recorded it, taught myelf in that video, all the minute details to remember. I taught myself in such a way, where Iam talking to a patient sometimes. Sometimes Iam talking to a doctor, like hey doc, our patient diagnosed with pyelonephritis needs to be treated for how many days? and my doc asks me, is it mild/ moderate or is it severe? then I answer back accordingly, etc. The point is, you need methods to not only retain info, but find ways to implement it in real life scenarios. We are soooo used to mugging up information with much lesser applicable benefit from it. Thats why phD failing wouldnt be a surprise, if his knowledge cant be applied properly to real life scenarios in real Canadian pharmacist's daily routine.
6) Every day morning, I would watch atleast 3-4 of my last week's videos, then start new topics. I made it a routine for 3 months. I watched, re-watched and re-watched my videos again and again. Each video was almost 20-30 mins long. For big topics like community acquired pneumonia, my video was split into 3 of 20 mins each. Big topics, more time. simple.
7) I told a friend of mine about my videos concept. He was like "can you share your videos with me?". Ofcourse I can, but whats the point. It kills the entire point. It kills the purpose. Watching my video is no use, you better watch videos of experts out there. The idea is to have your own lecture for yourself. You know what makes you remember things more than others.
8) When I made videos, I opened the book and when Iam teaching myself, the video captures the book, the text, the clinical study, CPS or other resources. This didn't only left an audio imprinting, but also visual imprinting of each and every concept.
9) Another important advice, I took CTMA charts (flowsheet diagrams) and combined them with TC flowsheet diagrams. So, it gave me info in a flow. Starting from OTC going all the way till prescription drugs. Again, it helped in visual imprinting in my mind. In exam, I would close my eyes and I would recall the diagrams. It really helped.
I hope some of my tips or methods might help you guys.
In summary, I would like to reiterate that all you need to do is, be positive, be focused, respect the authorities trying to maintain standards of excellence, read read read, revise revise revise, practice practice practice.
In the words of Bo Eason (please youtube him, he is inspiring) ...
"You need to be willing to do the miles, if you need to reach your destination."
So please. Success formula is only in focused dedicated hardwork with an open mind-set. Come out of the mugging up mind set, come out of the memorizing mind-set, stop searching for magic books, stop begging people for "OLD PEBC EXAMS". Because if, by any chance, you manage to get through the exams by means of these methods, the real pharmacist world await you, especially with the advent of clinical reviews and pharmacist's more and more involvement in clinical side of the profession, a time will come when you will no longer be needed in the dispensary since technicians will take over, and you will run your clinics. But with no sound clinical base, you cannot succeed. So, NO SHORTCUTs. Get ready for the marathon. I wish you all great luck. If you need absolutely any kind of help, tips or guidance, you can leave me and email on mohsin_muhammad@hotmail.com
P.S: Please dont ask me for old pebc exams coz I dont have any, coz I usually avoid filth. You should too. Thank you.
and Dear Akrum66, No offense meant, none taken. Please forgive me if I might have hurt you by saying something I shouldnt have.
I am a Pharmacist. I recently cleared all my exams of PEBC and am officially a licensed pharmacist in Canada now.
I have been observing this forum, and specifically this very post since over 2 years. And I specifically want to explain what I felt, what this post did to me, what this post helped me with, and what this post didn't help me with.
Dear Akrum66,
I can understand how hard and difficult it must have been for you. We all are in this together.
You said this exam is tough, I agreed.
You said this exam is very very tough, I agreed.
But when you said we need to raise voice against PEBC etc, I ignored the comment believing that you are in anger right now. Maybe you are hurt and you needed to ventilate yourself.
Comes today, 2016 and we sit in July. I saw your last comment in April 2016. and I had to change my opinion.
You were not angry in 2013. If it was, it would have withered away by now.
Dear Akrum66. Please, please, please stop spreading word of hatred. Stop spreading the word of double standards, stop spreading the word of racism. When you say "skilled and well-educated immigrants typically underemployed in their professions and earn less than equally educated Canadians", this is blatant blaming and mug slinging bro.
I am an immigrant too. I landed here last year, in 2015 may. Before coming down here, I have been reading all forums online and I came across this post several times. (as it is one of the first page google search results). Believe me, if you may, this post did nothing more than discouraging, planting seed of hatred in my heart, absorb negative thoughts and feelings.
Canada is a beautiful country, with loving people. Good and bad are everywhere. I faced hardships with people too, calling me a terrorist only because of my religion, even though I have never hurt an insect in my life. The point I am coming to is, absorb the love here, and ignore the hatred. The glaring example of love of Canadians is the open arms with which they have always allowed immigration policies to be so soft compared to many other countries. In just one year of mine here, I have noticed that unlike many other countries, Canada is trying their utmost best to maintain the quality of not only education, but healthcare beyond your imagination. (The two professions which relate to our topic of discussion here).
Your original complaint was valid to an extent that the exam is too tough and one feels that there is a lack of proper guidance as to what is needed to be done to meet Canadian standards. I agree. But our incompetence cannot be mistaken as brutality by people trying to maintain Canadian standards. But as I read in your April 2016 comment, your basic and genuine complaint as turned into a tragedy of racism, then please my friend, you need to change your thinking now.
PEBC exams are tough, as they should be. I am an IPG (international pharmacy graduate) just like you are. I found that there is not way around all three PEBC exams, and I learnt it the hard way, just like many of us. Don't blame PEBC for maintaining their high standards. Blame if you have to, our previous educational systems we come from.
Yes you are right, many of people failing left right and middle are those who are PhDs also, are teachers back home. That doesn't necessarily mean that their knowledge is going to help them get through a Canadian Exam. PEBC expects of you a certain way of applying knowledge. Every single one of their MCQ or OSCE case is taken from a real life situation in a real pharmacy in Canada. If you say that's tough and unfair, yes bro, life is tough and unfair since these cases happen in everyday real pharmacies. All they want from you is to make sure you are ready for that.
Who cares, brother, who cares if people like us are ready for it or not, if people like us got to know about the depth of the water after immigrating here or before. And why should anyone be. Canada needs experts in their fields, not half experts, or those who are experts elsewhere. I might be a pharmacist in my home country, but I am not until Iam licensed here. and it makes perfect sense, no ifs and buts. If Iam not licensed here, I have to find my own living, be it sweeping floors, be it a diaper cleaner. Thats life. Thats life indeed with its own harsh truth of so called toughness and unfairness.
I cleared my EE in first attempt, I cleared my OSCE in first attempt, and it took me 3 tries to clear the MCQ exam. I am proud of the fact that I NEVER TOUCHED ANY OLD PEBC EXAMS which I know many people do. And here is what I have learnt. "There is not shortcut".
Please please please, to all out there reading this post. This exam indeed looks like a mountain to cross, but it isn't impossible. All you need is dedication and honest sincere effort. I studied 3 months for EE in my home country. I came on a visit visa to give the exam. I refered to CPR for EE. I migrated here. I studied 1 month for OSCE and MCQ (attempted together). I cleared OSCE somehow and failed mcq exam. Then I got busy with internship, jurisprudence, first aid, injection training, etc etc. I was over confident. I studied for Nov-15 exam only one month. I failed again.
I realized there is no short cut. You have to, have to, have to sit down for it, make a plan and follow it. I sat down for 3 continous months, left nothing to chance, and I cleared my exam of May this year. I used TC, CTMA and CPS as my initial resources and then I used lots of primary literature of real clinical trials etc.
If you are a pharmacist, aspiring to get Canadian license, its not going to happen through a magic wand, or a magic book (I have heard people call Misbah's book as the magic book, its utter bullshit, with not disrespect to Dr Misbah, he is a learned scholar, his intention is helping, unfortunately people misuse his notes). So, there is no magic book.
The most intriguing fact of the matter is, once you get the license, you feel like "Phew, I have done it." entirely oblivious to the fact that it isn't the end. It is just the beginning my friend, just the beginning. If you have your mindset offset to negative mode from the EE stage itself, then what about MCQs, OSCE, juri, first aid, inj training, clinical review courses, lab work courses, smoking cessation courses, and ABOVE ALL, WHAT ABOUT YOUR DAY TO DAY PHARMACY ACTIVITIES!!!!
Do you actually plan to live in a country where you feel you are being wrongly done, hate their nationals since you think they get better wages than you even though they are lesser qualified than you are??!?!?
It is an entirely wrong approach. It is an entirely false claim of racism. You are in a country, better than millions inflicted with war and what not, you are in a fair country where your hard work does pay you back. There will always be people luckier than you in life, who gets things easier than you in life, but dont let those facts discourage others out there.
Coming back to PEBC. To help others, following is what I did:
1) I printed out the PEBC competencies and stuck em on my wall infront of my study desk. Marked their percentages, and calculated the amount of Qs asked in each competency.
2) I got a big calender (in which I can write my daily schedule) and got it affixed on my wall.
3) I devised a plan. Plan was in relation to the competencies, and how much effort each competency needs. I fixed a schedule to eat well, exercise well and sleep well alongwith my 10-12 hours of daily studies (out of which usually 6-8 hours would be procrastination, lol)
4) I would wake up, eat well, hit the gym moderately (not intense), and feel fresh to study. I would read until daytime, take lunch, take a break of 30 mins to any kind of enjoyment activity (to avoid burnt out feeling). I would get back to book, read till 4ish, take a nap. wake up, do just 6-8 mins of running on treadmill, feel fresh to start again. study until dinner, hang out with family for 30 mins, then back to books until as long as I can keep my eyes open.
5) Now, here is the success formula. Yes, there is not magic book. But you can make your own magic formula here
. The mind-set needs to be changed compared to what we are used to from back home. Desperate times, desperate measures. SO what new I did was, after I finished learning a topic, I video recorded my own lecture. Its like, I gave myself a lecture in that video. Because the biggest complaint I had after failing 1st and 2nd attempt of MCQ was that Iam not able to retain all info in my mind. I tend to forget it. I need to revise again and again. and that is the key. REVISE, REVISE AND REVISE. don't let info sit in mind for over a week without stirring it again. otherwise forget about it. it wont come back to you when you need it the most during exam. So, I found out that if i read a chapter, I know all ins and outs of it. but only until the night, the next day, or max 2 days. then I start loosing little details and remember only a structure of the concept. after a week or so, that structure collapses also, lol. So, I found that I need to have a way to remember all the minute details, as good as it is once I finish a chapter freshly. Thanks to technology, phone video making seemed like the easiest method. I started video recording my own lectures. for example, I finished pyelonephritis topic, I video recorded it, taught myelf in that video, all the minute details to remember. I taught myself in such a way, where Iam talking to a patient sometimes. Sometimes Iam talking to a doctor, like hey doc, our patient diagnosed with pyelonephritis needs to be treated for how many days? and my doc asks me, is it mild/ moderate or is it severe? then I answer back accordingly, etc. The point is, you need methods to not only retain info, but find ways to implement it in real life scenarios. We are soooo used to mugging up information with much lesser applicable benefit from it. Thats why phD failing wouldnt be a surprise, if his knowledge cant be applied properly to real life scenarios in real Canadian pharmacist's daily routine.6) Every day morning, I would watch atleast 3-4 of my last week's videos, then start new topics. I made it a routine for 3 months. I watched, re-watched and re-watched my videos again and again. Each video was almost 20-30 mins long. For big topics like community acquired pneumonia, my video was split into 3 of 20 mins each. Big topics, more time. simple.
7) I told a friend of mine about my videos concept. He was like "can you share your videos with me?". Ofcourse I can, but whats the point. It kills the entire point. It kills the purpose. Watching my video is no use, you better watch videos of experts out there. The idea is to have your own lecture for yourself. You know what makes you remember things more than others.
8) When I made videos, I opened the book and when Iam teaching myself, the video captures the book, the text, the clinical study, CPS or other resources. This didn't only left an audio imprinting, but also visual imprinting of each and every concept.
9) Another important advice, I took CTMA charts (flowsheet diagrams) and combined them with TC flowsheet diagrams. So, it gave me info in a flow. Starting from OTC going all the way till prescription drugs. Again, it helped in visual imprinting in my mind. In exam, I would close my eyes and I would recall the diagrams. It really helped.
I hope some of my tips or methods might help you guys.
In summary, I would like to reiterate that all you need to do is, be positive, be focused, respect the authorities trying to maintain standards of excellence, read read read, revise revise revise, practice practice practice.
In the words of Bo Eason (please youtube him, he is inspiring) ...
"You need to be willing to do the miles, if you need to reach your destination."
So please. Success formula is only in focused dedicated hardwork with an open mind-set. Come out of the mugging up mind set, come out of the memorizing mind-set, stop searching for magic books, stop begging people for "OLD PEBC EXAMS". Because if, by any chance, you manage to get through the exams by means of these methods, the real pharmacist world await you, especially with the advent of clinical reviews and pharmacist's more and more involvement in clinical side of the profession, a time will come when you will no longer be needed in the dispensary since technicians will take over, and you will run your clinics. But with no sound clinical base, you cannot succeed. So, NO SHORTCUTs. Get ready for the marathon. I wish you all great luck. If you need absolutely any kind of help, tips or guidance, you can leave me and email on mohsin_muhammad@hotmail.com
P.S: Please dont ask me for old pebc exams coz I dont have any, coz I usually avoid filth. You should too. Thank you.
and Dear Akrum66, No offense meant, none taken. Please forgive me if I might have hurt you by saying something I shouldnt have.
Well said. I agree with what he said. I passed EE and OSCE 1st attempt and MCQ 2nd attempt. Took OSCE with my second mcq attempt together in May 2016. First attempt I failed because I didn't know management well enough. If you study smart and know what to study and redeem your mistakes you will be successful. I've seen ipg's failed OSCE 3rd time while they passed mcq first time and I feel sorry for them but when I think if I was a patient would I want to have that person as my pharmacist? The answer is no. Alot of ipgs are only after finding few magic books to read and memorize and pass, sorry that's a reciepe for failure.
mohsee said:Hi Guys,
I am a Pharmacist. I recently cleared all my exams of PEBC and am officially a licensed pharmacist in Canada now.
I have been observing this forum, and specifically this very post since over 2 years. And I specifically want to explain what I felt, what this post did to me, what this post helped me with, and what this post didn't help me with.
Dear Akrum66,
I can understand how hard and difficult it must have been for you. We all are in this together.
You said this exam is tough, I agreed.
You said this exam is very very tough, I agreed.
But when you said we need to raise voice against PEBC etc, I ignored the comment believing that you are in anger right now. Maybe you are hurt and you needed to ventilate yourself.
Comes today, 2016 and we sit in July. I saw your last comment in April 2016. and I had to change my opinion.
You were not angry in 2013. If it was, it would have withered away by now.
Dear Akrum66. Please, please, please stop spreading word of hatred. Stop spreading the word of double standards, stop spreading the word of racism. When you say "skilled and well-educated immigrants typically underemployed in their professions and earn less than equally educated Canadians", this is blatant blaming and mug slinging bro.
I am an immigrant too. I landed here last year, in 2015 may. Before coming down here, I have been reading all forums online and I came across this post several times. (as it is one of the first page google search results). Believe me, if you may, this post did nothing more than discouraging, planting seed of hatred in my heart, absorb negative thoughts and feelings.
Canada is a beautiful country, with loving people. Good and bad are everywhere. I faced hardships with people too, calling me a terrorist only because of my religion, even though I have never hurt an insect in my life. The point I am coming to is, absorb the love here, and ignore the hatred. The glaring example of love of Canadians is the open arms with which they have always allowed immigration policies to be so soft compared to many other countries. In just one year of mine here, I have noticed that unlike many other countries, Canada is trying their utmost best to maintain the quality of not only education, but healthcare beyond your imagination. (The two professions which relate to our topic of discussion here).
Your original complaint was valid to an extent that the exam is too tough and one feels that there is a lack of proper guidance as to what is needed to be done to meet Canadian standards. I agree. But our incompetence cannot be mistaken as brutality by people trying to maintain Canadian standards. But as I read in your April 2016 comment, your basic and genuine complaint as turned into a tragedy of racism, then please my friend, you need to change your thinking now.
PEBC exams are tough, as they should be. I am an IPG (international pharmacy graduate) just like you are. I found that there is not way around all three PEBC exams, and I learnt it the hard way, just like many of us. Don't blame PEBC for maintaining their high standards. Blame if you have to, our previous educational systems we come from.
Yes you are right, many of people failing left right and middle are those who are PhDs also, are teachers back home. That doesn't necessarily mean that their knowledge is going to help them get through a Canadian Exam. PEBC expects of you a certain way of applying knowledge. Every single one of their MCQ or OSCE case is taken from a real life situation in a real pharmacy in Canada. If you say that's tough and unfair, yes bro, life is tough and unfair since these cases happen in everyday real pharmacies. All they want from you is to make sure you are ready for that.
Who cares, brother, who cares if people like us are ready for it or not, if people like us got to know about the depth of the water after immigrating here or before. And why should anyone be. Canada needs experts in their fields, not half experts, or those who are experts elsewhere. I might be a pharmacist in my home country, but I am not until Iam licensed here. and it makes perfect sense, no ifs and buts. If Iam not licensed here, I have to find my own living, be it sweeping floors, be it a diaper cleaner. Thats life. Thats life indeed with its own harsh truth of so called toughness and unfairness.
I cleared my EE in first attempt, I cleared my OSCE in first attempt, and it took me 3 tries to clear the MCQ exam. I am proud of the fact that I NEVER TOUCHED ANY OLD PEBC EXAMS which I know many people do. And here is what I have learnt. "There is not shortcut".
Please please please, to all out there reading this post. This exam indeed looks like a mountain to cross, but it isn't impossible. All you need is dedication and honest sincere effort. I studied 3 months for EE in my home country. I came on a visit visa to give the exam. I refered to CPR for EE. I migrated here. I studied 1 month for OSCE and MCQ (attempted together). I cleared OSCE somehow and failed mcq exam. Then I got busy with internship, jurisprudence, first aid, injection training, etc etc. I was over confident. I studied for Nov-15 exam only one month. I failed again.
I realized there is no short cut. You have to, have to, have to sit down for it, make a plan and follow it. I sat down for 3 continous months, left nothing to chance, and I cleared my exam of May this year. I used TC, CTMA and CPS as my initial resources and then I used lots of primary literature of real clinical trials etc.
If you are a pharmacist, aspiring to get Canadian license, its not going to happen through a magic wand, or a magic book (I have heard people call Misbah's book as the magic book, its utter bullshit, with not disrespect to Dr Misbah, he is a learned scholar, his intention is helping, unfortunately people misuse his notes). So, there is no magic book.
The most intriguing fact of the matter is, once you get the license, you feel like "Phew, I have done it." entirely oblivious to the fact that it isn't the end. It is just the beginning my friend, just the beginning. If you have your mindset offset to negative mode from the EE stage itself, then what about MCQs, OSCE, juri, first aid, inj training, clinical review courses, lab work courses, smoking cessation courses, and ABOVE ALL, WHAT ABOUT YOUR DAY TO DAY PHARMACY ACTIVITIES!!!!
Do you actually plan to live in a country where you feel you are being wrongly done, hate their nationals since you think they get better wages than you even though they are lesser qualified than you are??!?!?
It is an entirely wrong approach. It is an entirely false claim of racism. You are in a country, better than millions inflicted with war and what not, you are in a fair country where your hard work does pay you back. There will always be people luckier than you in life, who gets things easier than you in life, but dont let those facts discourage others out there.
Coming back to PEBC. To help others, following is what I did:
1) I printed out the PEBC competencies and stuck em on my wall infront of my study desk. Marked their percentages, and calculated the amount of Qs asked in each competency.
2) I got a big calender (in which I can write my daily schedule) and got it affixed on my wall.
3) I devised a plan. Plan was in relation to the competencies, and how much effort each competency needs. I fixed a schedule to eat well, exercise well and sleep well alongwith my 10-12 hours of daily studies (out of which usually 6-8 hours would be procrastination, lol)
4) I would wake up, eat well, hit the gym moderately (not intense), and feel fresh to study. I would read until daytime, take lunch, take a break of 30 mins to any kind of enjoyment activity (to avoid burnt out feeling). I would get back to book, read till 4ish, take a nap. wake up, do just 6-8 mins of running on treadmill, feel fresh to start again. study until dinner, hang out with family for 30 mins, then back to books until as long as I can keep my eyes open.
5) Now, here is the success formula. Yes, there is not magic book. But you can make your own magic formula here
6) Every day morning, I would watch atleast 3-4 of my last week's videos, then start new topics. I made it a routine for 3 months. I watched, re-watched and re-watched my videos again and again. Each video was almost 20-30 mins long. For big topics like community acquired pneumonia, my video was split into 3 of 20 mins each. Big topics, more time. simple.
7) I told a friend of mine about my videos concept. He was like "can you share your videos with me?". Ofcourse I can, but whats the point. It kills the entire point. It kills the purpose. Watching my video is no use, you better watch videos of experts out there. The idea is to have your own lecture for yourself. You know what makes you remember things more than others.
8) When I made videos, I opened the book and when Iam teaching myself, the video captures the book, the text, the clinical study, CPS or other resources. This didn't only left an audio imprinting, but also visual imprinting of each and every concept.
9) Another important advice, I took CTMA charts (flowsheet diagrams) and combined them with TC flowsheet diagrams. So, it gave me info in a flow. Starting from OTC going all the way till prescription drugs. Again, it helped in visual imprinting in my mind. In exam, I would close my eyes and I would recall the diagrams. It really helped.
I hope some of my tips or methods might help you guys.
In summary, I would like to reiterate that all you need to do is, be positive, be focused, respect the authorities trying to maintain standards of excellence, read read read, revise revise revise, practice practice practice.
In the words of Bo Eason (please youtube him, he is inspiring) ...
"You need to be willing to do the miles, if you need to reach your destination."
So please. Success formula is only in focused dedicated hardwork with an open mind-set. Come out of the mugging up mind set, come out of the memorizing mind-set, stop searching for magic books, stop begging people for "OLD PEBC EXAMS". Because if, by any chance, you manage to get through the exams by means of these methods, the real pharmacist world await you, especially with the advent of clinical reviews and pharmacist's more and more involvement in clinical side of the profession, a time will come when you will no longer be needed in the dispensary since technicians will take over, and you will run your clinics. But with no sound clinical base, you cannot succeed. So, NO SHORTCUTs. Get ready for the marathon. I wish you all great luck. If you need absolutely any kind of help, tips or guidance, you can leave me and email on mohsin_muhammad@hotmail.com
P.S: Please dont ask me for old pebc exams coz I dont have any, coz I usually avoid filth. You should too. Thank you.
and Dear Akrum66, No offense meant, none taken. Please forgive me if I might have hurt you by saying something I shouldnt have.
srinivas.vadapalli
Hero Member
- May 20, 2011
- 7
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- ND-INDIA
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 24-01-2010
- AOR Received.
- None
- Med's Done....
- 10-04-2011
- Interview........
- Waived
- VISA ISSUED...
- 01-06-2011
- LANDED..........
- 07-08-2011
All those who claim passing in Canadian Pharmacy Exams is tough, we must raise voices, racism etc just cut the non sense out. If you are here for an easy life where mediocre skills can get you into a profession which means life and death for someone, then get the hell out of here.
The medical profession is not for you. You are not the first person to do these exams and certainly you will not be the last person too.
Pharmacists, Doctors and everyone in medical field is respected highly for a reason. like someone said, you would not want someone mediocre to work on your health.
So STFU and get your act together. If you decide you can't compete here, then do something else. Dont dilute the otherwise effective system
The medical profession is not for you. You are not the first person to do these exams and certainly you will not be the last person too.
Pharmacists, Doctors and everyone in medical field is respected highly for a reason. like someone said, you would not want someone mediocre to work on your health.
So STFU and get your act together. If you decide you can't compete here, then do something else. Dont dilute the otherwise effective system
Hello everyone i just passed EE exam and decided to take mcq in May. some people say that may exam is tough than Nov. Is it true??
There is not a one book solution for passing MCQ and OSCE. You need to study all of the Canadian Guidelines, Minor ailment, drugs monograph from CPS, Rxfiles, CTC and management and clinical studies and calculations from other sources.
Raman Rakkar said:
Hi this is Shemonty..I need some guidelines and references for evaluation exam.Can anyone help me??my E-mail address is shemontyhasan@yahoo
Hi ,can anyone help me for preparations of pebc evaluation exam?I need some guidelines and references. My email ID is shemontyhasan@yahoo.com.Please help me.