Make time for yourself

Paige Rhein is a second-year PharmD candidate at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, Gainesville.

Pharmacy school is filled with rigorous coursework that—if you’re not careful—can start to consume you. While time as a student pharmacist flies by and the accomplishment of earning a PharmD is something to look forward to, you must take the time to pause along the way and focus on how you’re doing.

Once the semester gets rolling, you’ll be preoccupied by coursework, exams, extracurriculars, and volunteer events. In response, you might begin to phase out necessities such as a good night’s sleep or adequate meals. You might also neglect conversations with close friends or loved ones because of the continuing chaos of daily life. This cascade of events can eventually hinder your potential and begin to drain you.

There were two important lessons I needed to learn in my first year. The first lesson was how to tell myself “no.” The other was to learn how to be content with what I was doing.

Knowing when enough was enough

I needed to learn when it was time for a break, and when enough was enough. I needed to tell myself it was okay to pause my studying to go on a walk with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while and that I was allowed to go to bed before midnight the day before an exam. Once I started making time for myself, I began to relax and focus on being the strongest student pharmacist I could be.

Maximizing my impact

How did I become content with what I was doing? Around me, all I saw were my colleagues posting about their successes in obtaining new positions or jobs, presenting research, or volunteering in the community. You hear all about the things you “should be doing.” I became overwhelmed and told myself I needed to do more. After self-reflection and a change in mindset, I realized that was not the case. I began to focus on maximizing my impact in my current involvements and finding ways to grow within those roles.

The outreach I was taking part in still allowed me to become a stronger student pharmacist and to give back to my community to make a difference. As I began to truly focus on myself, I saw so many aspects of my life take a turn for the better. I now recognize that there are no two identical paths to success, and that the most I can do is continue to support my colleagues in all their endeavors.

Find what gives you peace

Overall, personal well-being is something that tends to get overlooked or forgotten. A positive well-being forms the groundwork for success as a student pharmacist, so it’s important to take the time to self-reflect and find what truly gives you peace and how to balance that in your everyday life.