For the uninitiated, Rho Chi is the organization that rewards those who academically perform well in pharmacy school, and then grant them with acceptance into their prestigious organization.
When starting pharmacy school, it is presented to you as one of the crowning achievements of your academic career. It is only when you finally become buried in the life of a pharmacy student that you realize what an actual farce this is.
In my experience, those who are in Rho Chi typically don't know what the hell they're talking about in practical situations. Sure they can recite every side effect of lamotrigine and they may know proper UHF dosing guidelines in a patient with VTE or ACS... provided everything is answered on a scan-tron form.
In a real world setting, most often emulated via our case studies, these successful "methods" no longer apply. Therapeutic suggestions are aimlessly justified because of what it said in a slide. Or, even worse, they won't know what a specific agent is or does, as they merely memorized it for the exam.
These are the "elite" pharmacy students we are told we should strive to be. It is the first of many seemingly unimportant carrots that are dangled in front of us as burgeoning pharmacy students.
Yes, this is a generalization and there are several Rho Chi members who do not fit this mold, but it still does not change my belief on the illegitimacy of defining success in this manner. As practitioners, we will not see success because of our ability to remember minute details, we will see success based upon our ability to logically apply our knowledge in practical situations
So you know what, I'm damn proud to be part of Lo Chi.
I may occasionally meet the average for exams, and even more rarely exceed it, but at the end of the day I know that I will still be a damn good practitioner.. perhaps one better than those Rho Chi members.
For the rest of you exhausted pharmers, aching for the end of the semester I say raise a glass of your favorite booze/caffeinated substance and toast the recognition of the most truly glorious organization in pharmacy school.
Lo Chi Pride!
