I, Intern: The James Cancer Hospital

Hello everyone!

I’m here today to talk about my internship experience. I feel very fortunate to intern at The James Cancer Hospital which is a part of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. I started my internship after my P1 year. I absolutely love my internship. I get to speak with both inpatient and outpatient pharmacists. I have been able to ask them about their positions, what they like, what they don’t like, if they did a residency, etc. I think this exposure is something to value especially because hospital pharmacy is an area of pharmacy where I can see myself practicing. But, my internship is so much more than a networking experience.

As an inpatient/outpatient intern, I have different responsibilities, with some overlap, that is dependent on which setting I am in. When I am working inpatient, I get to deliver, prepare, and compound medications. I love delivering medications because it allows me to get out of Central Pharmacy and go out to the floors. I have the opportunity to interact with nurses and I love being able to bring a STAT medication directly to the nurse in the patients room. When I am working outpatient, I primarily compound chemotherapy medications. The James has several outpatient sites, and each site has something special to offer. One site is the Comprehensive Breast Center. A unique aspect about this site is that I get to know when I am compounding a patient’s last chemotherapy. This means that the patient is essentially in remission! Several times, when I go to take my break, I walk through the infusion center and I see a family celebrating with a patient. This makes my job so rewarding, and continues to bring me so much joy.


Beyond networking and my typical duties, below are some additional events and opportunities that my internship offers! I believe these help to contribute to make my internship very unique and continue to grow my passion for hospital pharmacy.

Technology – My hospital is very technologically advanced (in my opinion). I believe that we are the only cancer hospital in the US to have two chemotherapy compounding robots. These robots are amazing, because they not only decrease exposure to the technicians, but they increase accuracy of each medication compounded. We also have several other technologies that help increase accuracy of compounding, increase speed, and so much more.

Intern seminars – Throughout the year we have intern seminars set up. Each seminar is different! We have had seminars from Hematology/Oncology Pharmacists, technology in the hospital, the Medication Assistance Program, and so much more. The next intern seminar is a “Meet, Greet, & Repeat Networking Event” which is basically speed dating but with different pharmacists. We get to learn about what they do and see if that would interest us!

Rotations – During my P3 year, we are required to complete 40 IPPE hours in Hospital Pharmacy. OSU allowed us to complete these rotations through the hospital! I had three months throughout the summer where I would spend approximately 8 hours each week with a pharmacist. My first month was with Investigational Drug Supply (IDS), my second month was with Cardiology, and my last month was with Hematology/Oncology. I was able to learn so much from these rotations. It truly helped me narrow down what area of pharmacy I want to practice in.

Shadow – We are always encouraged to shadow pharmacists. If we have an interest in a specific area, we can certainly find a time to shadow a pharmacist in that area! It’s great if you have all of your rotation hours completed, but you are still interested in certain areas.

Special Assignments – One of my co-interns had an interest in IDS, and was able to train in that area. It’s great that we are able to have some flexibility in our positions and learn more about areas that we would not normally get experience in.

Research – Research is super important for applying to residencies. It not only is a serious boost to your CV, but you get to learn so much! I simply asked my supervisor for a research project, and later that day, I was given a project!

Flexibility – I love the flexibility of my job. I believe that most internships you are given a shift to work each week, and that’s what you work. The James works with the interns and you are able to request days off depending on what your week looks like. So for example, if I have two exams in one week, I can request the days leading up to it off! The James wants you to get the internship experience (as well as cover any holes in the schedule), but my supervisors do not want that experience to interfere with your education.

Intern Lecture Series – These are exactly how they sound. Over the summer there were several lectures that pharmacists felt that the interns would benefit from learning. It was a great review for some things, and reinforced other things in our minds. It was a great learning experience!


Sorry for the long post… My internship offers so much to us interns, and I absolutely love it. If you have any other questions, please contact me at sakai.22@osu.edu. I would be more than happy to answer them!

 

Study Abroad 2017 – London, England

Earlier this week, I returned from a Spring Break Study Abroad trip with the College to London, England! This was certainly the trip of a lifetime & I can’t wait to tell you more about it. Every year, the College of Pharmacy plans a spring break study abroad. These trips are coupled with a half-semester long class preceding spring break. During the course leading up to our London trip, we learned about the culture and history of England, the healthcare system in the UK, and what pharmacy education and practice are like. We also discussed the logistics of our group travel and make all necessary preparations for studying abroad. By the time our trip rolled around in mid-March, I was so excited to finally go! Here’s a brief summary of our trip, along with some pictures. I think you’ll notice that our itinerary was the perfect blend of pharmacy and cultural experiences!

  • Day 1: Arrival!
    • We landed in London in the morning, and went on a walking tour around Kensington. In the evening we had a group dinner at the Stanhope Arms, a traditional English pub!
  • Day 2: Sight-seeing!
    • We first visited Stonehenge and then saw the Roman Baths in the city of Bath, England.
    •  
    • The city of bath was amazing! I really enjoyed the rich history of the Roman baths themselves, but also loved walking around the city and doing some shopping.
  • Day 3: Westminster!
    • In the morning, we went to see Westminster Abby! We had a guided tour of the church & I learned quite a bit about the Royal Family’s history. Around the block was Big Ben, so we had to stop for some photos!
    • After lunch, we crossed the river to visit Guys & St. Thomas Hospital where a pharmacist gave us a presentation on healthcare in the UK and pharmacy residents gave us a tour of one of the hospital floors. It was really interesting to compare payment models as well as how pharmacy is practiced in an inpatient setting in the UK and US.
    • After our tour, we walked a few blocks down to the London Eye. The views from the top of the Eye were incredible & I’ll let them speak for themselves.
  • Day 4: Work and Play!
    • In the morning we went to a community pharmacy called “Green Light” pharmacy. This was one of my favorite pharmacy sites! It was really incredible to get to see how community pharmacists were taking such an active role in patient care within Green Light.
    • In the afternoon, we took a tour of the Tower of London.   This is the castle where the Crown Jewels are held, and we got to see the Queen’s crown! Words cannot explain how impressive both the jewelry and this castel were.
  • Day 5: Doesn’t get more London than this…
    • Our pharmacy site today was the Royal Pharmaceutical Society –an organization committed to representing the profession of pharmacy in the UK. We learned about several practice initiatives that are propelling the pharmacy field forward in London.
    • After our visit, we had some free time until a group dinner and a show. We saw “School of Rock” – yup, just like the movie. During the encore of the show, one of the Spice Girls, Mel C (“Sporty Spice”), came out on stage and sang Wannabe with the cast! It was so unexpected, but really cool to see!
  • Day 6: A Day of Learning
    • This day was all about learning! We first visited the UCL School of Pharmacy in Bloomsbury where we became familiar with how pharmacy school in London is structured. The second half of our day was at the British Museum. My favorite thing in the British Museum was definitely seeing the Rosetta Stone!
  • Day 7: Winding down…
    • On our last day, we had some free time before an afternoon tea (see below for the Queen-inspired cookies), so we went to Camden Market – an open-air market with over 1,000 vendors selling food, clothing, jewelry, and all sorts of trinkets. Though we only had the morning free, we covered a lot of ground and did a lot of shopping!

Like I said, this really was the trip of a lifetime! I feel so fortunate to have seen London with a pharmacy twist. Let me know if you’d like to see any more pictures or if you have any other questions about our trip! 🙂

-Victoria

 

SPOTLIGHT: Jorge Ng Zheng, PharmD/MBA and PLS

Hi everyone!

Jorge is has been an inspiration, mentor, and friend to me since I started pharmacy school.  He is graduating in May with a dual degree and will be an amazing pharmacist.  He has written this blog post to share some of his experiences with you all.  I hope you find inspiration through his story as well!

Sincerely,

Joyce


Hello,

My name is Jorge Ng Zheng and I am a 5th year (no kidding) student in the PharmD program at The Ohio State University (OSU). I am currently completing my 5th year as I decided to pursue a Master of Business Administration (MBA) along with my PharmD. I attended OSU as an undergrad as well. I was involved in several student organizations such as The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP), Pharmacy Council, Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists (SSHP), Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA), and Phi Lambda Sigma (PLS) while in pharmacy school. I decided to be involved in all of these organizations with an open mind and the goal of identifying an area of pharmacy to pursue after graduation.

I would like to elaborate on my involvement with Phi Lambda Sigma (PLS) specifically. PLS is the national leadership society within the field of pharmacy. Students are nominated into the society by current members for their involvement and leadership potential. The mission of the organization is to identify, foster, and develop leadership potential in individuals who will then make a positive impact in the field of pharmacy. I took on leadership roles in several of the organizations early in my PharmD career which resulted in my nomination into PLS during my P1 year.

I was honored and proud to be recognized and be a part of this network of leaders for life. Along with the recognition, I felt the need to take on a hand-on role and be more involved in the organization. I served as President and Vice President of PLS. My goal for the organization was to increase its visibility among students in order to get a variety of nominees and ensure continued growth. I was fortunate to work with an excellent executive board and, with their help, coordinate events such as the Mr. PharmD Pageant, the Mentor-Mentee Program, and The Etiquette Lunch to name a few.

As graduation draws near, I hope to continue being involved and giving back. The Mentor-Mentee program in particular was an amazing experience as it allowed me to connect with undergraduate students and serve as mentor/guide. I hope to continue this as a pharmacist. My goal is to help students find interests in pharmacy and hopefully develop them into passions moving forward. My experience with student organizations and PLS has been incredible. Involvement allowed me to explore personal interests, meet amazing mentors and students, and get a more well-rounded perspective on pharmacy. It is obvious that you should do well in the classroom but learning extends beyond the walls of Parks Hall.

If I were to give one piece of advice to prospective students it would to step up and develop the leader within you. Everyone has the potential to be an effective and inspiring leader. You do not have to be the most outgoing, the loudest, or awesome at public speaking for that matter to be a great leader. Leadership effectiveness is unique the each person, just like personal style. Be curious while in pharmacy school, step up when given the opportunity to lead, and be involved. The College of Pharmacy has 20+ student organizations (and OSU as whole has 1300+!) for you to explore your passions and learn to be the leader you are meant to be. As you start this next chapter, keep in mind that you will be challenged and sometimes have to juggle many things. I am confident that you will be able to handle everything successfully, find the value/lesson in every experience, and have no regrets looking back (just like I am today).

Thank you for your time and best of luck!

Jorge Ng Zheng

Jorge Ng Zheng