Hospital Inpatient Internship

I would like to share a little about my hospital inpatient internship.

I began my internship with Riverside Methodist Hospital inpatient pharmacy the summer before starting pharmacy school.  I had previous work experience in a community pharmacy but thought hospital would be a better fit and wanted to gain more insight.  I spent the summer training in various positions such as unit dose dispensing, IV preparations, and medication reconciliation.  When autumn semester began, I started a regular schedule working 8 hour shifts on Saturday/Sunday every other weekend and one 4 hour shift on a weekday evening, which averages 8-12 hours per week. I gained experience working both first (6:30am-3:00pm) and second (2:30pm-11:00pm) shifts.  While this schedule continued throughout the year, I had more time in the summer to pick up extra work shifts, get trained in new positions and shadow pharmacists in different specialties.  Through this internship I have been able to learn the differences between community and inpatient hospital pharmacy workflow.  I have also explored pharmacists’ roles in formulary management, administration, responding to codes, clinical research, and multi-disciplinary teams.  This past summer I was involved in more clinical tasks such as evaluating patient cases and dosing medications like vancomycin and warfarin.  These clinical experiences complement my learning in the classroom as I have been able to directly apply skills to real patient cases.  My internship has also encouraged me to get involved with protocol development and clinical research.  I am currently collecting data for a project focused on anticoagulant reversal agents.  Over the past three years, I have learned a lot about pharmacy and myself, including the career I wish to pursue.  So my recommendations are to explore and keep an open mind about your career. 

 -TaLeitha

IPPE/APPE

IPPE (Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience) and APPE (Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience) are a huge part of pharmacy school.  They provide real world opportunities to learn, grow, and complement the academic material we learn in the classroom.

IPPE includes all curriculum pharmacy experiences from the first to third year of pharmacy school. These experiences can vary between students based on site, preceptor, and activity but I will share a little about my experiences.  During my first year I completed 50 hours at Target community pharmacy (right before they became CVS pharmacy).  At the time, I interned at Kroger pharmacy, so this was a chance to learn about a different community site, system, and workflow. My preceptor reviewed and categorized the entire OTC section, which I really appreciated because a lot of questions from customers or patients are about OTC medications.  I also completed a geriatric IPPE rotation which was very unique and memorable.  For this experience, four of my classmates and I visited an independent senior living community once per week throughout a semester.  We played card games, attended facility sponsored events, and completed medication reviews. The goal of this rotation was to improve our skills and comfortability interacting with the geriatric population.  As a second-year pharmacy student, I completed 40 hours of hospital pharmacy experience at OSU Ross Heart Hospital.  Paired with another student, I participated in multidisciplinary rounds, drug information questions, and clinical trial data reviews.  By the end, I had a better understanding of hospital pharmacy and how to communicate within a healthcare team.  I also completed 20 hours of medication reconciliation at OSU Ross Heart Hospital during the summer. I learned the importance of interviewing patients, calling pharmacies to obtain an accurate list of medication, and being detailed.  This process can be challenging when the patient is unable to confirm their medications, they use multiple pharmacies to fill their prescriptions, or they have complicated medication regimens.  At the beginning of my third year, I completed 20 hours of ambulatory care experience at OSU Total Health and Wellness Clinic.  I spent time shadowing my preceptor during patient appointments as well as counseling patients on topics such as diabetes, hypertension, and tobacco cessation.  Later in the semester I completed 40 hours with pharmacists at Riverside Methodist Hospital in various areas: cardiology, emergency medicine, hospice, palliative care, intensive care, and neurological critical care.   Collectively, these experiences have given me an idea of what to expect for APPE.

APPE makes up the fourth year of pharmacy school with 9 monthly rotations.  Those 9 rotations include: 2 hospital, 2 community, 1 ambulatory care, 2 patient care, and 2 elective.  Faculty, preceptors, and previous students are available to help guide students through this process as it can be overwhelming given the many types of rotations available.  The scheduling of these monthly rotations is mostly done via a computer-generated match system based on individual student rank lists.  Rotations that do not use the match system require a separate application.  When ranking rotations, there are many things to consider such as: location, career goals, finances, etc.  I am currently anxiously awaiting my APPE schedule, however, based on the rotation sites that OSU has to offer, I know I will learn wherever I go. 

 – TaLeitha

A week in the life of a P3 student

Happy New Year! Winter break went by entirely too fast, but I am ready for spring semester.  I am a third-year pharmacy student getting ready for APPE rotations beginning this summer, so this is my last semester of classes (bittersweet)! Although spring semester officially begins today, I have spent the last few days preparing to jump right back into the swing of things.  Here is a daily breakdown of my schedule for this week:

Monday: No classes on Mondays! However, that does not completely mean I have the day off.  I am spending this day to finish preparing for the new semester by filling in my planner with exam, meeting, and other important days; reviewing class syllabi; and planning service events for the next few months.

4:00pm – 8:00pm Riverside Methodist Hospital medication reconciliation work shift

Tuesday:

8:00am – 11:20am Lecture 1 (Pharmacology and Therapeutics)

11:30am – 12:30pm Professional Hour (lunch break) – APhA general body meeting

12:40pm – 4:30pm Lecture 2 and 3 (Law and Management)

5:30pm – 6:30pm IPC Service committee meeting to plan a new event introducing high school students to all the professional degree programs offered at OSU.

8:00pm – 10:00pm Study/Review

Wednesday:

8:30am – 11:20am Workshop (Pharmacology and Therapeutics)

11:30am – 12:30pm Professional Hour – Phi Delta Chi pharmacy fraternity meeting

12:30pm – 2:30pm Study/Review

3:00pm – 5:00pm Council of Academic Affairs meeting to review University proposal changes

5:45pm – 6:35pm Cardio Kickboxing group fitness class at the RPAC

8:00pm – 10:00pm Study/Review

Thursday:

8:00am – 11:20am Lecture 1 (Pharmacology and Therapeutics)

11:30am – 12:30pm Professional Hour (lunch break) – CPFI general body meeting

12:40pm – 4:30 Lecture 2 and 3 (Management and IPPE)

5:20pm – 6:20pm Circuit Cycle group fitness at the RPAC

8:00pm – 10:00pm Study/Review

Friday: No classes on Friday!

8:00am – 1:00pm IPPE (Community Pharmacy- Walgreens)

4:00pm – 6:00pm Study/Review

7:30pm – 9:00pm IPC Senator social

Saturday:

2:30pm – 11:00pm Riverside Methodist Hospital work shift

Sunday:

1:30pm – 2:30pm Basic Life Support- CPR training

4:00pm – 6:00pm Phi Delta Chi pharmacy fraternity event

My first week back this semester is filled with classes, meetings, internship work shifts, etc. My schedule can be overwhelming, but I still have free time to relax, workout, enjoy a good movie (or a few) and spend time with friends for a healthy life balance.

Best,

TaLeitha

Varner.73@osu.edu

Student Government – IPC

Over the past few years I have become involved in several student organizations but my involvement in Inter-Professional Council (IPC) has encouraged me to seek different leadership opportunities. Unlike many of the other student organizations, all pharmacy students are a part of IPC because it is the student government representing the six professional colleges on campus: Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Optometry, Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine.  Each college elects 5 Senators, 1 Justice, and 1 Alternate to serve as IPC representatives.  I was nominated and elected in the spring of my P1 year but actually entered office in the fall of my P2 year.  As a Senator, I attend monthly IPC and biweekly university committee meetings at which I represent the College of Pharmacy and Inter-Professional Council respectively.  Through these meetings and responsibilities I have the opportunity to voice any concerns regarding IPC constituents as well as discuss changes occurring on a university level.

IPC hosts many events throughout the academic year such as Health Professionals Summit and Professional Development Fund.  The Health Professionals Summit is an annual event which invites speakers to present on specific topics influencing healthcare and the Professional Development Fund offers financial reimbursement for students to attend professional conferences or activities.  This year I am serving as IPC Service Committee Chair and organize our annual charity sports events.  In October we held our 10th Annual Charity Soccer Tournament and raised funds to support hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico through UNICEF. Excitingly, one of the pharmacy student teams walked away with the trophy this year, GO PHARMACY!!!! IPC also hosts several social events to encourage all inter-professional students to interact and have fun with activities such as laser tag or bowling.  Thanks to IPC, I have been able to meet and work with other professional students.

I never imagined I would be so involved in student government, however, IPC has been such a unique and great experience.  Through my positions in IPC, I continue to build skills and relationships every day.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any specific questions about student government or IPC.

-TaLeitha

varner.73@osu.edu