Hi Everyone!
With classes just beginning for the school year, I thought it would be a good idea to give you a glimpse into what summer as a PharmD student maylook like!
As a rising (now current) P3 my summer started at the beginning of May and ran through mid-August, which allowed for a pretty full schedule, including school rotations, community health service hours, internship hours at Nationwide Children’s, vacations, and of course time spent with family and friends!
Though it is not at all required to do, I enjoy doing some school rotations during the summer. I find that it allows me to keep my clinical knowledge fresh and allows me to have more free time during the school year to take a break or focus on other things. This summer I did my community rotation at Meijer, my patient care rotation with a hematology/oncology pharmacist at Nationwide Children’s, and my medication reconciliation rotation at The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center.
Additionally, I was able to complete my community health service hours (CHS) by volunteering at free clinics around Columbus and with events at local elementary schools to help teach kids about the importance of medication safety. CHS hours are a wonderful way to give back to the community and many of the clinics rely solely on College of Pharmacy volunteers in order to run the pharmacy portion of the clinic.
A large part of my summer was also dedicated to my internship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. As an inpatient pharmacy intern, I help staff our main pharmacy and intensive care satellite pharmacy and perform medication reconciliations with patients in the emergency department. Additionally, interns participate in weekly intern meetings which further professional development through journal clubs, presentations and CV review. I also had my own research project to work on throughout the summer, that I later presented on at the end of summer, and 2 mini-clinical weeks in general pediatrics and with the cardiothoracic intensive care team from which we gave a case presentation. Fortunately, I absolutely love my job and workplace and thoroughly enjoy the professional development that it continually provides.
Of course, summer would not be complete without vacation/relaxation and time with family and friends! For me this meant starting the summer off with a weekend trip to Hocking Hills with a group of classmates, where we were able to hike/enjoy the outdoors and time with one another. I also had a long weekend trip to Nashville—my first time truly taking in the city, which was an absolute blast, especially as I am a huge food fan and love country music! You know it is a great trip when you manage to hit a popular restaurant spot for every meal—I highly recommend Biscuit Love, Five Daughters Bakery and Hattie B’s, though there are so many other spots to check out too! The summer ended with a very relaxing trip to Florida with close friends from class—with lots of time spent on the beach enjoying some sunshine! Throughout the summer, I had countless nights, days and weekends spent with family and friends, enjoying all that Columbus has to offer and the pool at my apartment.
Hopefully this glimpse at summer in pharmacy school can give you a look at what your future summers may also look like! However you choose to spend it, I highly recommend relaxing and enjoying yourself!
Cassie