Hi Everyone!

Eric Place was kind enough to tell us a little about how his APPE rotations are going. I hope you enjoy this Spotlight, and that it provides some clarity on how fourth year can go for you 🙂

Best,

Sarah

As a fourth year student pharmacist at OSU, my time has been flying with monthly advanced pharmacy practice experience rotations (APPEs). It is intriguing and curious how my idea of my future career has changed so many times throughout pharmacy school.  I have a strong belief that the robust and outstanding opportunities at Ohio State are to blame…and I couldn’t be more thankful. I have been an intern at Kroger, Walmart, and the Indian Health Service. I have shadowed pharmacists and done experiential rotations over the past four years.  It was not until this last year that something clicked and set me on a powerful path toward what I want to do with my PharmD degree.

My true passion lies in multi-disciplinary, evidence-based care in the acute hospital setting. That’s a mouthful, but spot on.  I excelled in that area during two of my APPE rotations. I would come to work energized and open to learn, and then leave motivated to study up on the fascinating scenarios I encountered that day. My month in the ICU at Fairfield Medical Center introduced me to critical care. I learned how to interact with the attending physicians and how to contribute proper interventions based primary literature and guidelines.  That month could also be considered an infectious disease (ID) rotation as we had intense reviews of all possible pathogens and antimicrobial therapies (“bugs and drugs”). I was assigned to prepare and deliver a sequence of ID lectures to family medicine residents.  It was all great preparation for high-level performance the following month at Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton, OH.  I was back ICU setting, yet I was learning every day. My preceptor was too!   Case example: on the last day of rotation, we were researching how to deliver intrathecal colistin to one of our complex patients with a newly developed brain infection!  The promise of an ever-challenging and stimulating practice environment solidified my decision to pursue a PGY1 with acute care focus.

My ultimate goal is achieve and apply board certification in pharmacotherapy or critical care at a top-level teaching hospital. I will want precepting and teaching responsibilities, along with the ability to perform innovative and cutting edge bedside research. The month of January kept me busy with applications and set me up for a few on-site PGY1 residency interviews in February.  APPE rotations were key to discovering what I want for my near future.  I am thankful for the challenging, inspiring, and unexpectedly great month I had with Bryce Lifer at Fairfield Medical Center.  I observed a level of excellence that I am hoping to expedite with completion of a PGY1. Some closing advice: whatever happens with your schedule during the final year in pharmacy school, just realize that YOU determine how beneficial it is for your life based on your ATTITUDE and your EFFORT.

Sincerely,

Eric Place

Hello!

I believe leadership means many things and that it does not necessarily mean having leadership roles. BUT pharmacy school provides many opportunities to have leadership roles and continue growing your leadership skills. With all the professional organizations here, you have access to many leadership positions. So be prepared for what roles you want when you come into pharmacy school and work for them!

I am currently in an elective class, Leadership in Pharmacy, that is taught by Dr. Milap Nahata. If you are in your undergrad here at OSU, take it! I would highly recommend to take it as an elective during your time here at pharmacy school! Anyways, the best part of the class is that you learn so much about what it means to be a leader – and that a leader and manager are two different things. Their roles do overlap, but a leader is so much more than just a manager.

Personally, I think a leader is much more than just having a role. To me, a leader:

• inspires people
• engages people
• goes the extra mile and is hardworking
• takes risks and learns from failed attempts
• is humble
• is a great communicator
• values honesty, integrity, generosity, and loyalty
• encourages and appreciates others

How does a leader differ to you? What kind of leader do you want to be?

Pharmacy school can nurture you as a leader because you are surrounded by many people who can mentor and inspire you. You just need to seek those people and the roles you want.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to send them my way at sakai.22@osu.edu!

Hello All!

Let’s talk about pharmacy technician experience and pharmacy school.

Bad news: It does look good on your application.

Good news: It is not necessary.

I know plenty of my peers who did not come to pharmacy school with any tech experience. Some only had volunteering experience at a pharmacy. I think many (if not most) of those that did not come into pharmacy school with experience got an internship to gain that experience. So you should know that it can wait.

Where I am from, it is incredibly hard to get a tech job. I tried applying at all the pharmacies around the area I lived for the first two and a half years of my undergrad. No bites. So here I was, almost the end of my junior year, really stressed about my lack of experience and pharmacy school applications (if only this blog post was around back then). What I did was I asked to volunteer at an independent pharmacy in my neighborhood. I needed a minimum of 50 hours of pharmacy experience for the school I was looking at. The owner/pharmacist was very understanding of my situation, and since she knew I was interested in pharmacy as a career, she allowed me to volunteer!

I would highly suggest doing this if you are freaking out as much as I did. The funny thing is that I didn’t even have to stress about my lack of experience because there are so many more qualities and criteria that The Ohio State University looks at for applicants. So you don’t really have to do this, or feel like you have to.

The best part about this was that the owner/pharmacist loved me and the help that I brought to her pharmacy, that she offered me a job after I was done with my volunteer hours.

Some other ways of gaining experience that the admissions committee looks at are: “participation in a pharmacy related organization, work as a pharmacy technician, volunteer work in a health care setting or a charitable pharmacy, along with other educational or extracurricular opportunities.” This was found on the FAQ page of The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy website. You should check it out if you have not already!

Thanks for reading! I hope this relieved some stress and gave you some ideas on gaining experience that you may have had!

Hi Future Candidates!

I’m here to talk to you about preparing for your interview here at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy. I hope you are so very excited about your interview! As one of your Student Ambassador Coordinators, I am so excited to meet you on the day of your interview.

So how should you prepare for your interview day?

You should know that the interview is open file. Be prepared for any questions or interests that your interviewers may have! As an example, I was asked to talk about The Lost Boys of Sudan, an organization I volunteered for in Arizona, and how that impacted my life. My interviewers had never heard about The Lost Boys of Sudan and wanted to know more about it, just as they will want to know more about your own personal interests and involvement. Don’t expect questions solely about pharmacy!

Your interview will take place with two people. One interviewer is typically one of our fantastic faculty or staff, and the other interviewer is a pharmacist well-known to the college or one of our top students. Both people will be amazing and will have incredible knowledge to share with you. So if you have any questions for them, don’t be afraid to take advantage of them!

Speaking of questions…. You can also ask any of the ambassadors questions that day as well. Feel free to ask us any question – big or small – that pops into your mind as you research our college and campus.  Whether it be about student life, housing, classes, internships, expectations of the college, etc. we are here to answer every question.

An ambassador should contact you closer to your interview, so you can also ask any questions via email. When I came to Columbus for my interview, I arrived early the day before and my ambassador met with me to tell me more about events that were going on in the college or in Columbus in general. My ambassador recommended some places to eat as well!

The best thing you can do to prepare for your interview is to simply relax and be yourself.  You’ve already gotten the grades and passed all the tests, so let your passion for pharmacy shine through, and you will definitely do well on your interview. I know this is a very stressful time, but try to not stress too much and get excited about your future in pharmacy!!

Good luck with your interview day! Hopefully you come to know that The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy is the perfect fit for you! Just like it was for me. 🙂