Preceptor Newsletter Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy
My Favorite Rotation - Adrianna Cody While P4 students are on the Academia APPE, they are tasked with writing about their favorite rotation and share information related to the success of the rotation to share in this newsletter. Adrianna Cody, Class of 2024 “Practice makes perfect'' is the phrase I think of when I consider the experiential rotations I have been on during pharmacy school. Being able to actively participate in patients’ lives while having the guidance of a mentoring pharmacist has been an inspiring and confidence-boosting experience. At the time of writing this article, I have participated in 5 IPPE and 4 APPE rotations. Already, friends and family are asking me “which was your favorite rotation?” While I hold a fond appreciation for my Academic APPE rotation with Dr. Mary Douglass Smith, my APPE rotation at New Horizon Family Health Service (NHFHS) is certainly my favorite experiential rotation to date. To explain why this is my favorite rotation, let me tell you about my experience at that site and how I was able to really learn from my month there. The rotation at NHFHS is classified as an ambulatory care rotation and is precepted by Dr. Chris Downey, a graduate of Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy (PCSP). His position at this site is as clinical pharmacist who sits in a suite with the doctors and nurses for that group of patient exam rooms. The rotation at its most basic level covers what you would expect from any rotation since it has topic discussions, patient SOAP note work-ups, and direct patient interaction in various forms. What sets this rotation apart is that I experienced two major things: A preceptor who actively engaged
me while also showing me what to do and a team who purposefully included me. Dr. Downey, from day one, asked me questions and consistently included me in almost every detail of his work day. When interacting with patients, he had a three step process. The first interaction he would always explain to me what he does and then show me how he interacts with the patient. The second time a patient needed the same thing, he would allow me to step in in his place as “pharmacist.” While with patients, if I had any gaps or missed any talking points, he was there to enhance my counseling instead of blatantly correcting me. By the third or fourth patient interaction, I was trusted to independently work with the patient. This trust in my ability to work with patients helped me gain confidence in my skills. Along with this, the topic discussions we had throughout the rotation helped me to solidify my use of guidelines since I used the preparation time to summarize guidelines for future reference. The questions he asked to evaluate my understanding were relevant to actual situations and not just the standard patient you would imagine as a textbook case. Also, whenever a nurse or a doctor asked him a question, I was immediately pulled in to help find an answer
or evaluate it myself to come to my own conclusion. This rotation gave me the opportunity to do what a pharmacist actually does, not just observe or do some busy work. Along with this, my interaction with more people than just my preceptor made a huge difference in my perception of ambulatory pharmacy and interdisciplinary teamwork. The team that Dr. Downey works with mainly consists of several nurses/nursing assistants and three doctors (he also frequently helps the other doctors, pharmacists, and nurses outside of his group). His team welcomed me into the group on day one and soon after openly relied on my participation to help with the workflow. This consistent use of my learned skills and counseling reinforced what I had learned but also allowed me to ask questions and determine my own method for interacting with patients. For example, some nurses do foot exams but I would help with this when everyone was busy. Prior to this, I had never done a foot exam on an actual patient but by the end of the rotation, it was second nature. In addition, there were plenty of times where I had the opportunity to voice my recommendations about a patient situation. The doctors were open to suggestions and eagerly worked with the pharmacists to come to the best conclusion for patient therapy. Not only did I have a voice in these instances, but I saw just how much pharmacy was appreciated by both the doctors and nursing staff. The relationship that Dr. Downey has with his team truly shows how interdisciplinary teamwork is beneficial for patient care and I was able to become a true part of this team during my rotation. There are so many aspects of this rotation that I appreciated but the main point is that I feel like the time and effort I put into this rotation was truly worth the investment. Being engaged in patient care and seeing how I can already make a difference in the health of patients is what continues to spur me on in my pursuit to become a wonderful pharmacist. Here are some tips I would suggest to preceptors who want to make their good rotations even better: Engage and interact with your students. Especially as P4 students, we did not sign up for rotation just to sit at a desk and count pills or do busy work. We want to participate in the verification process, work on projects that are meaningful, and be hands on with the patients. Have the students actually read the guidelines. Personally, I found it to be a great refresher and a chance to update myself on practice changes since the time I learned a specific topic. We have to be lifelong learners and getting in the habit now, will make doing it once we are practicing so much easier. If you work closely with an interdisciplinary team, use that to the benefit of student learning. We simulate interdisciplinary teamwork during school, but nothing compares to seeing it effectively and efficiently used for patient care in real scenarios. The discussions I participated in gave me a chance to use my clinical knowledge and learn from other professions. It was a pleasure to work with the team at NHFHS and I wish that every student could interact with such a team. I would like to close with a thank you to all the preceptors that are involved in student learning. Your guidance is what makes tomorrow’s pharmacists just that much better. If not for the passion for patient care and active advancement of the profession that I have seen on my rotations, I do not know if I would have truly figured out what it means to be a pharmacist. At this point in my journey towards becoming a pharmacist, I am more inspired than ever and hope to become a caring pharmacist that can make at least a small difference in the lives of each and every patient.
Important Upcoming Dates August 22-September 28: Fall-1 IPPE October 4-5: ASHP National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference (virtual) October 9-10: Fall Break (P1-P3) October 12: P4 Capstone Presentations October 12-November 21: Fall-2 IPPE November 22-24: Thanksgiving Break (P1-P3) December 1: All outstanding APPE grades due December 18-January 1: Christmas break
🏆 Recognize an outstanding student 🏆 Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy would like to recognize students for excellent performance in IPPE and APPE rotations. Please complete the information at the link below and the student will be recognized and rewarded with a certificate of excellence. There is no limit on the number of submissions for students or preceptors. We hope that the students will enjoy receiving these as motivation to continue their hard work! Excellence in Experiential Education
Library Password Policy User passwords will need to meet the following requirements: Minimum password length of 10 characters
Must not include the username The password must meet a minimum complexity score assessed by an industry-standard password strength checker tool Library resources are available here: https://lib.presby.edu/preceptorlibraryresources
Continuing Education and Preceptor Development Events American Pharmacists Association Preceptor Guide: Available for download from APhA On-Demand Offerings: Medication Safety and Quality Improvement in Community Pharmacy (Free from NABP) Precepting Generation Z (Free for ASHP Members) Exploring the Pass-Fail Grading Model in Pharmacy Education (Free for ASHP Members) NEW! FDA Proposed Rule revising the NDC format (Free from FDA) NEW! Precept Responsibly Podcast
Have a student interested in pharmacy? Facebook
@PC_Pharmacy
Please send any and all prospective student referrals to our Director of Admissions (pharmacy@presby.edu). We can't wait to meet them! 307 North Broad Street, Clinton…
pharmacy.presby.edu