Crappy rotations

[spacecowgirl]

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Aaaand discuss.

 

[ZpackSux]

Aaaand discuss.

I didn't have a single Crappy Rotation.

I did,

Critical Care/Cardiology USC/LAC
Pysch USC/LAC
Community RX Tustin/OC
AmCare Kaiser Los Angeles
Administration Kaiser Los Angeles
International Research SNU Hospital/Korea

 

[RXlecom07]

Only on my 2nd one right now, which i really like, but the one I had at Walgreens was painfully boring. It was a really slow store so once I picked up their system I stood around a lot. 3 workers at a store that does 150 a day at the most can only stay so busy...

 

[ZpackSux]

Quality of rotation should be the barometer of Pharmacy School Ranking.

UCSF and USC definitely have it figured out.👍

...we've been doing it long enough..

 

[spacecowgirl]

You're lucky, maybe USC needs to provide workshops for other schools to follow. Most of mine have been OK, some have even been great, but this month is making me consider dropping out of pharmacy school just so I don't have to go back there for another second. I'm at a LTC pharmacy and I fill blister packs all day. Every day. I have no clue what a LTC pharmacist does because I'm playing cut and paste and taking out the trash. It makes my old horrible hospital job (which I quit in part because I didn't learn a thing) look like brain surgery. I talked to one of their consultant pharmacist preceptors to see if I could go with her to a few homes and she told me, in these exact words "I do not have time to teach you anything." 😕 Why take students when you can't teach them anything?

I am going to be a PharmD in five months. I have boards to take. People might even expect me to know something! Not only am I not learning anything, I think I'm getting dumber as precious knowledge seeps from my brain while I package Sinemet.

I'm not above doing tech work...if I'm getting paid to be a technician. If I'm getting paid, I;ll even whistle Yankee Doodle while I mop the floor, whatever. But this is like paying $1200 for a 600 level English class and reading Dick and Jane books while having to do the professor's laundry and walk their dog. 😡

 

[SpirivaSunrise]

You're lucky, maybe USC needs to provide workshops for other schools to follow. Most of mine have been OK, some have even been great, but this month is making me consider dropping out of pharmacy school just so I don't have to go back there for another second. I'm at a LTC pharmacy and I fill blister packs all day. Every day. I have no clue what a LTC pharmacist does because I'm playing cut and paste and taking out the trash. It makes my old horrible hospital job (which I quit in part because I didn't learn a thing) look like brain surgery. I talked to one of their consultant pharmacist preceptors to see if I could go with her to a few homes and she told me, in these exact words "I do not have time to teach you anything." 😕 Why take students when you can't teach them anything?

I am going to be a PharmD in five months. I have boards to take. People might even expect me to know something! Not only am I not learning anything, I think I'm getting dumber as precious knowledge seeps from my brain while I package Sinemet.

I'm not above doing tech work...if I'm getting paid to be a technician. If I'm getting paid, I;ll even whistle Yankee Doodle while I mop the floor, whatever. But this is like paying $1200 for a 600 level English class and reading Dick and Jane books while having to do the professor's laundry and walk their dog. 😡

Have you talked to anyone at your school in the experiential education office about it? It wouldn't really help you...you're probably almost done. But maybe they'll remove it from their list of sites? I was at a hospital that was pretty awful too...my preceptor told us to "watch the techs fill...don't help though! just watch, and go sit and read Facts & Comparisons" 👎 (This was a 1 year, 8-hour/week deal during my 3rd year)

The two of us who were at the hospital mentioned this to our coordinator, and it's no longer on the list of sites. That was the only dud though...all of the rest of my rotations have been awesome 😉

 

[dgroulx]

So far:

Critical Care - awesome
Administration - was with DOP every day. Lots of meetings.
Ambulatory Care - awesome
Geriatrics - okay. not much geriatrics, just doing final check of meds
Drug Info - lots of research. Good rotation.
Community - Target. Boring, crappy, hated it.
Surgery - another awesome one.
Hospital Practice - did clinical work, mixed chemo. good rotation.

All I have left is adult med for 8 weeks. I expect that one to be decent. Only community sucked.

 

[sdn1977]

Yep - I have to agree with Zpak here. This is something to consider when considering schools. When we precept for an elective...there are expectations we must meet. We get evaluated by students (altho...your opinion if you like us or not is neither here nor there..) but we also get evaluated on how we help you obtain experienctial knowledge.

There are sometimes we must put you in a "safe" place....like filling blister packs, etc...

However...you should be with pharmacists who enjoy teaching. Not all of us do & there are circumstances when the dop or dm just says....I'm sending you an intern. In those circumstances...the supervising pharmacist doesn't know or doesn't have the ability to teach you. You need to give feedback.

There is a possibility that your school has not developed relationships with the real life preceptors which you would benefit from. In that case...that is a negative relative to the school - not your site.

 

[ethyl]

So far:

Critical Care - awesome
Administration - was with DOP every day. Lots of meetings.
Ambulatory Care - awesome
Geriatrics - okay. not much geriatrics, just doing final check of meds
Drug Info - lots of research. Good rotation.
Community - Target. Boring, crappy, hated it.
Surgery - another awesome one.
Hospital Practice - did clinical work, mixed chemo. good rotation.

All I have left is adult med for 8 weeks. I expect that one to be decent. Only community sucked.

Have you heard about anyone in your class having a compounding rotation where all they did was sit on the phone.... calling up people to see if they wanted information on dialysis machines? 😳

The 4PD I shadowed was doing ambulatory care at the VA and it looked pretty interesting and fun. 😎 The VA is definitely going to be on the top of my rotations list.

 

[dgroulx]

Have you heard about anyone in your class having a compounding rotation where all they did was sit on the phone.... calling up people to see if they wanted information on dialysis machines? 😳

The 4PD I shadowed was doing ambulatory care at the VA and it looked pretty interesting and fun. 😎 The VA is definitely going to be on the top of my rotations list.

No, I haven't heard of anyone doing that for compounding.

The VA is awesome. However, you don't get to pick your rotation site. You'll probably get at least one at the VA because they take lots of students. For rotations you pick your top 5 geographical areas and your top 15 electives. Then they'll place you. There is a 1 month swap period where you could try to get more VA rotations. I actually got rid of one, because it's a 1.75 hour drive to the VA from my house.