P4 Internship/Rotation Year

[DrPharm]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

How are all the P4s doing on their rotations? Which ones are you on? Share with us your experiences and concerns!

 

[Ivorymist]

Man, where are all the P4s? Am I the only one?

I've had some pretty interesting rotations, and currently I'm doing an ER rotation at a large teaching hospital. I have to do lots of readings and projects, but so far rotations has treated me well. I'm learning more every day.

Wish I could hear from some other P4s...

 

[LVPharm]

I'm now in my 3rd year of a 3 year program, so I'm doing my rotations as well. I just finished a pediatrics rotation at a local medical center. It was a great experience, mostly working in the NICU, rounding with the medical team, providing drug info with my preceptor, learning to write neonatal TPNs, etc. I also had a 15-20 minute presentation on the role of vitamin A in bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and a journal club. Right now, I'm just doing the usual "institutional pharmacy" rotation, learning the basics of hospital inpatient pharmacy...the distributive functions. Theoretically, this should've come before I started these other rotations, but they couldn't get enough "spots" for students to do it all at the same time (there are only 3 big hospitals here in LV)...so they decided to let students do this rotation amidst all the other rotations.

 

[ultracet]

in our curriculum you have to do a research project during your 4th year. Its a huge thing and lasts all year long.

Do you all have anything like that?

 

[LVPharm]

We don't have a capstone project in our curriculum.

 

[Ivorymist]

We don't have one either, although I have to do a project for each of my rotations.

So far I've done a public health rotation, a generic hospital institutional rotation, general medicine, and ER medicine. It's been a pretty good year as far as learning goes.

 

[ultracet]

woo hoo...
i get to post in here now!!!



ok... so my entire class started rotations today...

some of us were lucky enough to have the month off though so i'm still sitting on my couch wasting time on SDN.


I'm going to start working on my capstone project soon too... i'm struggeling finding the full text of some background articles that i need.


We also have to keep a portfolio during our rotations. It sounds like a good idea but i don't like the extra work

 

[ForgetMeNot]

We also have to keep a portfolio during our rotations. It sounds like a good idea but i don't like the extra work

We had to make a portfolio for both our 2nd and 3rd year rotations. It was a pain in the butt. And to make it worse, no preceptors even looked at it...ever. 😡

 

[ultracet]

Alright....
I've had 1.3 rotations so far......
Ours are 4 weeks long
they start in june after your third year.

i had june off and august off....

i had CVS in july -- busy CVS but not too bad... had to do herbal writeups
In Sept. I have a Managed Care rotation-- a lot of projects but nothing that is too hard..

The rest are subject to change...
Oct- Grocery Store
Nov- DIC
Dec- Off
Jan- IV and Compounding
Feb- Ambulatory care at a VA
Mar-- not currently but hopefully a pedagogic
Apr-- Adult Medicine (internal med) at the really really horrible hospital in town.
May-- Off/graduation (hopefully)

i'm also currently working on my research project... the description of it is "The model for this course is that of a dissertation or thesis pathway. The student is responsible for choosing and researching his/her topic, defending hte rationale to the section, then carrying out the project and making final oral and written presentations of the results"

Currently.... that part of it BLOWS... A proposal is due tomorrow.... and i cant seem to write a word of it! (its supposed to be 15-25 pages long)

oh and on the portfolio.... not only is it for preceptors but when you apply for residencies and jobs...

 

[dgroulx]

I start rotations at the beginning of March, still in my P3 year. I get to choose them next month, so I'm pretty excited about that. We do 1/2 a semester before leaving on rotations, then 1/2 a semester afterwards.

Our rotations are 48 weeks straight, with one scheduled month off which is randomized. BBmuffin - I figured this is what happened to you, since you were posting a lot. I'm hoping to get my break somewhere in the middle, since I won't get summers off.

Most of our rotations are 4 weeks, but there are two mandatory 8 week rotations.

 

[ultracet]

i wanted a break in the middle too.......

i have a lot of hate for the professor in charge of them right now....

he and i are not on the same page at all......


however... i can't change the past... and my months off are gone 🙁

 

[ultracet]

at this very moment.... i hate the 4th year.....

 

[TotalKayOs]

So far I am 1/2 way done with my 3rd rotation. we have 7 six week blocks. one of those block is a vaction block. here's my rotation list:

Block 1 Inpatient:Heme/Onc bone marrow transplant and solid tumor, pretty fun got to follow patients for 6 weeks and watch them go through the full myleoablative therapy and look like death itself then watch (some of) them get better. saw some fever of neutropenias.

Block 2 Inpatient:critical care, MICU - More fun than heme/onc, GI bleeds, overdoses, suicide attempts, ARF. most patients were intubated and sedated so i didn't have to talk to them

Block 3 Elective: Teaching - doing it now, nice, no patients

Block 4 Community: Compounding, looking foward to it, don't have to deal with patients and i need the practice for the wet lab.

Block 5 Vacation
Block 6 Instituional: IV/TPN general hospital crap
Block 7 Ambulatory: HIV/AIDS clinic

each of our rotations include presentations, journal clubs, DI, and consults.
the one thing i learned about myself on rotations is that i like pharmacy but i don't like dealing with patients. i know it sounds bad, but i don't think patient care is for me.

 

[Caverject]

Block One: Teaching
Block Two: Internal Med Elective or Nuclear...can't decide
Block Three: Ambulatory Care with the Indian Health Service
Block Four: Internal Med
Block Five: Cardiology
Block Six: Community at a place that does over 1k a day

 

[dgroulx]

Block One: Teaching
Block Two: Internal Med Elective or Nuclear...can't decide
Block Three: Ambulatory Care with the Indian Health Service
Block Four: Internal Med
Block Five: Cardiology
Block Six: Community at a place that does over 1k a day

I was talking with a UF Jax student at annual in Orlando. She also chose a rotation at the Indian Health Service in Arizona. Are you going to Arizona, or are there multiple locations available?

 

[ultracet]

we have an IHS one in montana

 

[Caverject]

As bb pointed out, there is multiple available. Mine is located in San Fidel New Mexico, also known as BFE. We also have rotations in Gallup NM as well as Red Bug Lake North Dakota. It should be a lot of fun

 

[ultracet]

Everyone that goes absolutely loves ours...

we send people in at least groups of 2 i think at most groups of 4.

i do not believe they have ever sent anyone alone. from what i can tell... everyone lives together in a trailer (so housing is provided) and has a big 'ole time. they are also encouaged to go exploring over the weekends and prior to starting the rotation. i believe their month may be a bit shorter as well as the fact that they get one of the months next to the trip off.

i know some take a detour through vegas as well...

 

[ultracet]

ok folks...
half way through managed care...

boy...
this is definitely not what i want to do for a living...

i have written several things (discovered i'm HORRIBLE at writing) and am currently supposed to be reading a law suit involving AWP. its a short 88 pages....

a lot of people i know absolutely LOVE this rotation because they love to write.

my research project is going.... not very quickly... i need to be working on IRB approval and i haven't really done that yet

 

[ultracet]

anyone who wants to go into managed care is a sick, sick individual

 

[ronamyth]

How are all the P4s doing on their rotations? Which ones are you on? Share with us your experiences and concerns!

Of the four rotations that I have currently completed, not one was at all worth what I am paying to be there. For example on a clinical, the staff PharmD (my preceptor) and the staff physicians pretty much spend their entire day disagreeing with each other. Result: I learned nothing and felt uncomfortable all the time. On 2 patient care rotations, I did not see or speak to a single patient, I was pretty much put to work as a tech. Result: learned nothing and went to my paying job tired. On my community rotation, I was able to play compounding boy for 5 weeks. Result: was able to do something interesting and learned a little something, even though thats not what I was there for. God I hope they get better or these will continue to be the longest 5 week periods of my life. Hope things are going better for others. Take care.

 

[ultracet]

ronamyth: that really sucks
i definitely know how you feel about not being worth the money you are paying to be there.

how big are the medical centers you have been rotating at?

 

[ultracet]

today was the best day of my rotation EVER

 

[Glycerin]

today was the best day of my rotation EVER

Why?

 

[Caverject]

Why?

Rotations don't last forever! 🙂 Time to turn a new page!

 

[ultracet]

Why?

it was the last day


next....
Grocery store...
when i called to check in with them they had done a whopping............
38 to that point (3pm)

 

[dgroulx]

I have to fill out my rotation wish list form by mid October. Unfortunately, it is all "city" priority instead of "interest". I'm manually writing down what cities offer what rotations, so I can select those cities. Tampa doesn't have any HIV rotations and I wanted one of those.

Also, I'm in the second group to get assigned. First they fill all the special needs students requests. These are students with school age children, students with chronic health conditions and out-of-sequence students. Out-of-sequence is a nice name for students who are repeating classes. Bad students get a better priority. It almost makes it worthwhile to fail a class.

 

[ultracet]

i'm totally getting jacked over on my march rotation...

i have been working on switching it to ensure i can make apha since september...

i'm informed yestday that indeed it has been switched
but not to what i (and the asst dean ) requested (it was supposed to be pedagogic with her and thus...
no


GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

i know a lot of people get screwed every once in a while but sheesh
its so frustrating when it happens

 

[jme102]

How are all the P4s doing on their rotations? Which ones are you on? Share with us your experiences and concerns!

P4's, can you believe we graduate in May!? Exciting, yet scary. =)

Anyway, to date I've done:

June - Health Dept
July - Diabetes clinic
Aug - Community
Oct - Drug info
Nov - Community
January - Coumadin clinic/home health
Feb - currently in geriatrics

So far, my fave has been diabetes because it involved so much of my clinical knowledge. I loved getting to be exposed to so many different groups of patients! =)

 

[dgroulx]

I love my current rotation. I'm working with the ICU pharmacist.

Currently, I'm assigned 4 patients. I did an initial workup and assessment, now I read their charts every day for updates. Tomorrow morning I will do rounds and look in on some other patients.

Every afternoon, we check for DVT prophylaxis, stress ulcer prophylaxis and renal dosing. If we need to make a recommendation for a change, we fill out a pharmacist order form and place it in the chart. The doctors follow our recommendations 99% of the time. Starting next week, I'll be doing this on my own (pharmacist will check of course).

A couple of days ago, I sat in on a meeting for designing an insulin protocol for ICU patients. That was really interesting.

Tomorrow I get my second catered meal this week. There's lots of drug reps coming in this month. My hours are from 8:30am - 3:30pm and I can take an hour for lunch. I'm actually allowed to leave at 2pm, but I don't want to miss out on anything. The clinical pharmacist I work with leaves at 3:30, so I do too.

The TPNs for ICU are also done by the same pharmacist. The dietician decides nutritional content, then the pharmacist analyzes the labs and adjusts electrolytes. She said that she loves that part because she has complete autonomy. The dietician is leaving and the hospital will most likely turn it over to pharmacy 100%.

 

[TotalKayOs]

i really liked my ICU rotation too. it's pretty cool b/c you get to see all kinds acute diseases, renal and respiratory failure, drug overdoses and it's great to learn about acid/base disorders there too.

 

[bananaface]

I am in the process of choosing 4th year rotations. Here is what I have so far:

July: compounding and nutrition center (independent retail store, no IVs)
Aug: general inpatient
Sept: a local inpatient mental instutution (which attracts alot of ppl from OOS)
Oct: retail rotation (flu shots, my current chain, paid)
Nov: ?
Dec: Board of Pharmacy
Jan: retail rotation (store specilizing in HIV care)
Feb: ?

I am thinking of filling in one spot with a spot in the L&I PA department, because they do alot of P&T type stuff and I'd get a look at some oddball drugs. I might do outpatient stuff at Madigan or the VA for the last slot. If I can, I'd like to do some sort of management rotation, so I might set that up on my own.

I am out of area for my school, so I don't have to do the lottery. The 6 or so people in my area just have to make sure we don't have conflicts then we get exactly what we want.

Any feedback?

 

[pinkyrx]

At what point in your programs do you find out what your specific rotations will be? (How many months in advance?)

 

[dgroulx]

Any feedback?

I am really enjoying my clinical pharmacy ICU rotation. I see disease states that you don't normally get to see. A lot of it is sad and most of my patients die. But, I am learning a lot and that's what rotations are for.

Yesterday, I got to see Stevens-Johnsons syndrome. They talked about it in school, and it was nice to be able to put a picture to it.

 

[bananaface]

At what point in your programs do you find out what your specific rotations will be? (How many months in advance?)

We set them up in April for July-May. Our schedule consists of 8 one month rotations. I have to retake a medchem class in the spring so all of mine are squished together summer-winter.

 

[ML-Scalpel]

Well, I am doing a speciality pharmacy right now, all I do is sit on a computer from 9am-6pm everyday (exclude the ne hour lunch)
I hate it, I hate it and I hate it, I didnt learn anything interessting except for the presentation i will be giving next thursday about Age-related Macular Degenration.
other than that this rotation suck!

 

[ML-Scalpel]

Well, I am doing a speciality pharmacy right now, all I do is sit on a computer from 9am-6pm everyday (exclude the one hour lunch)
I hate it, I hate it and I hate it, I didnt learn anything interessting except for the presentation i will be giving next thursday about Age-related Macular Degenration.
other than that this rotation suck!

 

[ultracet]

we set them up in oct/nov and find out in dec/jan for the june-may year

 

[dgroulx]

Well, I am doing a speciality pharmacy right now, all I do is sit on a computer from 9am-6pm everyday (exclude the ne hour lunch)
I hate it, I hate it and I hate it, I didnt learn anything interessting except for the presentation i will be giving next thursday about Age-related Macular Degenration.
other than that this rotation suck!

Which site are you at? We need to make a web page of which rotations rock and which ones suck.

 

[ML-Scalpel]

Which site are you at? We need to make a web page of which rotations rock and which ones suck.

speciality pharmacy - curascript, Orlando

 

[bananaface]

Which site are you at? We need to make a web page of which rotations rock and which ones suck.

My school has a page for this. It has anonymous comments and ratings from prior classes. We can be candid because it isn't publicly accessible.

 

[dgroulx]

Tomorrow morning I have to get up early because I get to watch open heart surgery. After watching, I'll grab lunch then do my presentation. It will be a long day, but different.

 

[simon11]

Two weeks to go! Can't wait to get out of the class room. Even though I have to jump right in and only get one day off between exam and start of first rotation, wahooooooo! Anyone else have senioritis at the end of P3 year

 

[genesis09]

My rotations won't start until the week of Memorial Day.

 

[stevephhs016]

Current P3 year here and getting ready to start rotations in May.

1st- CCU
3rd-Med Info

So far, that's the schedule I got.

Anyways, really nervous about starting rotations because I actually don't have any pharmacy experience. So can any1 give me some advice/tips on how to prepare for my first rotation? Should I look over my therapeutics note beforehand? How are the daily activities with the presentations/projects? How would you guys rate it compared to your P3 year?

 

[genesis09]

Intro clerkship at Women's/Family Medicine Clinic
1st mod: Hospital Clerkship
2nd mod: Ambulatory Care at an anti-coagulation/hyperlipidemia clinic
3rd mod: Medicine Clerkship
4th mod: Community Clerkship
5th mod: Drug Information
6th mod: Disease state management

 

[illusions]

i have 10 1-month rotations. They are cardiology, outpatient pharmacy, pediatric surgery, amcare (free medical clinic), critical care, industry-drug information, institutional(hospital), internal medicine, oncology, and neurosurgery.

 

[njac]

We got our assignments like 3 weeks ago. We start the first week of June (4 wk rotations).

Advanced General Medicine
Drug Info
Emergency Medicine
Anticoagulation/Pharm Admin @ state psych hospital
Infectious Disease
Hem/Onc
December off for mid year
Toxicology/Poison Center
February off for residency interviews
ICU
Something ambulatory - yet to be determined

I'm pretty stoked. As it stands, I will have made it through my entire 4 year pharmacy school career with only 4 weeks of retail! (done after 1st year)

 

[BMBiology]

Here's where I did my rotations:

(1) LA County Department of Health Services (administrative, P&T)
(2) Ralphs Pharmacy Corporate Office
(3) LA County/USC Surgical ICU
(4) Arrowhead Medical Center Pain Clinic
(5) VA Primary Care
(6) VA Outpatient Psych