P4 Rotation Prep

[jay04002]

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Hi Guys
I am currently a P3 and in about 2 months will be starting my P4 rotations, can someone please tell me their secret in preparing for the P4 rotations? Is there a book that i can buy that will summarize the most vital information and what not? or anyone made their own study guide that might help me???
Please guys help me, i feel so unprepared for the rotations to come.
Thank you for your help
👍😀

 

[PharmDstudent]

Just keep an open-mind and a sense of dedication, and you'll do fine.

 

[ohiopharmacist]

My advise is to take this opportunity to explore all pharmacy fields possible.

Retail, nuclear, VA, administration, hospitals, HIV or diabetic clinics, ambulatory, few with your instructors, prison(its cool)...the options are endless
Or you can be lazy like me and decide to pick the ones that doesn't have an early start 😀

 

[littlepooh]

It depends!! if u have easy one, then u dont have to do anything at all. They give you homework and then you just do it. Easy A.

Some preceptors give out a lot of works such as writing papers, etc...man..

if they hate u..then they can fail you. In conclusion, it's better to review old stuffs that you have learned in pharmacy. Also, it's better to review all of the bran and generic...side effects. interaction..they ask that all the time

 

[psychoandy]

Hi Guys
I am currently a P3 and in about 2 months will be starting my P4 rotations, can someone please tell me their secret in preparing for the P4 rotations? Is there a book that i can buy that will summarize the most vital information and what not? or anyone made their own study guide that might help me???
Please guys help me, i feel so unprepared for the rotations to come.
Thank you for your help
👍😀

uptodate ftw.

 

[jay04002]

Thank you all for the helpful advices... i really appreciate the help

It depends!! if u have easy one, then u dont have to do anything at all. They give you homework and then you just do it. Easy A.

Some preceptors give out a lot of works such as writing papers, etc...man..

if they hate u..then they can fail you. In conclusion, it's better to review old stuffs that you have learned in pharmacy. Also, it's better to review all of the bran and generic...side effects. interaction..they ask that all the time

I have been working at CVS for at about 3 years, i sorta know my stuff but what scares me is VA rotations (i have 3 of those). i heard that you need to know detailed info about cardio, cancer, and other big players. And tell you the truth i kind of dont remember much from all of those classes . So if i buy for example kaplan NAPLEX book do you think it will help me in covering those subjects??? I mean i dont want to go back and read all of my notes, that's little too much i think...hence looking for something concise to help me review my material....
Thank you once again and keep em coming 👍😀

 

[Sevarious]

If you have access to board review materials they can be helpful before you start your rotations. If there is an affordable board review course you could consider taking it. But these aren't essential. Another option to consider: pull out your copy of Pharmacotherapy and start reviewing diseases. Start with the big boys like DM, HTN etc then move on from there. If you know that you have a specialty rotation like oncology then review your cancer drugs.

I completely agree with the poster who said to use your rotations to do as many different things as possible. I regret not signing up for all the "weird" rotations like Indian health service or something in Alaska.

The best thing to do is to be prepared to look up everything you don't understand each night. Most preceptors don't mind if you don't know something, but they will expect you to know it the next day.

Other than that, know that rotations come in all flavors and as such there really isn't a one size fits all way to prepare.

Some of my rotations were just 8 hours worth of busy work. Running around looking at patient charts and then talking about them. Always keep a few patients as backups for days when the floor is dry or you're feeling lazy.

One rotation had a daily grill session.

One of my rotations featured a couple of weeks of me standing around being useless while begging for something to do. Then being called lazy because I didn't do any work. WTF?

Two of my preceptors hated me from day one. One of these wound up liking me after she got to know me more. The other was just a tool.

One of my preceptors wound up giving me a present at the end of the rotation for helping out.

 

[RX CARE]

Put together practice guidelines for every major pharmacotherapy topic.......read relevant ones pertinent to the rotation you do at that time.....makes life so much easier....you learn soooooo much about a disease state by reading only a few pages of guidelines.....😀
***this is a secret most students don't realize****

 

[littlepooh]

I think Protonpass is a really good one to review. It costs around 300-500 dollars, but it's pretty good to review.

 

[rxlynn]

Be sure that you are confident in your ability to work with primary literature. The very first week of my very first rotation I had a drug question which required much more than "let's just look that up in Lexi-Comp". Ended up having to do an extensive lit search and then summarize for a physician. Also, you will more than likely end up having to do a number of different types of oral presentations for various groups over the year, so make sure that you have some idea of how to present a patient case and do a journal club. Hopefully you have already done that in the first 3 years, but some people manage to successfully avoid having to get up and speak before 4th year.

I agree with the earlier poster - have a good attitude, be willing to be flexible and learn, etc. And, on a more practical note, carry something around with you that you can make notes on (small notepad, itouch, etc.) I found I was often wanting to make a quick note of something I needed to look up later, something my preceptor wanted me to do, etc. and you don't want to be constantly fumbling around looking for paper and pencil.

 

[jay04002]

Guys thank you all for the replies...
Most of my rotations are at community pharmacies including compounding pharmacies, rehab clinic and also i have three rotations at VA pharmacies...
I have never worked at any places like these except CVS and i think that is freaking me out .
And i just want to thank you all of you guys for your help, u guys are the bombs

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

Guys thank you all for the replies...
Most of my rotations are at community pharmacies including compounding pharmacies, rehab clinic and also i have three rotations at VA pharmacies...
I have never worked at any places like these except CVS and i think that is freaking me out .
And i just want to thank you all of you guys for your help, u guys are the bombs

Bombs over baghdad....

Did you ever think a pimp rock a microphone?
Like that there boy and we still stay street
Big things happen every time we meet
Like a track team, crack fiend, dying to geek
Outkast bumpin' up and down the street

 

[ethyl]

Step 1) Get Lexi-Comp on your phone. Preferably an iPhone. Preferably a jailbroken iPhone.

Step 2) Get a pocket sized Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy.

Step 3) Become very proficient with Micromedex, PubMed searches, Clinical Pharmacology and Lexi-Comp online.

Step 4) Prepare to have many rotations where you do most of your work at the rotation site, then get to go home and watch tv for the rest of the day. Anticipate catching up on all of your favorite tv shows. Then prepare to have some rotations where you're working every minute of the day and doing journal clubs and presentation research daily when at home.

 

[VertigoX]

Depending on the type of rotation site, particularly the institutions, I would say to familiarize yourself with the guidelines or at least have a copy to refer to. The ones I found myself constantly using were JNC-7 for HTN, ATP-3 for cholesterol and ADA for diabetes.