Picking rotations........

[CuriousPharmD]

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I am a little undecided on how to go about picking my community and hospital rotations.......FOR COMMMUNITY, what is the best route of picking your preferences for these.......i know i want somewhere close to where i live, but should i pick a Walgreens, Osco or CVS where it will be busy or should i pick some where slower, like a target, dominick's or kmart OR should i pick an indenpendent???....can anyone share their experiences at any of these types of locations???

also, FOR HOSPITAL, the location isnt as flexible, but i have heard that picking a teaching hospital is better....do you guys agree/disagree.....also has anyone had any experience of working or doing rotations at a VA hospital???

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[KARM12]

I am a little undecided on how to go about picking my community and hospital rotations.......FOR COMMMUNITY, what is the best route of picking your preferences for these.......i know i want somewhere close to where i live, but should i pick a Walgreens, Osco or CVS where it will be busy or should i pick some where slower, like a target, dominick's or kmart OR should i pick an indenpendent???....can anyone share their experiences at any of these types of locations???

also, FOR HOSPITAL, the location isnt as flexible, but i have heard that picking a teaching hospital is better....do you guys agree/disagree.....also has anyone had any experience of working or doing rotations at a VA hospital???

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

For community, pick close to home. there are usually a lot of options. One way to go is if you work for a really busy store like Walgreens, pick a slower one...if you work for a slow store, pick a busy one. That way you get to see the differences. If you don't work in a pharmacy, I would go with a slower one.

For the general hospital....a teaching hospital, you'll see a lot more. VA's are good spots too.

 

[CuriousPharmD]

I heard it's good to try and pick at a store that you would want to work at after graduation...any validity to this?

also, a fellow student told me it would be better to do a rotation at a WAGS or Osco since their CS is better than the others (i.e. CVS, target, walmart, sam's and kmart)......any truth to this?????

 

[sdn1977]

Do you have to arrange your own rotations??????

For ambulatory, I wouldn't do any of the options you listed. I'd find the one with the most progressive ambulatory experiences available. If you want to just be an intern....entering orders, filling, taking phone orders, ringing up toothpaste & Tampax....well - do that for a job.

But - find the one which will give you the most experience as a clinically functioning pharmacist. That is where the interesting work & the future lies in retail.

For hospitals...the VA might be a great option if it is progressive (not all are!) However...the VA moves at a snails pace in most everything. Time does not equal money in their paradigm.

As for community or teaching - again...it depends on what the pharmacists functions are. If the pharmacists are not incorporated into the teaching aspect of the hospital, they function as any pharmacist in any hospital - some are very involved, some aren't. Community hospitals often require their pharmacists to wear multiple "hats" to make their staff be economical - thus you might see many different abilities within each position.

You have to do your homework on what is available. I'm surprised your school doesn't offer guidance of what the format, experience & preceptor involvement is.

 

[KARM12]

We do get guidance on rotation sites. We have a list with all the sites in the database. We can look up the sites through their web server or in our schools rotation binder at the library. We are also encouraged to sey up appointments with our OEE staff. No we don't have to set up our own. That would be really hard! I think he is trying to decide between which of the community sites to choose. There are a lot in the Chicago area to pick from...pretty much any of the major chains are on there.

Yes by all means pick a site if you think you might want to work there in the future. It is a good way to see if you like it. Walgreens has a great computer system, but it willl be harder for you to pick up at first. If you want to be working on more clinical pharmacy services, don't pick Walgreens or Target...they don't do too much of that in the store. Osco and Dominick's do a lot of screening programs and will let you participate as a student.

Talk to Prof. Lullo or Dr. Cornell...they have been working with these sites for years. They also know the preceptors well. They can help better steer you in the right direction depending on what you want to get out of the rotation.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

I learned a lot more about "pharmacy" topics when I worked at a slow Kroger. The pharmacist had time to teach me things, go over drug interactions, explain the "whys" of what he or she was doing.

Working the register at a very busy Walgreens a few weeks ago, I got to practice a lot of what I had learned, particularly in OTC b/c the pharmacist was so busy.

You can learn in either setting. The time goes faster when you are busy but it may be more interesting overall if you it's a little slower and you have a teaching-oriented preceptor.