Rotation Selection

[ultracet]

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How do you select your rotations?

We use a computer system called "PEMS." We enter in our preferences for each rotation (top three choices per rotation). "They" then send our preferences into a "spin" and randomly we are assigned our rotations. We also have to fill out a paper sheet so manual adjustments can be made and they can take into account our interests.

From what I can tell it is completely random and rarely do you get your actual prefs. We got our rotation schedule shortly before Christmas and we start rotations in June.

How/When do other schools do this?

 

[Caverject]

We have PEMS too...good ol' spin cycle! I got all of my first choices but that is because I selected two unpopular rotations and one very popular rotation. Also, if you have special circumstances, you can talk to the coordinator and they can work it to your favor.

 

[ultracet]

We have PEMS too...good ol' spin cycle! I got all of my first choices but that is because I selected two unpopular rotations and one very popular rotation. Also, if you have special circumstances, you can talk to the coordinator and they can work it to your favor.

I'm having to rearrange my schedule for the national KY meeting in august....
I don't know if i'll end up changing "off" months or if i'll end up working long hours and weekends that month.

Do you all get any months off?

 

[Caverject]

yes..we get 6 weeks between november and december. However, if you want to do a residency, you must do a rotation during that time since we are not totally finished until the first week of July. The kinks are still being worked out, and this is one of them

 

[ultracet]

yes..we get 6 weeks between november and december. However, if you want to do a residency, you must do a rotation during that time since we are not totally finished until the first week of July. The kinks are still being worked out, and this is one of them

That's interesting... We have to take Jan off if we want to do a residency in order to interview and apply for residencies...

We get may and december off as well as 2 other months. mine are currently june (after classes this may) and april so i finish pharmacy school next march as it stands right now!

 

[dgroulx]

I'm not sure if UF is doing anything differently this year. This is the first year that the distance sites will be factored in. They say that they are trying to keep the married with families close to home. I'll find out once people start getting assigned.

The 3PD's start rotations on Feb 28th, when the rest of us get spring break. They don't get to have spring break. They continue through January of the following year. They must get a break for Christmas, though I'm not sure at this point. After rotations, they have to do another full semester of course work, then graduate in May.

 

[ForgetMeNot]

We use PEMS with the "spin" as well. It manages to annoy plenty of people every year. Not me, though. I got rotations I wanted for both 2nd and 3rd year rotations.

 

[ultracet]

We use PEMS with the "spin" as well. It manages to annoy plenty of people every year. Not me, though. I got rotations I wanted for both 2nd and 3rd year rotations.

We only use PEMS for our 4th year rotations not our 1st or 2nd year ones... they pick those for us

 

[ForgetMeNot]

We only use PEMS for our 4th year rotations not our 1st or 2nd year ones... they pick those for us

We didn't get to pick our 1st year rotations, although I think they did allow students to do some switching around as long as the rotations were from the same category (ambulatory for ambulatory, institutional for institutional).

 

[TotalKayOs]

we here at MCP also use PEMS.

 

[off2skl]

We use PEMS with the "spin" as well. It manages to annoy plenty of people every year. Not me, though. I got rotations I wanted for both 2nd and 3rd year rotations.

Count me among those annoyed. I requested rotations far from school, picked the supposedly less popular break, and still got #%$#%. Got my third choice for institutional and NONE of my ambulatory. Then on top of that I just get randomly assigned, of all places, to the same company I work for (not the same site obviously). Like THAT is going to broaden my horizons! Yeah, yeah I know, the preceptor may be very good and I could learn from him/her, blah blah blah, but I wanted to experience variety and experience different areas in pharmacy.

GRUMBLE GRUMBLE GRUMBLE

 

[rxgal8]

I'm only a P1 but I think this is how it's done at my school:

We get assigned points based on:
a. GPA (1 point for being in the top 25% while the rest of the students get 0 points), and
b. Marital status (i.e. if married, you get an extra point so that way you have a better chance of getting your first choice which should be where your family is).

So it's broken down to 0, 1, and 2 pointers. Within those three groups, the students are randomly assigned numbers (lottery). So then, within the 2 pointers the one with the lowest number gets to pick first, then the person with the second lowest number picks, etc. After they're done, the 1 pointers do the same. And then the 0 pointers.

I think most people get their preferences because there are rotation sites all over California, and some in Hawaii, Portland, etc.

During our third year, we have six different rotations (community, hospital, ambulatory, internal medicine, and 2 electives), each lasting about 6 weeks.

 

[emogrrrrl]

First off- to give a little background, our school is in one city for the first 2 years and then for the last two years we can be in 1 of 3 cities.
My school used to be on a "lottery" system...meaning- you draw a ping pong ball with a number and depending on what # you draw, that's your place in line to sign up for where you want to be. For ex. I draw #34, then I'm the 34th person to get to sign up for 1 of 3 places. If your 1st choice is taken, then you sign up for your second choice. But you can sign up for a waiting list for where you do want to be. Apparently 99% of the people get what they want during the draw- there's an even split btwn all the cities for rotations and people from those cities. For those who didn't get their first choice, usually at some point someone is willing to switch. This year our class decided to settle things without going to the lottery system and we are deciding our first year where we will be for our 3rd and 4th years for rotations. It seems like everyone is getting what they want.
Our school is great, they are completely accomodating. Even if you change your mind before or after you've moved (prior to the 4th year), you can still try and switch out.
I know... it's confusing.

 

[Roxicet]

Count me among those annoyed. I requested rotations far from school, picked the supposedly less popular break, and still got #%$#%. Got my third choice for institutional and NONE of my ambulatory. Then on top of that I just get randomly assigned, of all places, to the same company I work for (not the same site obviously). Like THAT is going to broaden my horizons! Yeah, yeah I know, the preceptor may be very good and I could learn from him/her, blah blah blah, but I wanted to experience variety and experience different areas in pharmacy.

GRUMBLE GRUMBLE GRUMBLE

Sorry to hear that! I picked the third block for my vacation, and I got my first choice ambulatory (Target) and third choice hospital (which is still not so bad).

 

[ultracet]

Sorry to hear that! I picked the third block for my vacation, and I got my first choice ambulatory (Target) and third choice hospital (which is still not so bad).

You have a target that is ambulatory care?!? ???

what all do they do there and how does that work?

 

[LVPharm]

Exactly what I was thinking...Target for Ambulatory Care? Is this the mass merchandiser, Target? Or a clinic that goes by that name?

 

[ForgetMeNot]

Exactly what I was thinking...Target for Ambulatory Care? Is this the mass merchandiser, Target? Or a clinic that goes by that name?

It's the good ol Target we all know and love.

 

[Roxicet]

You have a target that is ambulatory care?!? ???

what all do they do there and how does that work?

Really, it should be called our "community pharmacy" rotation; I don't know why it's categorized as ambulatory care. But I picked Target because I've never worked in a pharmacy, so I wanted a relatively low-volume store where I could get the most out of patient interactions and not be used as "free help." 👍

 

[Caverject]

Really, it should be called our "community pharmacy" rotation; I don't know why it's categorized as ambulatory care. But I picked Target because I've never worked in a pharmacy, so I wanted a relatively low-volume store where I could get the most out of patient interactions and not be used as "free help." 👍

Don't be quick to judge Roxy...My first rotation was at an independent that filled 1200 rx's a DAY! They had me counsel on just about every new prescription filled that I could take. (It is policy the patient be counseled on every new prescription) It was one of the best experiences I have ever had in retail.

Also, I work at a low volume retail facility. The patient interaction will not be anywhere near what I got at the independent. (We do approx 100 rx/day if not less) I learned due to repitition. Anyway..just some food for thought!

 

[kristakoch]

Don't be quick to judge Roxy...My first rotation was at an independent that filled 1200 rx's a DAY! They had me counsel on just about every new prescription filled that I could take. (It is policy the patient be counseled on every new prescription) It was one of the best experiences I have ever had in retail.

Also, I work at a low volume retail facility. The patient interaction will not be anywhere near what I got at the independent. (We do approx 100 rx/day if not less) I learned due to repitition. Anyway..just some food for thought!

...and you never know, you may not even be in the pharmacy. I know some Targets are setting up clinics where all you do is check cholesterol, blood glucose, etc. I had my amb care rotation at a Cubs Food Store, and that's all we did, I was never in the pharmacy once. So i have a small feeling that's what you will be doing, not filling scripts.

 

[Caverject]

...and you never know, you may not even be in the pharmacy. I know some Targets are setting up clinics where all you do is check cholesterol, blood glucose, etc. I had my amb care rotation at a Cubs Food Store, and that's all we did, I was never in the pharmacy once. So i have a small feeling that's what you will be doing, not filling scripts.

That's why it's so important to research your options! 😉

 

[kristakoch]

That's why it's so important to research your options! 😉

....the key is that I LOVED it, and will be doing my residency there next year🙂 So you never know what you will end up loving once you start your rotations. The only advice I can give is go in with an open mind when choosing and try to pick a large selection of rotations, don't concentrate in one area 🙂

 

[off2skl]

Really, it should be called our "community pharmacy" rotation; I don't know why it's categorized as ambulatory care. But I picked Target because I've never worked in a pharmacy, so I wanted a relatively low-volume store where I could get the most out of patient interactions and not be used as "free help." 👍

I agree "community pharmacy" would be less confusing, but I think they call it ambulatory because the patients are able to walk in (is ambulate a word????) 🙂

 

[Cloud 9]

I was wondering, when is considered the 'popular' time to get your month off? btw I know this thread is old, but I didn't want to make a new thread for a trivial question so hopefully someone can chime in..

 

[deleted205891]

I was wondering, when is considered the 'popular' time to get your month off? btw I know this thread is old, but I didn't want to make a new thread for a trivial question so hopefully someone can chime in..

If you're going for residency, February would be a good month to have off.

 

[Cloud 9]

If you're going for residency, February would be a good month to have off.

Oh okay, thank you for the input. It's still too early for me to tell, but what if most of the class mates aren't applying to residency, what would be a hard month to get off? December prob right?

 

[Ackj]

We ranked before winter break, so our break is the "swap period" so you can try to trade or scramble for one that didn't get picked. I didn't really care when I was off, but my 6 weeks happened to be August to mid-September, which is a nice time for a summer vacation. I'm also in Buffalo for November, so I get to spend the month of Thanksgiving at my parent's place.

 

[Sparda29]

We use E-Value. For each rotation, you select the site and the month you want it in. If you don't care where you're doing your rotations but want more choice over when you're gonna be doing it, you'd select that you prefer those months over the sites.

Otherwise, if there is a specific site you want, you'd enter that you definitely want that site, regardless of which month it is in.

 

[Ackj]

We use E-Value. For each rotation, you select the site and the month you want it in. If you don't care where you're doing your rotations but want more choice over when you're gonna be doing it, you'd select that you prefer those months over the sites.

Otherwise, if there is a specific site you want, you'd enter that you definitely want that site, regardless of which month it is in.

We use that too, we all have our theories about how to rank to get exactly what you want, but nobody is really sure. Personally, instead of saying "X hospital, any timeframe" I rank that hospital separately for timeframe 1-8. I got my first choice on all IPPE and a decent amount of APPE, although I ended up with one I didn't rank at all since it's a little far. Other students say that instead of putting your top 10-20, just put in 2-4, and the computer tries to fit you into those since there are less combinations available.

 

[pharm B]

Wait, how many of you get a month off during your rotations? I'd never heard of that before. I'm assuming it's program-specific, but still just curious.

 

[CUpharmD2013]

Wait, how many of you get a month off during your rotations? I'd never heard of that before. I'm assuming it's program-specific, but still just curious.

We get the month around Christmas.

 

[RX86]

Wait, how many of you get a month off during your rotations? I'd never heard of that before. I'm assuming it's program-specific, but still just curious.

.

 

[EBT12]

.

 

[Ackj]

Our rotations are Monday-Friday for 6 weeks. There are 8 blocks, but you only take 7 rotations. It's kind of random which 6 week block is free, although you can try to plan them.

 

[owlegrad]

We get one block off and you have some control over which block you have off.

 

[rxlea]

My school is random unless you do the rural health program, dual degree, do an international rotation or apply for things/ set up your own. Plus some preceptors have a choice and that is sort of like setting up your own.

I'm only a P2 but I essentially already know two of my rotations...working on getting an international via some connections. I hope it pans out.

 

[pharm B]

I just found out we do get a rotation block off, but so far our students have always gotten the last rotation off to prepare for the NAPLEX, make up any missed/failed rotations, etc.

 

[GoldfishPharmD]

Blah, we don't get any rotations off. We get the regular spring break and holidays off though.

 

[Sparda29]

We use that too, we all have our theories about how to rank to get exactly what you want, but nobody is really sure. Personally, instead of saying "X hospital, any timeframe" I rank that hospital separately for timeframe 1-8. I got my first choice on all IPPE and a decent amount of APPE, although I ended up with one I didn't rank at all since it's a little far. Other students say that instead of putting your top 10-20, just put in 2-4, and the computer tries to fit you into those since there are less combinations available.

One of my P3 friends just got screwed by E-Value. For the Spring 2012 Semester which is the months of February-August, she has all months off except for August. That sucks so bad, she won't have any months off in P4 year.

The way my school works is that you have 4 core rotations and 5 elective rotations and a capstone project to complete within 18 months. Hopefully my friend had a full schedule last semester and has already completed 4 rotations.

Personally, I've had a sporadic schedule so I still have 2 more rotations to complete.

 

[deleted205891]

We use e-value at my school, but not to schedule rotations. The rotations are scheduled on paper (with no say of when we want off), and then the rotation coordinator schedules the rotation. We have 9 blocks, and 1 of those blocks is off. Rotations are scheduled 3 blocks at a time (the school says for flexibility in case some rotations decide not to have offerings later on, and to change our preferences if we want to request something different), so we only know 1-2 months ahead for some rotations. I'm guessing the rotation coordinator just wants to keep his job.

 

[Zytiga]

If you're going for residency, February would be a good month to have off.

I am also thinking feb but I may not get it. Is dec also popular?