I'm currently an upcoming p3 student and I've been interested in working as a clinical pharmacist at a VA hospital. This coming fall, we're going to have to choose our rotations for 4th year, and unfortunately I've been notified by the rotation coordinator that normally there are only 5-7 slots for the Atlanta VA hospital out of a class of ~145 students. And slots are chosen by how you rank the rotation and randomized as well.
That being said, I do not believe my chances of being randomized into that rotation are very high even if I do rank it first. I was wondering if I could get some advice on how I can get some experience at a Veterans Affairs hospital. I'm getting ready to call their volunteer office to see if there's spots, but I'm unsure if they offer volunteer spots for pharmacy interns (even for outpatient/inpatient).
Another option I have is to convince a pharmacist to act as a site/preceptor, but I'm not really familiar with the process and it being a government program, how easy it could be done.
If all else fails, would a rotation at another hospital give me a similar experience? The only differences I'm aware of are that VA hospitals would probably be dealing with a more constant patient population and that some clinical pharmacists have limited prescribing rights. And would it seem decent when residency matching comes around (I have no experience working at a hospital as it is).
That being said, I do not believe my chances of being randomized into that rotation are very high even if I do rank it first. I was wondering if I could get some advice on how I can get some experience at a Veterans Affairs hospital. I'm getting ready to call their volunteer office to see if there's spots, but I'm unsure if they offer volunteer spots for pharmacy interns (even for outpatient/inpatient).
Another option I have is to convince a pharmacist to act as a site/preceptor, but I'm not really familiar with the process and it being a government program, how easy it could be done.
If all else fails, would a rotation at another hospital give me a similar experience? The only differences I'm aware of are that VA hospitals would probably be dealing with a more constant patient population and that some clinical pharmacists have limited prescribing rights. And would it seem decent when residency matching comes around (I have no experience working at a hospital as it is).