P4 Clinical Rotations – Raleigh, NC

P4 year is the year all pharmacy students look forward to. It’s the year without tests and classroom work and where you actually start to utilize your pharmacy knowledge in a real setting. But it also comes with long working hours and projects, all of which prepare you for being a pharmacist! My rotations so far have shown me what important features I should look for in a job and what areas may be the best fit for me, my skills, and my knowledge. Having a new rotation each month is exciting as you meet new people and experience a different specialty of pharmacy. As a P1 student, I thought three years would be such a long time to achieve P4 year status. Well, time has flown by and it has been a great experience so far!

~Beth, P4 Student

Community Pharmacy – Coats, NC

My rotation was a wonderful twist to working in a retail pharmacy.  Having experience in a retail chain store, I enjoyed working at an independent.  This provided great opportunity for me to learn more about the business and hometown aspects of pharmacy.  I did my rotation at Coats Pharmacy in Coats, NC.  It truly was a great experience.  I learned many new things, of which was how to make “Fanny Cream!!!”  I recommend anyone who wants a great experience to work at Coats!  It was wonderful to slow down from the hectic chain atmosphere and be able to focus on the patients and customers for a change.  I was able to learn so much about counseling patients with this setting and how to handle certain situations that you normally wouldn’t encounter in a chain store.  I also enjoyed learning about the old home remedies and how most of them are still around in a reformulated state. I found it interesting how these remedies were different but as effective as other similar products on the market. The workers at Coats were great too!!! From the pharmacists on staff to the technicians and store employees, everyone made me feel right at home on my first day.  I think that if they just didn’t have the QS-1 computer system it would be the perfect place to work….LOL!!!  No, it really was informative, exciting, interesting, and a pleasure to work at Coats for my community rotation.

~ Eric, P2 Student

Carteret General Hospital – Morehead City, NC

HI!  My name is Sydnee and I am currently in the summer between my P2 and P3 year.  This summer has been completely crazy, but fun.  I am currently taking summer classes in the MSCR program and trying to study for Top 300, as well.   Recently I completed my hospital rotation at Carteret General Hospital in Morehead City, NC. The rotation was great and I learned so much just been completely immersed in the pharmacy world. To begin, I worked 3^rd shift (8p.m. to 7 a.m.). At first I struggled trying to adapt, but then I realized this schedule allowed me to work and enjoy a little time on the beach each morning!  My preceptor was a recent Campbell graduate and was willing to let me observe any aspect of the hospital as well as teach me little pearls of wisdom along the way.   Knowing what I had been through this year as a P2, my preceptor would quiz me on drugs and make sure I understood how they pertained to hospital pharmacy.  During my rotation my preceptor allowed me to go observe different doctors to understand why certain drugs were used in certain situations.   One night I was able shadow the anesthesiologist to understand more about drugs used in the OR and I was able to watch my first surgery, a C-section!  Rotation was great but I am now back to my life as a full time student and completely consumed in my final MSCR project and Top 300!

Community Pharmacy – Goldsboro, NC

With the first year of pharmacy school under my belt, I began my Introductory Community Pharmacy Practice Experience at an independent community pharmacy in my hometown of Goldsboro, NC in May. I am somewhat of a non-traditional pharmacy student, as I had not worked in a pharmacy until I began the program. I started my first pharmacy job in retail during second semester. Needless to say, this rotation was dramatically different from retail, but in a great way! The first day was a little intimidating because I was worried that I would not know as much as I “should;” however, I was surprised at how much I remembered from Top 100 and all our classes. It is important to remember that preceptors realize that first year pharmacy students do not know everything…yet! For me, there were a lot of “a-ha” moments, where I remembered exactly what a medication was for or a certain disease state. I hate to admit that there were a few instances when I stumbled upon something discussed in class that I wish I had paid a little closer attention to, but I simply made a mental note to review it.

A typical day in the pharmacy consisted of filling prescriptions, taking phone requests from patients and doctors, and going through the daily shipment from Mutual Drug, a wholesale drug company. Independent pharmacies truly stand up for the patient and provide a genuine service to them, whether it is calling a doctor’s office to get a prescription changed that insurance will cover or a cheaper drug for patients without insurance. They always put the patient first.  One of my most memorable experiences was taking a gentleman’s blood pressure since he had a history of high blood pressure, but made lifestyle changes by losing weight, altering his diet, and taking blood pressure medicine. He typically monitored his blood pressure twice a day at the pharmacy and recorded it so he knew when to take his medication. It was exciting for me to interact with him by hearing his story and practicing one of the many skills I learned in our Pharmacy Care Skills Lab this year. Working in a pharmacy co-owned by two pharmacists opened my eyes to the business side of pharmacy. It was interesting to watch their highly successful pharmacy that has been in business for almost 10 years, while taking a risk on opening a second location and watching a new business expand on another side of town.

I was lucky enough to have three CPHS graduates as my preceptors, which made the “Campbell difference” and great for networking. They always took the time to answer all my questions, as well as point out things that were relevant and made a positive impact on my experience. I took away a lot of valuable information from my rotation that I continue to apply every day at my retail job as I continue to learn about the world of pharmacy. Experience is the ultimate teacher applying everything we’ve spent countless hours learning in the classroom and practicing it in real life. This rotation made me even more excited to become a pharmacist. I am eager for my hospital rotation next summer, as well as P-4 rotations.

~ Christy, P2 student

Rite Aid Pharmacy – Winston Salem, NC

I did my community summer rotation in Winston Salem, NC at Rite Aid Pharmacy. My preceptor, Chris Holler, was great. He taught me nearly everything there is to know about retail pharmacy and how to better handle and communicate with patients. I learned about the needs of diabetic patients and how to help them better manage their disease state. The pharmacy staff was very welcoming. My summer rotation was a great experience and I would recommend this preceptor and site to anyone in the program.

Jasmine

Durham Regional Hospital

My month spent at Durham Regional Hospital in Durham, NC was one of the greatest pharmacy experiences I have had. Last summer, I left my community rotation feeling like I had learned nothing except how to be a glorified technician. After this month, I feel like I am so much more prepared, and more passionate about becoming a pharmacist!

My first week at the Hospital was spent in dispensing. I learned all about ordering, stocking the main carousel, as well as the Omnicell and Pyxis machines. I was taught how they prepare unit doses, as well as their unique bar-coding system to promote patient safety. The second week was spent in the IV room. I learned proper techniques to make IV preparations as well as checking dosing and compatibility issues. This was something I had never done before since I have spent most of my professional life working in a retail setting. The next week I was with my preceptor doing rounds on the main floors. We followed patients, did renal dose adjustments, went on rounds with doctors, found and fixed medication mistakes, recommended treatment regimens, as well as having patient interactions to better serve their prescription needs. The last week was an assortment of things, including a day in the emergency room with the pharmacist that works full time in there, as well as working for two days in the OR satellite pharmacy and gaining experience with that aspect of hospital pharmacy.

On top of all that, I participated in case discussions including a session on vancomycin, a session on aminoglycosides, and one on the treatment and prevention of headaches. I also was given a project to create a P&T review on a new drug that the pharmacists wanted added to the formulary. Not only did I write the review, I also had the unique opportunity to present it to the committee. I am proud to say the drug (Aprepitant) was successfully added to Durham Regional’s formulary because of my presentation. I also spent a day at a CE event in Greensboro learning about stroke prevention and treatment. This is something I had always heard about but never had the opportunity to participate in.

Overall, this was the greatest experience I have had to date. The preceptors Dr. April Cooper and Dr. Garrett Roach were amazing and very well prepared. They helped push me out of my comfort zone and made me a better future pharmacist. I really hope that I get the opportunity to come back to DRH for my P4 rotations!

Desirae Lindquist

Community Pharmacy Rotation – Benson, NC

Hey!  My name is Brandon Ramsey and I am going to be a P2 this coming year at Campbell.  This summer I did my community rotation for a month during May.  My rotation was located at an independent pharmacy in Benson.  I have worked in retail pharmacy for CVS for the last 7 years but I had never worked in an independent pharmacy.  It was just an eye opening experience.  I enjoyed having time to talk to patients and actually help them understand how to use different types of insulin syringes and inhalers.