CoMMuNiTy RoTaTiOn

Posted by Melanie at Sunday, November 20, 2011

I completed my fourth rotation, my community rotation, on Friday. Aside from my P3 IPPE, I did not have any community pharmacy experience, as I have been a technician and intern in a hospital setting. I am thankful that the University of Michigan requires such diverse APPEs because it helps to make me a more well-rounded health care professional.

My community rotation was at Village Pharmacy II, an independent pharmacy, and my preceptor was Allan Knaak. Al is such a great community pharmacist and he is a wonderful mentor to have. He provided me with many real-life challenges and pushed me to expand my knowledge.

While I was on this rotation, I did many things. For starters, I became the compounding and drug info expert. Any compounds that came through the prescription window, I made. This was a unique experience because not many community pharmacies compound. I made oral vanco, hormone replacement therapy, omeprazole solution, magic mouthwash, and many others. I also investigated any drug information questions that other health care professionals or patients had.

Because of the timing of my community rotation, I also explored Medicare Part D Plans for many patients and had the opportunity to go over their options with them. Also, the P1s were having their mock inspections and I was able to speak with four groups and help them complete their project.

I also gave an inservice for the pharmacists and presented two new drugs, Gralise and Duexis, to them, and made recommendations for whether the pharmacy should stock these products or not. I created a poster on medication adherence and got to present this to patients. I completed MTMs and made recommendations for patients. I also made a proposal for Village Pharmacy II to offer flu vaccines for patients - a proposal which was well-received and may debut next flu season. I also learned about many OTC situations and came up with my top recommendations for different scenarios such as poison ivy, cough and cold, pink eye, boils, cold sores, and others. I took the opportunity to engage with many patients looking for products and made recommendations. I made physician phone calls when a patient needed a new prescription, prior authorization, or when the prescription needed to be clarified. I was involved in the final check of prescriptions, as well as offering counseling to patients.

I also got to work with P2 students who were on their IPPE rotation at Village Pharmacy II and was able to help them learn counseling points about bisphosphonates, ear drops, and eye drops.

This rotation went by so fast and I learned so much. My next rotation is my institutional rotation, which starts tomorrow, and I am excited to see what it will have in store for me, but sad to leave Village Pharmacy II where I feel I had the opportunity to become a part of a great pharmacy team. Independent pharmacies have such a different feel from the retail/chain stores I have shadowed people at, and I encourage everyone to explore this option and get an idea of how unique independents are from other community settings.