Anna
at
Saturday, February 16, 2013
I spent the last six weeks on an Infectious Diseases (ID)
rotation at Sinai-Grace Hospital located in Detroit, MI. An ID rotation was a
top priority for me when scheduling my P4 year, and after finishing up this
rotation I stand behind my decision! Infections are seen across all areas of
practice, and it was great to have a rotation specifically focused on improving
my ID skills.
This rotation was an Antimicrobial Stewardship rotation,
which meant I worked behind the scenes monitoring antibiotic treatment for patients
and contacting physicians with any recommendations to optimize antimicrobial
therapy. Sinai-Grace Hospital has a unique ID consult service which is run by
independent ID physicians who round on the patients, which meant that rounding
was not a component of this rotation.
One of the highlights of this rotation was the fact that
although I did not have a team to round with, I was surrounded by my own
pharmacy “team.” Beyond my primary preceptor—Dr. Jason Pogue—I worked under the
ID PGY-2 resident for the first four weeks of my rotation. Also on my “team”
was the Sinai-Grace PGY-1 resident as well as a fellow P4 student from Wayne
State University. I absolutely loved having such a diverse group of individuals
to work with, and I was sad when each person slowly left for other rotations leaving
me all alone on my final week.
A typical day consisted of:
- Following up on my “old” patients to see how they were progressing and if anything needed to be modified or addressed
- Work up new patients and develop a care plan for their infections
- Present new patients to my preceptor and comment on any follow-up needs for “old” patients
- Call/page physicians to make recommendations as needed
- Topic discussion / Journal Club / Follow-up questions
I was responsible for my patients from the time they were
assigned to me until they were either discharged or no longer had any
infections requiring antimicrobial therapy.
Overall, I really loved this rotation and highly
recommend any ID rotation for a P4
student. I feel that this rotation specifically provides a lot of benefits:
1.
The patients. The patient population in
Detroit has a lot of
infections caused by multi-drug resistant organisms. Obviously, this is not so
great for the patients; however, it is the perfect setting for pharmacy
students to learn about how to treat complicated and challenging infections. It
also allows you to see the significant role pharmacists play in this aspect of
patient care.
2.
The preceptor. Jason is a fantastic
preceptor. (I’m writing this after my final evaluation so you know I’m being
honest and not just trying to get a good grade). He does a great job of asking
questions and challenging you to know the information without making you feel
bad when you don’t. He also tries to work with you on your personal weaknesses,
and he will modify the rotation to complement your specific professional goals.
For instance, he knew I was trying to obtain a PGY-1 residency position
post-graduation, and for my final week he cranked the workload up to “resident”
mode which forced me to work at a much higher level and also allowed me to
focus on some areas for improvement.
I also want to touch on some of the possible drawbacks of
this rotation to provide a well-rounded evaluation:
1.
Commute. The hospital is in Detroit. I
live in Ann Arbor. This meant I had a 40+ minute commute (one way) to the
hospital with the other billion people on the road. Coupled with the potential
for bad January/February driving weather, I was a little concerned going into
this rotation. That being said, I got used to the commute and lucked out with
pretty mild winter weather for the most part. I would not let the commute deter
you from choosing this rotation, particularly as the weather is only a key
player in a few months out of an entire year that you could take this rotation!
2.
Interviews. Although this rotation block was designed to
provide a week to take off for interviews, an interview day is not really a
relaxing day “off,” and on busier weeks I found it challenging to switch from
interview mode to rotation mode. Even though my interviews were all located in
Southeast Michigan, I still felt overwhelmed at times. On the flip side, having
rotation responsibilities prevented me from stressing out about interviews too
much—no one has time for that stuff when you have patients to take care of! I
also want to say that the preceptor worked with me on scheduling and I never
had an issue where rotation conflicted with a possible interview. Again, this “con”
really only applies for the rotations that typically fall during interview/job
search months.
After the past six weeks being surrounded by ID, a possible
future as an ID pharmacist is definitely on the table. It is a really interesting
area of practice and (now that I am starting to get the hang of it) I get why people
love it so much!
My next rotation takes me… nowhere. I am tired, and
luckily I have the next five weeks to recuperate on my “off” rotation. Once I
catch my breath I will attempt to tackle a huge to-do list which includes a lot
of figuring out what my next steps will be as graduation approaches.
I also want to send good luck to all of my classmates
starting it all over again on Monday—only two rotations left, we can do it!!!
Elizabeth Kelly
at
