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Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Any pharmacists out there?
I am a P4 and just started rotations and they are kicking my butt!!! I feel so stupid all the time and like I never learned anything. I was just wondering if any of you had any tips from when you were in school. Any advice on how to study for the boards and keep ahead of my rotations? Thanks!!!
Re: Any pharmacists out there?
Yep! I'm a pharmacist. Rotations are awesome and challenging at the same time. I had some that I loved and some that I hated. You might have just started off with a tough preceptor or a subject that didn't interest you.
1. Don't get discouraged. You've made it this far in school because you are smart and good at what you do. It will just take a while to transition from classroom learning to practical learning.
2. Look everything up. Whenever you hear a new drug, disease, etc on rounds, look it up, even if you don't have to. If you are asked a question and you don't know the answer, look it up, but find out more than just the bare minimum. Ex: Will x antibiotic cover Y bacteria? A good answer wouldn't be just yes or no, but would cover preferred regimens, side effects, costs, etc.
3. Seek out opportunities to learn. If you have a lazy preceptor, don't just sit around and do nothing. Volunteer to write up clinical pearls, tidbits, policies/protocols, or even give presentations. When you have later rotations, show off your previous accomplishments!
4. Find out what your preceptor is looking for, and get feedback before the end of the rotation. I was convinced that I was doing a terrible job at this one retail rotation I had. Turns out, they thought I was great and I was stressed out for nothing.
5. Dress professionally, be on time, and be polite and friendly. This counts for at least half of your grades on rotations.
As far as your boards go, don't even worry about that now. Focus on learning as much as you can this year. Sign up for your boards as soon as you graduate, then take maybe 1-2 weeks to review all your old therapeutics notes and calculations. Take a practice test a few days before, and then chill. Most likely you'll pass with flying colors.
Let me know if you have any specific questions!
Heather
I agree with everything Heather said!
Definitely don't get caught up on what you "don't know", but focus on your weaker areas and use this as an opportunity to soak it all in. You're getting the chance to work with other pharmacists and providers who have been been through this before and who have amassed experience along the way. Listen earnestly to what they have to say and never hesitate to look things up. My toughest preceptor refused to answer questions unless I'd already researched and tried to find the answer myself first. Be independent regardless of who is your preceptor. This is a chance to test the water in many different areas of pharmacy, so if you find that you're in an area that doesn't interest you, work just as hard but be thinking about how you can apply the principles you're learning to the setting in which you hope to practice. (e.g. what I learned in my hospital rotations has helped me understand why discharge prescriptions presented to my retail pharmacy are written a certain way)