It’s a great feeling to finally be at the end of APPE rotations with graduation in sight. As I enter my final week of rotations I can’t help but look back and compare this rotation to my first rotation. Things have really changed since then! Not only do I approach the rotation differently, I have also learned to prepare myself better and to really enjoy my last opportunity to be a student. Rotations have not only provided me with experience, but also with amazing resources and a skillset that will help prepare me for the challenges of residency training.
I started my APPE rotations in Fargo, ND at the Sanford Medical Center and will end my APPE rotations at the same place. My first rotation consisted of rounding with the internal medicine team, while my current rotation consists of rounding in the ICU with the critical care team. Both have been great rotations, but I can really notice a difference in the way that I approach rounds and how different the expectations are now that I’ve had almost a year’s worth of experience. During that first rotation everything is so new and it can be very difficult to find your role on a team of physicians and nurses. It also makes it that much harder to make recommendations without having that confidence/experience to fall back on. However, as I mentioned before, things have definitely changed since that first rotation and I am now expected to have that confidence and experience to actively contribute to my patient’s care in the ICU.
At first it seemed like a daunting task, especially for someone like me with very little ICU experience. So I started to come in earlier, stay later, and read more guidelines and literature to help support and identify recommendations that I could make. This strategy has definitely paid off! Over the past couple of weeks now, I’ve had the opportunity to make interventions, contribute to the patient’s analgesic and sedation needs, as well as, answer any drug information questions for the team. As a student, it can be very intimidating having to provide recommendations to other experienced health professionals. However, I feel like instead of this being an impossible goal (like it was at the beginning of the year), it’s become more of a necessary challenge to help recognize the growth and experience that rotations have provided me.
It has also been very rewarding to see how much the attendings, medical residents, and nurses rely on the pharmacist’s contribution to the patient care team. As students, we are provided with a great platform to demonstrate our skills and knowledge base to a future generation of physicians and nurses. It’s been an incredible experience having the opportunity to do this over the past year and I hope that other APPE students have had the same opportunities.
Best of luck to everyone finishing up their APPE rotations and to those beginning rotations in the next couple of months!
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