My name is Leeanne Mobayed and I am one of the PGY-2 Ambulatory Care residents at Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock, NM. Our pharmacy services include 5 pharmacist-led clinics in epilepsy, HIV/Hepatitis C, anticoagulation, rheumatology and chronic disease management. As a resident, I also have the opportunity to work in our urgent care as a pharmacist clinician. However, a lot has changed since the outbreak of COVID-19.
The last quarter of residency is often the most challenging, as all of your longitudinal projects come to a close, potential for burn-out becomes much more prevalent, and you begin preparing for that next step in your career, whether that be another year of residency or entering the workforce. However, this year presented a unique challenge as the last quarter of residency was now overcome by a global pandemic.
When COVID-19 made its way to the United States in March, I don’t think anyone was prepared for what the next 3 months had in store. Our entire hospital environment shifted. Clinics were closing and tents were being set up outside to facilitate treating people from their cars. As ambulatory care residents with no clinics we found ourselves asking, now what?
I found that I was now not just a resident, but an essential employee. I was needed on the front lines to process medication orders, deliver medications to our outdoor car clinic and counsel patients on their new medications via phone. Since I worked in a hospital for my PGY1 residency, I was now being certified in aseptic techniques in case I had to step in for an inpatient pharmacist or replace a technician to compound IV medications. I began reviewing Code Blue procedures and updating myself on rapid sequence intubations. Our residency forums and spring/summer meetings were being cancelled and we were scrambling for a solution to present our final research projects.
As we have adjusted to what many call a “new normal” our ambulatory care responsibilities look much different. Regular clinics have remained closed, with no current schedule of reopening. We spend some time helping other providers in our walk-in clinics to address non-COVID complaints. However, most of our days are now spent on the phone with patients for our version of telehealth. Meetings and presentations are now done virtually, and we are spread out across the pharmacy in an attempt of social distancing.
Residents are always asked to stay flexible, but to be honest, this is not the type of flexibility I expected. For many, the draw to pharmacy is being that first point of contact and interacting with our patients. It has been extremely challenging to not see our patients in clinic but still have to find ways to build and keep our patient-provider relationships.
However, through all the challenges, I take pride in knowing that I have not only lived through this moment in history but played a small role in patient care here on the frontlines. I am grateful for the experiences and lessons from residency and look forward to carrying them forward in my practice as an ambulatory care pharmacist.