Tips for APPE/IPPE Pharmacy Rotations | GDPharmD

Ohhhh rotations! I’ll be the first to admit APPE year isn’t a walk in the park. Working for free (or actually paying to work lol), tons of projects, and juggling post-grad plans isn’t the easiest so I wanted to give some not so “typical” tips I’ve learned along the way, in hindsight, and from others. I have so so many, I could probably go on and on! Definitely check out the ProTips throughout the blog!

It’s a tough year, I know, I get it, I’ve been there. There were a lot of positives though, I met people in my class that I wouldn’t have otherwise met that turned out to be great friends, I got to know the faculty more, and I really began to change my thought process as a clinician and used those experiences to get a residency. Check out the short and sweet version HERE

I wanted to give you some tips that aren’t the most conventional to help you navigate through. If you have ANY questions and I mean ANY questions, feel free to drop a comment below or on my Instagram!

So here we go!

Tip #1: It Starts BEFORE You Even Arrive On Site 

• At least 4 weeks before your rotations, email your preceptor!
  • What to include:
    • Your name, school, rotation name, dates of rotation, your career goals and how this rotation can connect, any projects you may be interested in doing (if any), any requirements you have from your school, parking, site-specific requirements, any materials you need to review beforehand 
    • Protip:
      • Really be clear about your professional goals (whether in the email or when you first meet your preceptor) say what you’re looking to do with your career, you never know what unique opportunities your preceptor may know about
    • If you need a day or morning off for an appointment, school event, interview…etc be clear about the dates/times and mention that you are more than willing to make up the hours 

Look below for examples of what to email your preceptor before rotations!

Tip #2: Be Personable!

• YES you can tell me the drugs that prevent mortality in heart failure, but are you nice?

• Have you had a non-pharmacy conversation with your preceptor?
  • Pro tip
    • Find something on their desk that you also relate to and mention it
    • Ask them ‘How was your weekend?’ Or ‘Any exciting plans for the weekend?’ to help get the conversation flowing 

• Be nice to EVERYONE – staff, secretaries, residents, environmental services, nurses, shuttle drivers, etc you don’t have to be best of friends with everyone but a simple ‘good morning’ or ‘how has your day been going’ can go a long way 

• If someone else on the site is trying to get to know you, have a conversation! They aren’t talking to you for their own health
  • If they ask “are you a student?” don’t just say ‘Yes.’
    • Say something like “Yes, I’m a student on rotation with Dr. Smith from XYZ school, I’m Giae, nice to meet you”
  • If they say how do you like this rotation so far?, don’t just say “It’s been good” say “I’ve really enjoyed it, I’ve been working with Dr. Doe on the anti-coagulation protocol and rounding with the team, I’ve learned so much! Which part of the hospital are you most involved with” 
  • Get my drift? Be personable, keep the conversation flowing 
• Pro-tip
  • On your CV you will HAVE TO put your site name and preceptor name, so anyone in the programs you’re applying to if they see someone they know or they know someone that works at that site…a quick phone call about you can help or hurt you

Tip: #3 Your Preceptors are People Too

• They have lives: they are wives, husbands, brothers, parents, on pharmacy boards, and also have responsibilities at their job that aren’t just you. They will be busy and be prepared for that. 
• Know that they’ve done APPEs before and possibly a PGY-1 and PGY-2

• Ask within the first day or two what projects/presentations you will be doing and the dates so you can plan accordingly 

• Take initiative to ask for various experience, career advice, how to communicate better with providers, to see different things in the hospital, to shadow another pharmacist for a few hours…etc.

Tip #4: Put a 🚨 Emoji By Your Preceptor’s Name in Your Phone

• Just, please for my sake do this LOL! You’re going to have multiple group chats with your co-students so just, be mindful of this, don’t wanna text the wrong group chat (please, no)

Tip #5: Be Independent and a Problem Solver

• If a problem happens, try to solve it on your own first
• If a technical issue happens, for example, google it, call IT or the helpdesk to see if they can solve it 
• Pro-tip: if something does happen and you solve it on your own, low-key mention it to your preceptor
  • Like if they say ‘how are things going you can say, they’re going well, my badge to swipe in wasn’t working today so I called security, went to the badge office, and got it taken care of
    • You catch my drift!?

Tip #6: Not Everyday or Every Single Rotation Will be Great

• Yes, you will have all these expectations of what things may look like, but it may not all happen – get ready for that
• For some reason, I had in my head that every day would be lovely and every rotation would be amazing, nope, nope, and nope.

• Sometimes you will get tossed around from pharmacist to pharmacist and you’ll think, is this what I signed up for? I’ve seen my preceptor all of 10 seconds this whole rotation, it’s tough, I know. I became so close with pharmacists that weren’t even my preceptors and they helped me along my journey so make the most out it, please. And if you can’t just smile through it all. 

• Maybe you’re like Giae, my preceptor just isn’t the nicest or it seems like they just don’t want to precept!!
  • That could be true. I know, I’m sorry, it happens… just take it all as a learning experience and when it’s your time to precept remember that experience so you can be an amazing and intentional preceptor 🙂

Tip #7: Have an Extra White Coat or Outfit in Your Car

• If you’re like me and drink coffee and eat your breakfast on the way to rotation to maximize your time in bed (LOL!) this tip may be for you!

Tip #8: Make a running list in your phone of what you did you did that day

• This can be interventions, experiences (both positive and negative) in your phone – it’ll come in handy for interview season
• So at the end of EVERYDAY when you get in your car, open up your notes app on your phone and write something, ANYTHING that happened so by the time interview season comes you will have so many stories in your back pocket
  • You think you’ll remember come application/interview time but chances are, you’ll forget the details

Or keep a word document on the computer/tablet that you bring with you that has notes and interventions and by the end of the rotation you’ll have a document with all the things you did and you’ll be able to look back and see the progress and use it for interviews.

• Pro Tips: On your interviews, you will be asked questions like:
  • “Tell me about a significant intervention you made”
  • “Tell me about a time you made a recommendation to a patient or health care professional and they rejected it”

Tip #9: Be professional at ALL times – people are watching

• I can’t stress this enough, don’t gossip, talk poorly about staff, patients, your school, politics…etc
• Be on time
• Dress professionally
  • Professional clothes are a must – you can use APPE year to start building your professional wardrobe 
  • Do you need to wear a tie?
    • Be safe and wear one the first day, then once on site, observe what others are wearing and ask your preceptor
  • No leggings, jeggings, jeans, wrinkled clothes…you get my drift, you’ve heard it before
• Protip:
  • If you need to vent with your co-students during lunch, don’t sit in the cafeteria

Tip #10: Make a New Goal Every Week, write it down on a sticky note, AND Stick it on your Steering Wheel

• Pretty self-explanatory.
• Write it down on a post-it, put it in your car. You’ll see it every day and every week, step up your goal – otherwise, out of sight, out of mind!

Tip #11: Take Your Topic Discussions Seriously

• Yes, clinical questions are asked on interviews so be sure to really delve into the guidelines and make good notes/handout so you can use as prep for interviews (if going the clinical route)

Tip #12: Put Serious Effort Into Your Presentations

• You may have to present them during your interview or print them out for your interviews if asked to hand in a portfolio. This will save you so much time once things pick up during application season.

Tip #13: Ask For Feedback

• This is something I personally had a hard time with because I felt I would get surface level feedback or none at all. I’m always looking to improve and get better in my career so this was important to me.
• What I started to do was ask STRAIGHT UP
  • “What can I improve on from my presentation that I did yesterday so that for next week I can do better”

Tip #14: Keep an Open Mind

• Don’t be so focused on residency, fellowship, job, ambulatory care, critical care…etc that you miss something you may be interested in. Be a sponge, learn as much as you can and ask questions!
• Pro Tip: You are one student surrounded by many brilliant pharmacists, this could likely be the last time you’re in this position so take advantage of it, tap into it, and learn as much as possible. You have a front-row seat into what life is like as a pharmacist too, observe and listen. Pick out what you like and what you don’t to help you determine the path you may want to take
• Also, if you don’t know already, feel free to ask your preceptor how they got to their current position! It will help with your professional development and growth and it’s always interesting to know the path people take

Tip #15: End on a good note

• Gifts are NOT a must but DEFINITELY give thank you card to your preceptor (regardless of how you felt about the rotation)
• No, you don’t have to get a gift (money is tight during P4 year) and it can also be awkward if you’re asking for a letter of recommendation and you give a gift – depending on the person, it could seem like bribing
• A nice thank you card with a message about something you learned, how you enjoyed it…etc etc 

• ProTip: I also personally liked to bring cookies or munchkins for the pharmacy site to leave in the kitchen/break room ($10-15 worth max) with a note attached to it as well as an additional thank you to the site because there are so many behind the scenes people that help bring the rotations to life besides your preceptor

Overall, if you just take ONE thing away from this extra extra long post (sorry I have a lot to say haha) think about how you want to be remembered when you leave the site and that should help guide you in all of your decisions.

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