This semester is very exciting in that we get to start our IPPE rotations! This is one of the many reasons I chose Regis when deciding where to go. In my experience I have witnessed many grad interns that are on their last year advanced rotations and they have never even step foot in a pharmacy prior to that experience. I think this can be detrimental for you in that it is already your last year and you are just now seeing what it is like in a pharmacy firsthand. I also do not think that is enough time to begin to prepare you for the real world of pharmacy no matter what setting or discipline you choose. What accreditation council for pharmacy education (ACPE) decided to do was to add to the curriculum the IPPE rotations. This is really only seen in newer schools since it is a big alteration of the education experience. IPPE stands for Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience whereas the last year rotations are termed Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE). These IPPE rotations allows student as early as first year (P1’s) to enter into hands-on experiences in an actual pharmacy at various locations. At Regis we start them the second semester of our first year. Usually they are community/retail semesters and hospital semesters. This semester we got to choose whether we wanted our first experience at a hospital or a retail location. Once we choose our site then we have to contact our preceptor and begin communicating with him/her. We are required to go to our site twice a week for 3 hours each time logging our hours as we go. We also have a workbook to go along with our site. This allows us to complete various projects and further our learning while at the site. For my first IPPE rotation I chose to do it at a community site, Safeway pharmacy. I was a little nervous about jumping into a hospital right of way since I never worked or really even seen a hospital pharmacy. I figured that this way I could get used to how IPPE’s work while being in a somewhat familiar location. Even though I have quite a few years of experience in retail (10+), this is still turning out to be a great learning experience. I have only worked for two companies my whole life, one pharmacy was an independent and the other is CVS/Caremark. In short, it is interesting to see how another company operates and to get to know their philosophy. So far it has been a great experience and I cannot wait to see other pharmacies, even maybe a hospital.
During this semester, Regis School of Pharmacy, requires that you start a portfolio as well. You may think that it is a little early to begin a curriculum vitae, resume and philosophy of care but it isn’t. Looking back on all that I did during my first semester so far, I feel like I am already forgetting what I accomplished. Therefore, starting to work on this now is very important. When you apply to pharmacy school you should already have a resume made and ready to go. This is actually your first step in keeping track of all of your accomplishments and credentials. From there, adding information that occurred once you get in pharmacy school is vital. The market keeps getting more and more competitive and anything that you can do to make yourself stand out will help you tremendously when looking for a job. Regis is great in making you start this now so when you come to your fourth and last year of pharmacy school you are pretty much ready to go!
On a lighter note, our Phi Delta Chi colony got initiated and became an official chapter! This was a great moment in history. The fraternity is a great club to get involved with in that I met a lot of upperclassmen and other contacts that came in handy. It is a great way to network and get to know people especially during your first year. It was a very proud moment when we established this fraternity as an official chapter! We are Phi Delta Chi!!
This is all of the P1’s right after initiation for PDC. We were celebrating with a nice dinner!
In addition to getting initiated, coming up is our regional meeting. At the end of March, the mountain region of Phi Delta Chi is holding a regionals convention in Albuquerque New Mexico. We decided to all drive down there via carpool and are splitting rooms to save money. If you want to become an officer in any club, you need to be involved as much as possible which includes attending the regional and national meetings if you can. American Pharmacists Association (APhA) is also having their annual convention and exposition during spring break. A few of us are going to that as well, especially since it is in New Orleans this year. My boyfriend, Mike, is going to fly down and meet me there so I am super excited to go!
We also got a snow day a little while back. That was a pleasant surprise! It was nice to have a chance to catch up on a few things and relax a little too. I really am having a hard time finding the downside of living in Colorado!
Danny and I went sledding the day after our snow day with a few friends.
Doctor of Pharmacy 