The suggestions below are provided to clinical instructors from student pharmacists as ways to assist students in their learning while on clinical rotations.
Orientation – On the first day of rotation, introduce the student to your staff and what they do in the pharmacy. Give the student a tour of the facility and show the student where specific rooms are located (i.e. the bathroom!). Treat the student like a new pharmacist.
Set expectations – On the first day rotation, review with the student the course objectives and required assignments. Discuss due dates and topics for projects and clinical inquiry (information questions). Discuss student goals and pharmacist goals for rotation outcomes. Discuss any specific activities that students do while at the site.
Set hours – On the first day of rotation, review the hours that the student will be at the site. Students must be at their site at least 40 hours per week as this is the number of hours we report to the PEB. Discuss procedures if the student should be absent due to illness, emergency or weather. Discuss plans if the pharmacist is taking time off during the rotation and who will be working with the student. Discuss any planned time off by the student and when the hours will be made up.
Paperwork – During the first week of rotation, discuss the forms that need to be turned in and how they should be filled out. Review the student performance evaluation and set dates for the midpoint week evaluation and the final week evaluation. At the end of the rotation, the student will upload all the completed paperwork to the School of Pharmacy course web page. It is wise to keep a copy of paperwork submitted to the school.
Project time – During the first week of rotation, discuss with the student time that will be designated for the student to work on projects. Be specific by stating the hours, days and the location (the pharmacy’s computer area or library) that the student will work on projects. Project time is not a given and if the student misuses the time, it will be taken away. The pharmacist has the final say on project time.
Check in sessions – Throughout the rotation set aside some time (15 minutes – 60 minutes depending upon the day) to discuss questions, topics, and events of the day with the student. Ask the student what their opinion is. If the student does not know, have the student review the information to discuss at the next check in session. Ideally, check in sessions should happen daily but at least once each week. Check in sessions are highly valued by students!
Learning opportunities – Be sure to point out learning opportunities for the student every day! Things that you do automatically are new for the student. Explain why you do things a certain way or why it is important to ask the patient a specific question. Students value learning pharmacy pearls! Remind the student to think like a PHARMACIST rather than a STUDENT.
Communication with the school – It is important for clinical instructors to contact the school if they are having any concerns with our students. Our goal is to support our clinical instructors if there are concerns with out students. In order to have good communication we encourage clinical instructors to contact the school in the following situations:
- If a student is requesting more than two days off during an APPE block for any reason other than professional days.
- If a student is having issues with attendance, punctuality, or leaving early.
- If a student is having problems missing deadlines.
- If a student is having problems with knowledge base.
- If a student is having problems with unprofessional behavior.
- If the student is earning a score of less than “knows how” on the student performance evaluation