I received a question on:
“What is it like to be a Hospital Pharmacy Intern?”
I started a hospital pharmacy internship during my 1st year of pharmacy school. Before starting the internship I felt intimidated and anxious about the program and what was expected of me. Prior to this job, I had little experience in the hospital inpatient setting. The only experience before this involved delivering medications to the floors as a volunteer.
I struggled at first because there is so much information to take in, especially if you have not been exposed to the practice of pharmacy. It would benefit those who have experience as a pharmacy technician. However, I would not recommend becoming a technician just for this reason. If you want to be a pharmacist just go for it and skip being a technician. The only reason to be a technician is if you are not sure about being a pharmacist or become a volunteer. Having little background in pharmacy, I had to learn the different pharmacy laws, hospital protocols, hospital policies, different regulatory agencies that oversee pharmacy and the hospital, learn the pharmacy workflow, learn pharmacy technician workflow, and also learn pharmacist workflow. Each pharmacy internship program will be different:
- Certain programs will have a regimented structured timeline for interns. Other programs will be flexible and allow the interns to make their own decisions.
- Pharmacy interns may only be allowed to do technician work for the entire internship program. While other programs will allow the pharmacy intern to do almost anything a pharmacist can do.
- Outpatient pharmacy may also be included with the hospital internship program. You could rotate between inpatient and outpatient setting. This would be ideal in my opinion to get more exposure to different practices of pharmacy. One of my weaknesses would be outpatient pharmacy because my entire internship experience was in the inpatient setting.
- A lot of programs now will include medication reconciliation. This is basically interviewing patients that are admitted to the hospital to find out which medications they are currently taking. This has been a growing service over the past decade to improve patient care and safety.
- Some programs will allow interns to visit outpatient clinics and work with the onsite pharmacist.
- It is important to look for the program that matches your career goals. What do I mean by this? Each program will offer different aspects of pharmacy experience for their interns. Take the time to ask questions and figure out if the intern program matches your passion!
It was difficult to learn how to be a pharmacy technician and pharmacist at the same time. I was trained initially to be a technician to fill the Pyxis machines, answer phone calls, compound non-sterile products, compound sterile products, learn about USP 797, compound chemotherapy drugs, and deliver medications. While I was learning to be a technician we are also trained to think like a pharmacist. What made it difficult for me was that I was expected to answer pharmacist questions or investigate drug questions that a pharmacist would typically do, however I was scheduled to work as a technician. Furthermore, I had absolutely zero drug knowledge starting out. Thus I was doing both roles and it was a challenge to manage time properly on any given shift (as I was expected to do all the job duties/tasks a technician completes in a regular shift in addition to handling some of the pharmacist workload). Looking back this added tremendous value to my overall learning even if it was painful at the time. If anything, I learned how to multitask and become more efficient.
As I progressed to my 3rd year of Pharmacy School my job duties transitioned to a clinical pharmacist role. At this point I began doing the final check on compounded products, checking orders that came down to the pharmacy, and answering all phone call inquiries. Once I became competent in these areas for staffing, I began training in other clinical areas. This included managing TPNs, antibiotic dosing/monitoring, managing pain patients, hyperemesis patients, and anticoagulation management.
Throughout the internship there will most likely be feedback on how you are performing. At one point or another in your pharmacy school career you will encounter a preceptor/pharmacist that will provide constructive criticism. You may not agree with the feedback and may even take it as a personal insult. Just try to keep in mind these are preceptors taking their own personal time out of the day to make you a better pharmacist. You can only improve and learn from any feedback given to you no matter how bad the feedback might be. When responding to feedback be careful not to offend the preceptor. It is best to thank them for their time and show appreciation even if you do not agree. Responding negatively to feedback could result in a burned bridge. You never know who will be reviewing your application for a job in the future.
Pharmacy Internship Schedule
This will depend entirely on the pharmacy program you will work at. My internship was flexible and understanding how much work pharmacy school can be. I could easily request time off to study for exams and finals. Some of my classmates were forced to work their weekly schedules no matter what, no exceptions. Typically hospital internships will have you work every other weekend or at least one day a week. During holiday and summer breaks you can potentially work up to 40 hours a week.
Projects
Pharmacy Projects are a great way to be challenged as a pharmacy intern. There are no limits to what you can achieve. Depends on how ambitious you are and what you want to achieve while you are doing your internship. Keep in mind most internships will not hold your hand or have a structured approach to complete a project. Typically you will have to go out of your way to find a project to work on and create your own legacy!
Examples: update process workflows, improve safety standards for something specific either in the pharmacy or nursing floors, lean process improvement, policy improvement, improving the pharmacy website, improving how nurses and pharmacy communicates with each other, reducing cost, and many other creative ideas you can come up with. It would be ideal to find a project that caters to your career goals. This will also help your resume when you start looking for job. It makes you stand out from the typical pharmacy intern that just works and graduates. You stand out by doing something different. It gives you something to talk about during your residency interviews or job interviews! To top it off this also allows you to build a stronger relationship with your supervisor. When residency applications are due you will have a letter of recommendation lined up.
I hope the recommendations above will help guide, motivate, and inspire you to achieve your goals. Follow my blog for more tips and advice on finances and being a pharmacist. What are your experiences? Please comment below and share your thoughts.