Three-Fifths of a Pharmacist

FINALS. ARE. OVER.

The stack of notes for my comprehensive finals.

My classmates and I wrapped up our third year of pharmacy school last Wednesday! We made it through and we have now completed three-fifths of the program at UMKC!  This year was by far the toughest one yet and we are thrilled to put it behind us.

The last two weeks of the semester were filled with exams, due dates for homework assignments, and then comprehensive finals for Pharmacotherapy I, Pharmacology II, and Toxicology.  After spending countless hours cramming for finals and reading over 1500 slides for the pharmacology final I am ready to enjoy my last summer as a student and take a much needed break from school!

I would like to thank all the people who have supported me throughout this hectic, chaotic, and stressful year.  I would not have been able to make to May without you!  Your words of encouragement gave me the drive to keep studying and push through the tough times.  Thank you again!

The past three years have flown by and it is hard to believe there are only two years left of school before I'm out on my own practicing pharmacy.  I have mixed emotions about this.  On one hand I look at the massive amount of information I have learned so far and it is just incredible to me.  Then on the other hand I am scared to death because I feel like I have only learned a thimble full of information compared to what I will be expected to know in two years. There is still A LOT left to learn. As with any profession, the majority of the training and knowledge about the job comes from hands-on experience.  My classmates and I will be able to apply our book knowledge with hands-on experience while we are out on rotations this summer and during our last year of school.

I am currently gaining experience in a hospital setting.  This is part of a school requirement and is called an IPPE (Introductory to Pharmacy Practice Experience) rotation. It is a two week rotation that allows us to observe and work in a hospital setting in order to gain experience in this type of pharmacy practice.  Up to this point I have only had retail experience, the first two days of the hospital training has been eye opening.  It is amazing all the things a pharmacist does and is responsible for in a hospital. The technology employed in this hospital is incredible. There are robots, computerized records, and vacuum tubes that send orders and medications to different floors. I will hopefully have a post later on with pictures so you can have more of an idea of what I'm talking about.

Although there is still a plethora of information left to learn before I graduate, I am grateful for the chance to finally apply what I'm learning in school to an actual pharmacy practice. I'm excited about the rest of my time at the hospital setting and the other aspects of hospital pharmacy I will be learning about.  I'm also looking forward to enjoying my summer break and being home to help Adam out on the farm!

Have a great summer!  I hope you get to enjoy the warmer days and take some time to relax!