Shadowing

In the past few weeks, I have had two shadowing experiences through my internship. The first experience was in psychiatry. This is a field of pharmacy that I've been thinking about going into for a while now. I watched the pharmacist work for three hours one morning. We first went to a large multidisciplinary meeting which involved physicians, social work, nursing, and us. Everyone had input about the patients and many aspects of the patient were discussed. It was really a neat conversation to be involved with! We then were able to participate in rounds and speak with the patients. If I were able to stay longer, I think I would have also been able to watch the pharmacist counsel some of the patients on their medications. This area of pharmacy definitely still makes my "short list" for possible future careers. However, I'm still torn, especially after my other shadowing experience...

A few days ago I shadowed a pharmacist who works in administration. I feel like administration could be a natural fit for me: I love efficiency and organization and think I am pretty good at handling what some people may consider difficult situations. This shadow was an entire day. We attended two meetings with other administration staff. In the first, we discussed improvements made following our recent Joint Commission visit. During the second, we discussed problems and ideas for the future. I helped the pharmacist create a new policy and also watched as he held a meeting with an employee he oversees. At the end of the day, we went to a multidisciplinary meeting to discuss some new policies the hospital may be adopting. I loved watching the pharmacist at work and hearing about all of his tips on successful leadership. (One of the neatest tricks he told me has has done was to put 5 pennies in one pocket at the beginning of the day and then transfer a penny to the other pocket for each compliment he gives. He won't leave work until all of the pennies have been transferred--what a great way to keep positive and make sure people hear how much you appreciate them!)

I would recommend shadows like these for all pharmacy students. I hope to schedule some more in the coming year and a half before I go to midyear and need to narrow my "short list" down: will it be a traditional PGY1 or possibly an administrative residency?