Am I Ready?

Do I have enough for a student to do?

You Were Born to Do This!
Because many of the preceptors in small hospitals wear multiple hats and have limited staff and resources, there are multiple opportunities for students to see a wide array of activities and students are often welcomed with open arms. These include:

• Shadowing in different departments or clinics (examples include OR, ER, Oncology, anticoagulation clinic, med/surgery, Cath lab, RT, etc.)
• Rounding, medication reconciliation, discharge teaching, journal clubs, etc.
• Attending meetings (provides students an opportunity to see all of the areas that pharmacy touches which may include Daily Huddles, Wellness Committees, Finance and Budget meetings, P&T, Medication Safety, Antimicrobial Stewardship, Community Engagement, etc.)
• Inventory management: Outdates, ordering, receiving, ADM management, etc.
• USP Compounding Standards – many of us are working through the implementation of new guidelines put out for USP Chapters <797> and <800>.
• Medication order review: Often the medical record is not as seamless in a small hospital as it is in a larger institution. You may be battling multiple EMR’s or still have orders on paper.
• Quality initiatives – Something we all want, and need to do, but struggle to find time for. It’s a great learning opportunity for students!

Do I have enough time for a student(s)?

You’ve Got This!
Between the student spending time shadowing, self-directed learning and reporting out to their preceptor, students can be plenty busy.  It’s important to engage your staff as well and they will typically not feel too overwhelmed by taking a student knowing they can help with day to day operations and special projects. Plus, in this setting, they are far enough along in their education to actually take on some of your daily duties, with supervision.

How do I prepare my team before hosing a student?

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work!
Talk with your team and see who might be interested in helping—having a student with a pharmacist who does not have an interest in teaching will not benefit the student or the team member.  Allow the pharmacy team to be part of the development of the syllabus.  Set clear expectations on what the student is to be doing when assigned to other pharmacists and technicians and check with both of them for any feedback. 

Opportunities Galore!

What are the benefits of having students?

Hosting students can have a positive impact on staff.  Since staff members will also be interacting with the student(s), it helps promote their own personal and professional development and fosters a learning environment.  They too will have the opportunity to provide feedback and improve their own communication skills. 

What are the benefits to a smaller site?

Smaller sites offer an opportunity for staff to grow and learn from students.  Preceptors and students are exposed to a broad range of topics when they interact together – both pharmacy related and hospital/community/state/national topic related.  Students sometimes fit a niche that has been on your “to-do” list.  Having students work on projects can sometime start the fire on issues and topics in the queue that need to be addressed.

What successes can be realized by students at rural facilities?

Students can do it all!  The intimacy realized through professional relationships can pay off for years to come.  In intuitions like ours, pharmacy students are exposed across the spectrum of healthcare opportunities.  They may get to participate in vaccine clinics, Council-on-Aging in-services, surgeries and medication reconciliation… all in the same day.  They also learn the important value of relationship building.  Having direct conversations with the Chief of Staff or Nursing Director can go a long way in forming interpersonal skills that last a lifetime!

What opportunities can a rural site provide OUTSIDE the pharmacy department? 

• Pharmacy is strategically positioned to have many important connections outside the pharmacy. Many of the other healthcare providers lean on pharmacy as another trusted healthcare provider where they otherwise have limited access to their colleagues, i.e. they may be the only ED provider on duty at a time or the only hospitalist on duty.
• Additionally, because small and rural hospitals are exactly that – SMALL and RURAL, they offer a wide variety of services to the communities so they can meet as many of their patient’s needs as possible.
• This provides great relationships among providers. The pharmacy often has good relationships with nursing, hospitalists, physicians, midlevel practitioners, respiratory, cardiology, etc.
• Preceptors also have an amazing opportunity to discuss issues around diversity, equity and inclusion.  These topics may not necessarily be part of a well-intentioned academic syllabus, but these real-life discussions may help our students be better care givers if we are able to initiate these difficult conversations.  For example, we need to ensure that our patients aren’t subjected to issues such as unconscious bias.  The only way to be clear about expectations is to engage students in these timely topics. 

The Home Stretch

How do I promote the benefits of the small site to students?

• Many of us were drawn to small and rural institutions because they offer clinical and non-clinical advantages over larger teaching facilities. The sites are often lower key, more personable with more opportunities for patient interaction. There’s often less red tape which allows for making changes more quickly and exploring more non-traditional avenues. Additionally, there’s often plenty of FREE, on-site parking – I can see my car from the pharmacy!
• Potentially teaming up with schools of pharmacy in coordinating or pursuing a rural health track. This way the school helps in marketing the rotation sites as well.
• Students who will excel the most in this setting may have a unique profile—learners who are interested in the “many hats” a pharmacist may wear in a Small and Rural Hospital.

Where can I find examples of tools I can use for precepting?

• State Pharmacy associations and the universities that you are contracted with may offer precepting training, tools and education.  Many of them will have specific activities for the student to complete.  If the activities are up to the preceptor/site, there are many suggested activities below:
• Preceptor Toolkit
• National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference