St. Marys and Methodist Campuses of Mayo Clinic Hospital
Rochester, Minnesota
Questions and answers with Lisa K. Buss Preszler, Pharm.D., BCACP, Associate Program Director, Pharmacy Internship and APPE, Assistant Program Director, PGY2 Pharmacy Residency in Ambulatory Care, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, Minnesota
1. How many interns do you have? 8 inpatient, 4 outpatient
2. What is the overall philosophy/goals of internship program?
This internship is a comprehensive, educational pharmacy internship that offers in-depth exposure to pharmaceutical services to help students further explore pharmacy as their future career. The internship is designed to allow interns to gain hands-on knowledge of pharmacy operations in either the inpatient or outpatient environment, experience the role of the clinical pharmacist through participation in mini-rotations throughout multiple specialty areas, apply and enhance knowledge gained in the academic setting, and engage in a variety of personal and professional development activities.
3. How is the internship scheduled and what is the program length?
The program is 10 weeks total; inpatient interns spend 5 weeks in the Emergency Department performing medication histories and 5 weeks in central pharmacy. Outpatient interns rotate through 6 outpatient pharmacies, spending 1-2 weeks at each location. The internship also includes 6 mini-rotation days where interns shadow pharmacists in clinical areas.
4. What are some structured activities for interns?
The program Includes a variety of activities, including journal clubs, patient case discussions, a professional development series, and development of a 30-minute presentation for pharmacy technicians with ACPE credit. The interns meet together for the activities we schedule throughout the summer. Emphasized throughout the program is the opportunity the program provides to expand their network beyond that of their school/state as we have participants from across the U.S.
5. Who are the preceptors?
Pharmacy interns learn from dozens of Mayo Clinic pharmacist preceptors in a variety of positions such as Cardiology Clinical Pharmacist , Clinical Pharmacy Specialist — Nutrition Support, Hematology/Oncology Clinical Pharmacist , Ambulatory Care Pharmacist, Medication Management Informaticist , Senior Pharmacy Manager — Internal Medicine, Bone Marrow Transplant Ambulatory Care Pharmacist, Bone Marrow Transplant Ambulatory Care Pharmacist, Medical and Surgical/Trauma Critical Care and Emergency Medicine Pharmacist, and many more healthcare professionals.
6. How are activities scheduled?
This varies with the rotation; however, there are usually 1-2 group activities per week.
7. Anything else to share?
We do provide a stipend that includes housing that is located convenient to the Saint Marys Campus.