Pharmacy school came back with a vengeance, even with only a week into the new semester. I began my newest rotation (Advanced Community Pharmacy) at Meijer in Bay City, which so far has been going smoothly. They fill a lot of scripts per day at that store, so I'm a little unused to the chaos, but I'm getting the hang of it. Everyone there is extremely friendly and willing to help me out when I have questions (which happens a lot). I've been able to counsel patients quite a bit, check prescriptions, call doctors, and sort out drug interactions. It's weird to have actual responsibility. When we encounter a drug interaction they ask me to take care of it, and they trust that I'll make the right decision. I swear sometimes that everyone has confidence in me but me.
Aside from beginning my rotation, yesterday was also the day I was scheduled to present my Clinical Seminar. Seminar is kind of an enormous deal, making up the "thesis" or research component of the Pharmacy Doctorate. We chose our topics at the beginning of our third year of school and have been working on the research ever since. We're assigned a preceptor (random faculty member interested in our topic) and we communicate with them through email throughout the process of writing the research paper, creating a handout/powerpoint, and giving the presentation. My paper was turned in in early October and ended up passing (to my delight). My 11-page handout was due the week after Christmas, and yesterday was the day I ended up presenting (along with around half of my fellow classmates). I was extremely stressed out about it--in fact, I can't remember being the overwhelmed since Internal Medicine back in Aug/Sept. Luckily I presented in the morning, so I didn't have to sit through everyone's presentations while having an ulcer thinking about mine. To make matters worse, I presented in Kalamazoo on Friday morning, the morning after that lovely snowstorm. I drove from Bay City to Ionia on Thursday night. I think I went about 50 mph at the fastest all the way. Then Friday morning I was out the door by 5:45 AM to make it to Kalamazoo by 8 AM. A drive that normally takes me a little over an hour took me twice that long. Luckily, trying to keep myself from getting killed on the road helped keep my mind off the presentation.
So I presented and several professors/fellow students told me I did really well and they enjoyed it. I eagerly awaited my presentation results until the afternoon session, when I was finally able to track down my preceptor and go over the comments my evaluators had made (I was evaluated by three FSU faculty, in addition to my classmates). I passed!! :D The seminar itself was worth 2 credit hours (even though there is never any time spent in a classroom), so it was a huge relief to not have to worry about failing it and trying to make up the work somehow. I can't really portray in an internet blog how happy it made me to see the end of that project (that 1.5 year beast of a project). I wanted to cry I was so relieved. The other half of my class is presenting in March, and for the first time the March people were jealous of we January people. ;)
Clinical Seminar was the last big hurdle for me. It was the last enormous thing I had to accomplish for this program, so now for the remaining 3.5 months of my higher education, I think I'm going to do a bit of relaxing here and there. I'm going to start to unwind myself and transform back into a normal person. I'm ready for this journey to end and for the next to start, and I'm ready to come home each night and not have any homework to do. I long for spare time, for hobbies, and for Lazy Pirate Days. :D
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