I have come to the end of my very eventful summer placement for this year. Looking back I learnt a lot in the six weeks that I was working in a local pharmacy.
My first week was mostly finding my feet and seeing where I fit in. On my first day I was very nervous but equally excited. My tutor and I had a meeting when I arrived. She explained what she expected of me but also let me discuss with her what I wanted to get out of the placement. Having set those “ground rules” my induction began. Sitting in an office alone, I read the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Health Safety information. One can imagine that it wasn’t particularly interesting.
With all the paper work out of the way it was time for me to get to know the staff and start doing different activities. In the following weeks my days involved setting a goal with my tutor for the day, working towards that goal, putting away stock and completing my booklet. Filling in my booklet meant a bit of independent study on the computer. I am really thankful for all the learning objectives I had to complete in my booklet because some of the information I found has helped me prepare for my preregistration placement interviews.
The daily goals that were set depended on what was happening in and out of the pharmacy each day. The previous day was quite different to the next. There was a lot of dispensing and that was one of my favourite tasks. Since I am going to be in my fourth year soon, dispensing was a good opportunity to review my drug knowledge. I would ask myself questions on how the drugs on the prescription are used and the counselling points required. My tutor also asked me questions on certain drugs that I decided to research for my CPDs. I think the other reason I enjoyed dispensing is because I kept improving how quickly I dispensed and labelled overtime. Depending on the pharmacy you choose to work in, the speed you work at can affect how efficient you are. My pharmacy was really busy so it was important to make sure everything was done quickly to prevent any backlogs of prescriptions.
Contrary to what most people think, pharmacists don’t just stay in the dispensary all the time handing out medicines. After I had filled in most of the booklet on over-the-counter counselling and dispensing, my tutor showed me what she did outside of the dispensary. To my delight I spent a day at a care home my pharmacy had a contract with. There I saw how the pharmacy provides guidance to carers on how drugs should be given to patients but also how to store and dispose of them. It was a welcome break from the usual busy days at the pharmacy.
Near the end of my placement, I spent the last few weeks perfecting skills I had already picked up but also did some shadowing. Sometimes I would observe an MUR, OTC counselling or just seeing how staff were problem solving. For example, I would see what actions the staff took if they couldn’t provide a patient with specific medicine.
Overall my summer placement was a wonderful experience. I learnt and did a lot so it was difficult compressing my entire six weeks placement in this post. I would definitely recommend it to any pharmacy students whatever stage they are at. After all this hard work I will be honest and say I am happy to spend what is left of my summer relaxing…. on a beach preferably!