Our Next Step

My name is McCall, and I am now a 4th year pharmacy student. Our APPE rotations began on May 6^th, I was nervous and excited all at the same time!

APPEs are 4^th year rotations that begin in May and end in April.  All students must complete 9 month-long rotations in this 12 month period.  There are 4 mandatory rotations that must be completed by all students:  Acute Care, Ambulatory Care, Advanced Institution, and Advanced Community.  This leaves us with 5 elective rotations, which allow us to explore our areas of interest.  For example, one could choose to do an elective in Pediatrics, Academia, or even Informatics.

I feel our professors have done a great job at providing us with the skills and knowledge we need to go out on our 4^th year rotations.  In April, all P3 students took the Third Year Competency Exam (TYCE) before going out on rotations. This exam covers the key concepts taught over the past three years.  Even though it was another exam to add to our list, I believe it was a great review and helped prepare us for our rotations.

After completing our APPEs, we will graduate on May 10^th, 2014 as PCSP’s inaugural class!  After passing the board exams, we will then be ready for the next step in our professional career.  For some students this will be to further their education by completing a residency or fellowship, and for others this means starting their first job as a licensed pharmacist.  It’s hard to believe how fast pharmacy school flies by!  The pharmacy profession will provide us with endless opportunities, and I am anxious to see what different career paths my classmates and I will take.