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Official Newsjournal of the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists

Rosalind Franklin University
Our First ICHP Clinical Roundtable

College Connection

by Drew Bailey, PS-3, ICHP Professional Chair

It IPPE and APPE rotations allow students to work with practicing pharmacists in order to gain a better understanding of the profession and improve their clinical expertise. However, it can be difficult for students to find opportunities to speak with faculty about their activities at their clinical practice site early in pharmacy school. This past summer, I attended a pharmacy roundtable that covered many pharmacy career opportunities pharmacists at the Kappa Psi Grand Counsel Convention. Opportunities represented at the event included academia, industry, clinical, retail, government, and many more. After participating in this event, I wanted to recreate this experience for pharmacy students at Rosalind Franklin University.

Unlike the event at the conference, our ICHP chapter wanted to focus on health system pharmacy. I reached out to many of the faculty as well as pharmacists with which I have previously worked that practiced in various health-systems or clinics. There was a variety of faculty who participated, including those who specialized in emergency medicine, mental health, solid-organ transplant, and oncology. The faculty were very excited to share their experiences in their respective specialties with students.

We had about 25 of our ICHP members sign up for the one hour event and 6 faculty members. At our event, students were provided a signup sheet along with a pharmacy pathway survey. This survey allowed students to discover their interests. The survey had basic questions about interests including job security, using clinical skills, ability to spend time with family, and much more. Students were asked to prepare questions for the faculty prior to the event. To start the event, faculty provided a two-minute overview of their typical day. The groups then were able to speak with each of the professors for about ten minutes before they rotated tables.

Our ICHP chapter received positive feedback from both the faculty and students. A faculty member emphasized that it is important to generate student interest in various pharmacy specialties early in their pharmacy careers, and that this event was a great opportunity. We hope to continue this event in the future and make improvements each year such as increasing the amount of time at each table.