Success of a Virtual Pharmacy Rotation (ft. Yasmin Moatazedi – Student Perspective)
“Virtual rotations in some ways are no different than in-person rotations. You can do very little, you can do a lot. Its your choice, it’s up to you, so make the best of it and you may even surprise yourself.” – Yasmin Moatazedi, MBKU Student
COVID-19 has changed the current way organizations handle pharmacy student rotations but has made virtual pharmacy rotations has a powerful alternative. Yasmin Moatazedi from Marshall B. Ketchum University had completed a virtual pharmacy rotation with Dr. Jonathan Ogurchak, CEO of STACK- a pharmacy software platform. From the rewarding experience of this rotation, Yasmin and Dr. Ogurchak had their article recently published online in Pharmacy Times. See their article here.
In this post, the Pharmacy Informatics Academy interviews Yasmin about her virtual pharmacy rotation.
Tell us about yourself, background, and your school of pharmacy.
I was born and raised in Southern California and attended California State University Fullerton to complete my undergraduate education, where I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Science. I currently attend Marshall B. Ketchum University, and will be wrapping up my fourth year and obtaining my PharmD degree. Although MBKU was founded over a century ago as a school of Optometry (as it is today), we will be the College of Pharmacy’s inaugural, graduating class, and I am thoroughly excited about being part of our university’s legacy in this way.
With reference to the years prior to starting pharmacy school, it is fair to say that I have experienced an array of education formats. I had enrolled in various education settings and platforms, from community college classes, to large public universities, and to small (relatively) private colleges. It was a blessing, actually, because I can now see, at least from a student prospective, how and what methods of education delivery are successful and warrant recognition.
Tell us about the student pharmacy rotation that you were in with Dr. Ogurchak (ex. projects, a day-to-day)
One can describe Dr. Ogurchak’s rotation is the intersection between specialty pharmacy, business management, health technology, and enhanced education.
In relation to the different elements mentioned above, the rotation presented me with unique opportunities in discussion, creative assignments, and enhanced forms of education. Sessions included specific discussions on disease states, novel solutions as well as treatment management for the respective disease states. Regarding the enhanced education aspect of my rotation, I was given the opportunity to develop a specialty pharmacy Continuing Education (CE) program, which I am currently working on and will submit as my final assignment for the rotation.
Business management and health technology also played integral roles in my experiences at STACK. As it pertains to both business management and health technology, we formulated ideas to try to enhance the efficiency of specialty pharmacy and worked to construct standards usable within STACK’s software to enable easy access for clientele. Furthermore, I even had the chance to observe an interview with a newly hired STACK representative. There was also discussion on specialty pharmacy logistics, in-depth discussion on the FDA approval process as well as the role of the payer in the drug distribution model. Last but not least I was also provided with access to webinars pertaining to pharmacy law. Structuring questionnaires to collect pertinent data on COVID-19, as well as data entry on specialty pharmacy accreditation were also some of the projects I worked on.
The experience that encompassed all aspects of the rotation was a writing assignment for Pharmacy Times. Dr. Ogurchak encouraged me to write an article for Pharmacy Times, which was subsequently published on their website. To write an article for such a platform is a moment that you just can’t get at just any APPE elective. This is a direct result of Dr. Ogurchak’s encouragement for students to think creatively to apply solutions to specialty pharmacy practice. For students who are looking for something completely different, this elective is a superb option that allows us to be highly productive, even in a remote setting. Looking back on it all, it is pleasantly surprising to see all the proficiencies gained during the rotation, and I feel that only a virtual pharmacy rotation could provide such a wealth of experience.
Check out the Virtual Rotation Database if you are interested in becoming a preceptor!
