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Official Newsjournal of the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists

Chicago State University College of Pharmacy
My Ambulatory Care APPE: A Worthwhile Experience

College Connection

by Viktoriya Popovych, P4 SSHP Member Chicago State University College of Pharmacy

I am excited to report on my ambulatory care APPE at Rush University Medical Center that I recently completed! I felt that it was very engaging and it truly afforded me the opportunity to utilize the skills that I had learned from my previous APPEs and from what I learned in the classroom. Pharmacists within the clinic manage patients with a variety of common, chronic disease states, such as diabetes, hypertension, and those requiring anticoagulation. Pharmacists are responsible for interviewing patients, addressing any medication-related needs, and making dose adjustments as necessary. Both students and residents are fully integrated into the workflow, and I truly enjoyed it!

As with any new experience, we began by observing the process. We were afforded the opportunity to see our preceptor in action, and we were able to mimic her approaches as she communicated with both the patients and the physicians within the clinic. After the first week, we were responsible for conducting patient interviews independently and we consulted with our preceptor for final pharmacotherapy recommendations and documentation. We were expected to be intimately familiar with each patient before presenting to our preceptor by knowing recent vital signs, current drug therapy, adherence issues, etc. All patients received medication education, and oftentimes, we had to demonstrate how to use injectable agents such as enoxaparin and exenatide and how to monitor blood glucose values. Lastly, we were also required to provide dietary education for patients with diabetes and those who require anticoagulation with warfarin.

I appreciated how the pharmacists and other healthcare providers would collaborate to provide optimal patient care. For example, there was an individual who required immediate anticoagulation. The patient was finally convinced to begin therapy, but initially he was highly reluctant to do so before the pharmacist and physician intervened. Another thing that I can appreciate regarding this APPE is that each patient visit involved a different, overall approach and interacting with various “flavors” of individuals will definitely benefit me in my future practice. Overall this APPE rotation challenged me, and for that, I am grateful.