The COVID-19 pandemic has created many challenges throughout this year. The virtual environment, however, has also brought about new opportunities at Rosalind Franklin University (RFU).

This fall, the Professional Chair of our ICHP student chapter developed a new virtual series called “Clinical Rounds with ICHP”.  During this monthly event, pharmacists or pharmacy residents will be asked to present a patient case and discuss evidence-based literature supporting the optimal pharmacotherapeutic care for the patient.

Our first Clinical Rounds with ICHP occurred on November 19, 2020. We were excited to welcome our own Alumni, Dr. Angelina Raimonde, Class of 2020, as our first presenter. Dr. Raimonde is currently completing a PGY-1 residency at Rush University Medical Center and is interested in pursuing a PGY-2 residency in oncology. Dr. Raimonde presented a patient case on mixed phenotypic acute leukemia. This presentation not only provided insight to the treatment of the disease state, but also provided an excellent example for students preparing to present patient cases in the near future. Overall, our first Pharmacy Grand Rounds event was a success and we look forward to hosting a new practitioner on a monthly basis for the remainder of the academic year!
 
One of our goals of Clinical Rounds with ICHP is to demonstrate to P1 students the role of clinical pharmacists in health care systems. With the help of our P1 Liaison, we are surveying P1 students to determine the topics they would find most interesting or aspects about health-systems pharmacy practice they would like to learn more about. We also hope this will attract more P1 students to becoming members of our chapter and experience all of the benefits ICHP has to offer. In addition, by asking alumni to participate, this provides a good opportunity for current RFU students to interact with alumni on a regular basis.

Lastly, students who attend Clinical Rounds with ICHP can choose to critically reflect upon their experience to meet an RFU co-curricular based requirement. We are excited that our chapter can provide another opportunity for students to develop a positive attitude toward lifelong learning, as well as meet the co-curricular requirement at RFU. We will continue to offer presentations based on the interest of students in order to encourage future attendance from all levels of pharmacy students.
 
Overall, out first Clinical Rounds with ICHP event was a success and we look forward to hosting a new practitioner on a monthly basis for the remainder of the academic year. Since this event was conducted successfully via a virtual platform, this gives more opportunity and flexibility for guest speakers to present, and we may continue to use this format in the future. We have some fantastic new practitioners lined up for the months to come and we are expecting to continue to have an amazing turnout like our first event, if not better!