My Clinical Rotation Essentials for Pharmacy School

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One of the most asked questions that I get, outside of study tips, is what are the essentials that you should bring on rotation and other similar questions related to the clinical rotation experience. Hopefully soon, I can slowly bring those posts to fruition and answer more questions from you all. But for this post, I figured I would start at the beginning by sharing my clinical rotation essentials ā€“ basically things that I used every day and are definitely necessities.

If you want to read what I used to carry on a regular basis on my clinical rotations (basically my entire P4 year of pharmacy school), then keep on readingā€¦

In this post, Iā€™m sharing my clinical rotation essentials, which includes everything that I used to carry when I was on rotation in pharmacy school (works for medical school too!).

 

Water bottle: Ā Trust me when I say that you need to make sure that you keep a water bottle or coffee travel mug on you at all times. Sometimes it can be hard to find a vending machine while youā€™re on rotation so itā€™s best to just bring your own so you have something to drink throughout the day. Ā Pro-hack: Drink a sip of water to break up an awkward moment or when someone asks you a question that you arenā€™t sure of the answer. It gives you a few extra seconds to think of an appropriate response without looking like youā€™re taking forever to answer.

 

Snacks: Snacks are a clinical rotation essential! Literally the most important thing on this list, by far. I would say that Iā€™m joking, but Iā€™m totally not. After a few hours working up patients or rounding all morning, a girl can get hungry (or just need a quick snack to eat). I used to either keep snacks in my pockets if I knew that I would be rounding with the team or I would keep them in my bag. My favorites are peanut butter crackers, Gushers, or fruit snacks. Easy pocket size snacks that are tasty!

 

A Clipboard that has storage: A lot of my fellow students used to carry around a Pocket Clipboard, which has the most common information that would be important as a future pharmacist. It includes things like common lab values, calculation equations, and some information on antibiotics. I didnā€™t actually have this on rotations, but only because my school created this clinical pearls pocket guide that had a ton of useful information in it.

This is what I carried alongside a clipboard that has a storage compartment to carry around any loose papers, guidelines, presentation materials, and anything else that I needed. If you have a rotation where you spend a lot of time rounding, I promise this will be a lifesaver for you.

 

Your laptop or iPad: Depending on your rotation, you may or may not want to bring your own laptop or iPad. I would bring my laptop regardless of the rotation so that way I could keep whatever I was working on, such as a project or presentation, on my computer. This way I could continue working on it at home and wouldnā€™t have to stay at the rotation site to get it done. But this is totally up to you! You do what works best for you. I will say an iPad wouldā€™ve came in handy when I was on rotations that included rounding.

 

Multi-colored pens and highlighters: I used to keep an assortment of different pens and highlighters in my backpack while on rotation. I personally like to write my notes in different colors depending on the topic and highlight things based on the topic area. Another pro tip is that if you have a favorite pen that you always keep with you, keep an extra one of lesser quality that you donā€™t mind loaning out on your clinical rotation. Because people will borrow your pens and youā€™ll never see them again.

 

Portable Charger: Another clinical rotation essential is to bring your chargers, even a portable charger if you have one. I canā€™t even count the number of times I would have to plug in my phone or computer into an outlet while on rotation. Some rotations youā€™ll be on your phone or laptop a ton researching things, finding answers to questions, or communicating with the healthcare team. So stay ready and be prepared!

 

Planner: Personally, my planner comes everywhere with me because you never know when you need to add or substrate something from your schedule. I used the Recollections planner while I was in college, which was a great planner for college students. Iā€™ve been recently using this planner from Cloth + Paper, which is a black owned company that has the cutest planner supplies. Iā€™ve been quite obsessed so you may have seen it on my Instagram stories where I share my day to day life. #shamelessplug

 

Compression socks: I actually didnā€™t get compression socks when I was a P4 student, but now that Iā€™m working 12+ hours on my feet as a pharmacist, compression socks are actual life. I wish I wouldā€™ve had them for the rotations where I had to round for hours because they wouldā€™ve been so helpful. I bought this pair of compression socks on Amazon, and itā€™s the best $25 Iā€™ve ever spent. I put them on right before going into work for a long shift, and at the end of the day, I still feel pretty good. I mean Iā€™m still exhausted after a long shift, but my feet arenā€™t as swollen, and they donā€™t hurt as bad as they used to.

 

Comfortable shoes: The golden answer that any healthcare professional will tell you about finding comfy shoes is that you have to try a few different options before you find the right shoe. After I started working full-time, I quickly realized that the Sperry slip on sneakers that I had been rocking for 4 years while in pharmacy school were not going to cut it anymore. I quickly snagged up a pair of Rothyā€™s sneakers to test out, and I can say confidently that Iā€™m hooked. They are so comfy and paired with my compression socks ā€“ a dream. (Use my link to get $20 off your first pair to test them out yourself!) Iā€™ve also heard great things about Dansko clogs or Cloves sneakers but havenā€™t tested those out personally to give you an opinion on them.

 

What is one item that is your top favorite clinical rotation essential?

Xo Mickie Signature

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