Hoos An Organ Donor?

Hello ACP!

I just finished my fifth APPE rotation at the University of Virginia with their organ transplant team. If you are looking for a very intense, but very rewarding rotation, then this is the one for you! This rotation was a great experience, because it allowed me to review organ transplant drugs as well as other common co-morbidities and disease states that organ transplant patients commonly face, such as CKD, hypertension, diabetes, and heart failure.

Each day, I attended interdisciplinary rounds with medical students, nurse practitioners, dietitians, medical & pharmacy residents, organ transplant fellows, and transplant attendings. To say that we were a full house would be an understatement! Each day was always a toss up, because we never knew if we would have a new transplant or not. I think that was what was so exciting about transplant. One minute we had only 5 patients on the service, and the next day there were 3 kidney transplants and a kidney/liver transplant.

Another thing that I really enjoyed was getting to educate the patients. It is very overwhelming for patients to see all of the new medications that they will go home one. Many of the patients have never even heard of half the drugs they take home with them. We would do 30 minute-1 hour extensive educations with the patients regarding their new anti-rejection drugs, anti-infective agents, supportive medications, and medications for their other co-morbidities.

Lastly, seeing patients in the transplant clinic after their surgery was probably the most rewarding part of the rotation. These patients came in almost on deaths doorsteps, with only a couple of years/months to live. It was incredible to see how a transplant could immediately improve someone's quality of life in a matter of days. In my entire six weeks there, I never met a patient who wasn't grateful for their transplant. Every patient I talked to, whether they were a heart, lung, liver, kidney, or transplant patient, said if they had to have another transplant, they would do it all over again. It was so amazing to see how much they appreciated all of the people who helped save their lives.

I would highly recommend this rotation to anyone who is interested in clinical pharmacy, organ transplant, or just wants to go to an awesome town like Charlottesville for rotation! Last but not least, GO HOOS! WAH HOO Wa!!