Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital
My third rotation was an institutional rotation at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital(CRMH) located in downtown Roanoke, Virginia. CRMH is a 703-bed hospital and the region’s only Level 1 Trauma Center. Specialty services include Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Carilion Children’s Hospital, specialty and advanced clinical care. The central pharmacy processes approximately 5000 orders on a daily basis. In my days working as a technician for Kroger Pharmacy, the most prescriptions we had ever processed for one day was 700. Putting this number in perspective made me nervous leading tot he first day of my rotation. I didn’t know what to expect but I was excited about the next 6 weeks. Having spent the previous 6 weeks at CRMH for my administrative rotation, I felt less nervous and quite confident.
The first day of my rotation was reserved for orientation. My preceptor and I went over the expectations for this rotation. Amongst things discussed were due dates for assignments, projects, journal club, and professionalism. I was also given a personal time table for the next 6 weeks.
During the next 6 weeks I rotated between different units within the hospital that had a pharmacy specialist serving as the medication expert. Those services included the ER department, the central pharmacy, the admixture center, an offsite satellite pharmacy, cardiac and vascular services, pediatric oncology and hematology. I would spend between 2-3 days at these units with a pharmacy specialist, going on clinical rounds and discussing patient cases with patient care teams.
I didn’t work directly with my preceptor. However we met once every week to discuss about my progress and to talk about the upcoming week.
Something quite unique about this rotation is the fact that students have the option to observe a live cardiac surgery. I took the option of watching a coronary artery bypass surgery. I stood alongside the anesthesiologist during the entire surgery. During that time he walked me through some of the medications commonly used, their functions, and anything special about the medication.
I highly recommend and encourage Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital to any student thinking about residency. I was able to have a lot of interactions with the current residents and learn from them, which is helpful as a student if you want to apply for a residency. I don’t think I would have had this opportunity had it not been for my time spent here at Carilion Memorial Hospital.
