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Shadowing a Clinical Pharmacist By Catherine Chiu When I arrived at UCSF, I was unsure of what to expect from clinical pharmacy. I had seen retail pharmacists countless times and had worked in an inpatient setting before coming to school, but I had no idea what a pharmacist actually did on the floor. I applied to the RAMPS mentor program to get a chance to shadow a clinical pharmacist. I was paired up with Alfred Ngaw who is a cardiology/vascular pharmacist. I talked to him about everything he had gone through: residency, pathways, rotations and internships. When I met with him in the spring, I observed a fourth-year pharmacy student as she went on rounds. It was different listening to the residents present their patients’ disease and status, and then discussing their care. It was my first time in the hospital on the patient care side and it was good to be able to get my feet wet and see what it was like to be a clinical pharmacist. It wasn’t until the end of the summer that I saw my RAMPS mentor again. This time I talked to him about my summer retail internship experience and compared it to what I saw in the hospital. I discussed what I liked and disliked about retail and he told me what it was like in the hospital and how that might or might not be similar. Seeing what Alfred did in the hospital completed a small portion of my pharmacy picture. I had learned in my internship about prior authorizations from insurances and how doctors’ offices did them. Alfred showed me that in the hospital, he calls in prescriptions and if there are any glitches with the insurance, such as prior authorizations, he takes care of them. We talked about the different responsibilities of a clinical pharmacist in a teaching hospital. Not only do clinical pharmacists staff the floor, but most clinical pharmacists also take turns staffing the inpatient pharmacy, supervising students, and teaching classes. While I was shadowing Alfred, one of the nurse practitioners asked if he could do some Lovenox training for a patient. First he talked to the patient about her medications and asked what pharmacy she used so he could call in the prescription to see if the insurance covered the script. Later he went back with a teaching box that had a DVD, booklet and sharps container for her to use and also demonstrated how and where to inject the Lovenox. Seeing my mentor in action made me understand all the encompassing roles of a clinical pharmacist. By spending time with my mentor I was able to better understand the role of a clinical pharmacist. I wanted to use this mentoring experience to see if clinical pharmacy was what I wanted to do. To be honest, I still do not know what I want to do; but at least now I have a mentor who can help guide me along the way.
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