January, already here and almost gone!

So where do I begin? I now have my finalized rotation schedule for this upcoming year. I am not happy with a few to say the least but I am trying my best to be a good sport. Here is what my rotation schedule looks like: March and April I will spend my time at the VA Clinic on 8th street in Jacksonville. I am excited about this one because I will get to counsel patients on Warfarin therapy, diabetic management and other common disease state therapies like high blood pressure and high cholesterol in an outpatient setting. May and June I will have to move away from my husband for 2 months and complete my Adult Medicine rotation at Flagler hospital in St.Augustine. This I am not to excited about but I did hear that this is a pretty good rotation. I will need alot of encouragement during this time because it will be hard to not have David to come home to every day. During my adult med rotation I will be helping to monitor patients drug therapy in an inpatient setting. I will be dealing with a wide variety of disease states and drug therapies. In July I will be at Baptist hospital in Jacksonville for an adult medicine elective. I'm not really sure what to expect since this is an elective, but I'm pretty sure my previous 2 months expercence with adult medicine will prepare me for this one. I'm very excited for August. Although this rotation takes me away from home for another month, its a rotation I was so excited to get. It is a transplant rotation in Tampa but I have a good friend who is offering her home to me while she is away on her honeymoon for this month. And the best part is Dave will most likely get to come and stay for a while. Ok so I just said August is the one I am most looking forward too but actually September is what I am counting down to! It's my month off!!!! Heck yes! I can't wait to sleep in, lay out, go to the beach, read whatever I want and just chill. October, I am doing an academic rotation at Shands where I currently go to class, and will be seeing the academic side to our profession. Basically I just go to all the first-third year students classes and help out and do some other behind the scenes work. November, I will be at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville for my Drug Information rotation. This is mainly going to consist of answering drug information questions or investigating drug use issues in a variety of settings. I will learn about literature evaluation, drug information source selection, statistical analysis, research design, drug use evaluation selection, design and interpretation. December should be a pretty good one as it is what I am most familiar with. I will be in a community pharmacy at a Target in Jacksonville. I am excited to see how different (most likely more laid back) Target is from Walgreens! Then the start of 2011! The year of my graduation... hopefully! January I have a geriatrics rotation, working with old people. Most likely to include cardiovascular( MI, CHF, Arrhythmias), Diabetes, Neurological (Stroke, Alzheimer’s), arthritis and vision problems. I will help assist the healthcare team to find, solve, and monitor for drug therapy problems. And this leads us to my last rotation. February, I will be at Shands in Jacksonville on the cardiology floor. I am very excited because the heart fascinates me and I love all those meds! However, I am a bit nervous because I heard my preceptor is a toughy and expects alot out her students. As you can see there is alot more to the profession of pharmacy than just working for your friendly neighborhood Walgreens. My rotations end at the end of February and I will graduate (prayfully) in May. What a long and hard journey this has been. I have alot ahead of me but I know it will go by so fast. David and I ask for your prayers and encouragement. We have such wonderful family and friends and for this we are thankful.
~ Lindsey