Over the past 4 weeks at Landmann-Jungman Memorial Hospital in Scotland, SD, I have learned a great deal and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I have gained valuable new experiences in my own field of pharmacy, as well as new interprofessional and community experiences.
This opportunity presented a lot of firsts for me in pharmacy. This has been my first exposure to hospital pharmacy as well as a more rural retail setting than I have worked in previously. I got an introduction to operating a Pyxis MedStation, practiced looking at medication orders, and learned about patient discharge counseling. I also assisted with inventory, as my stay occurred during the end of the fiscal year. However, my new experiences certainly did not stop with the pharmacy. I also learned a lot from other healthcare professionals.
All of the providers and staff in Scotland were very welcoming, willing teachers. Over the course of four weeks, I got to learn from a great number of people, including a physician’s assistant, nurse practitioners, radiology technicians, physical therapists, a speech language pathologist, lab technicians, and nurses. I feel that all of these experiences, from visiting with clinic patients to taking an x-ray, helped to cement some of the concepts I have learned in my pharmacy classes and will help me greatly in my future career. Interprofessional collaboration is an incredibly important part of healthcare. It makes everyone’s job a little easier, makes the clinical picture a little clearer, and ultimately improves patient outcomes.
I also had the opportunity to live as a Scotland community member for these four weeks. I have enjoyed shooting with the trap league, shopping citywide garage sales, watching softball games, eating some fantastic food from the Main Stop, and just getting to know members of the community. There is something special about small communities where everyone knows everyone, and I have lost track of the number of times people have asked me who I am at community events. Scotland is a great community, and I hope I have the chance to visit again soon.