Feb 28, 2018
Ashleigh Arndorfer was my P4 APPE student for January, she is interested in pursuing a post-graduate residency in community pharmacy and comes from Creighton College of Pharmacy and Professional Sciences.
Audiobooks:
https://www.audible.com/pd/Science-Technology/Memorizing-Pharmacology-Audiobook/B01FSR7HLE
https://www.audible.com/pd/Science-Technology/Goodnight-Pharm-Audiobook/B071HLGBB6
Full Transcript:
welcome to the pharmacy leaders podcast
with your host Tony Guerra the pharmacy
leaders podcast is a member of the
pharmacy podcast network with interviews
and advice on building your professional
network brand and a purposeful second
income from students residents and
innovative professionals
welcome to the pharmacy leaders podcast
I'm Tony Guerra and I'm a pharmacist here
at the Moines area community college and
I have today my ap PE student Ashley Arn
door fer who is a p4 from Creighton
University College of Pharmacy she went
through the distance program and has
been with me for five weeks so Ashley
welcome to the pharmacy leaders podcast
I finally figured out how to put two
people in a room we used to do this
where I was in this room and somebody
else was in the classroom so I'm pretty
excited where we're opposite each other
but the question that starts it all off
is always the same
everyone's leadership Road is a little
different tell me a little bit about how
you got to where you are today for the
last 12 years now
and I decided to go back to school and
pursue becoming a pharmacist and through
that I learned about cratons distance
program and first I wasn't so sure about
it but after a meeting with everyone on
campus going through the interview
process I was really impressed with the
program and the curriculum and how it's
exactly the same as the campus news
program so through the distance program
I was able to keep my job at the firm
see that I've done that and not have to
move out of my house which was really
nice so I made a lot of connections with
my classmates in the distance program
and it's been a very good experience so
tell me a little bit about making
connections with classmates and distance
it seems that we actually get further
apart in our p4 year where we go out to
our AP PE s how do you connect with
other people or how did Creighton set it
up so you could connect with other
people while you were at
student greens did a really good job of
when we first arrived on campus of
having a welcome week for all of the
distant students and it gave us a really
good chance to get to know each other
and one of the biggest surprises that I
had through my experience with the
distance program is how close my
classmates and I all became to one
another
I expected to be offering my own without
any support but in reality I feel like
we have a stronger connection than maybe
some of the campus students have with
each other even though we are spread
throughout all all over the place in the
country we have our own little friend
groups our study groups where we can
meet over Skype we had a lot of group
activities through class and we had
chances to socialize too while we were
on campus and going to national meetings
we've all really just stepped up and
forced ourselves to form those
connections and have really met some of
our best friends well there's always
challenges in pharmacy school some
things that are unexpected what's the
toughest challenge you faced as a
student in pharmacy school particularly
being a distance student the challenge
is time management and dedication it
would be really easy to fall into the
trap of not staying up on classes and
getting behind and not having that
accountability of going to class every
day you really have to force yourself
into a schedule and stay on top of
things so I've learned a lot from that
process of how to be really
self-motivated how to create a schedule
and stick to that and how to really just
learn how to prioritize my time it
sounds like in a given week it would
actually be helpful to know what a week
looks like as a distance student so
you're a campus student you're told this
is when the class starts this is when
the class ends but tell me a little bit
about what a typical week would look
like for you you pick the year and just
let us know which one and then what a
week would look like for you
cesare recorded while they're being
given for the campus students and then
they're posted online for us to view
within two hours of class being over new
technology allows for us to watch the
classes live and ask questions during
that time frame so that's really been
helpful so for me I would be working in
about 12 hours a week and I would have I
had built an Excel spreadsheet for
myself outlining my schedule for the day
where I walk out time for however long
the lecture would take and then I meet
with my study group partners three or
more times a week through class we also
had and this is especially important
during p3 year almost every single one
of our classes required group work and
since we are spread throughout the
United States it was an entirely
different challenge trying to coordinate
all of these meetings across multiple
time zones so there was always those
built in and then our case studies and
therapeutics p2 and p3 year we would
meet over Skype and have an hour to work
through case together and then the
second hour we would meet over spec with
a facilitator from cretan and they would
present the case she would ask us
questions and make sure that we were
really grasping the information so it
sounds like with some of the technology
and the telepharmacy and the challenges
that we have ahead of us you guys are a
little bit up on the technology or
really becoming skilled at it we talked
about the difference between what it is
to learn something in order to become
skilled at it tell me a little bit about
how you feel that being a distance
student has really helped you kind of
get a hold of technology so when you
will talk a little bit about your
teaching in a bit here but once not when
I ask you to you know help me with
things on blackboard and things like
that
because you're a distance student you're
like well I live in you know a learning
management system so tell me a little
bit about how you think you might have
gained an advantage in those systems
because you were a distance student
or somebody who's not as well-versed in
these systems because like you said it
was how we would survive we didn't have
the option of printing off of paper and
running it down to the professor's
office we had to learn to work through
technical challenges always have a
back-up plan available and just knowing
how to use the technology like you said
and another big part of that too was
that all of our exams or proctored over
an online proctoring service and there
were several times where there'd be
technical difficulties either with
internet connection or webcam not
working or microphone not working so I
feel like that too also taught me to
kind of relax and just overcome
adversity and realize that there is
always a solution to the problem you
just have to look for it in the future
you're going to be likely teaching as
part of your residency and and that
teaching may include teaching at a
pharmacy school tell me a little bit
about what it's like to teach in front
of a larger classroom of 60 or 70
students and how you developed your
skills there you you were engaging they
were replying to you they were coming up
to you after class they were passing me
to come up to you after class which is
of course both excellent and like
seriously come on
but tell me a little bit about talking
in front of a large group I know that
many pharmacy students are a little bit
more on the introverted side and what
allows you to just get up there and do
it obviously prior to teaching that
first class I was very apprehensive of
being in front of that large of a group
but I have to say I really love it I'm
surprised by that that it came so
naturally to me and I wish I had a good
answer of how I do it I feel like the
reason that I was so engaging as you say
is being so recently in the classroom I
could really can
with what I would want to get out of a
lecture and so I just took that and
incorporated that in to my teaching
style I'm gonna try to get the grammar
right on this but I've heard that
teaching like you'd like to be taught
I'm sure I got that wrong is is a great
mantra too or mantra to get you through
the classroom and get it so that the
students enjoy being with you so a lot
of times the very first time someone
will try to push information at you tell
me a little bit about putting in some
fill in the blanks not using powerpoints
some of the things that you felt the
students responded to so that someone
who's trying to teach a larger class
could learn from it we did get away from
doing powerpoints in that closet we were
teaching together and having sat through
many classes where it's just slide after
slide I felt like it was a great break
from that we did have a system where it
was a fill-in-the-blank worksheet where
they were required to be engaged with
class and then required to follow along
and I think that made a big difference
because as I was talking and would take
a break to write down a drug name then
they would have that opportunity as well
and one other thing that I incorporated
into that fill in the blank worksheets
is other questions just to stimulate
discussion and thought-provoking ideas
and that gave an opportunity to expand
on those ideas and I'm really grateful
that the students were so engaged in
that so tell me a little bit about your
future area of expertise you're
interested in community and am care so
we're going from the large group now to
the one-on-one tell me a little bit
about what you hope for your future
practice I am interested in community
pharmacy and care I really thrive off of
building a one-on-one relationship with
my patients I really like the patient
education aspect where I can sit down
and talk to somebody and make sure
they're understanding their entire does
you state and what these medications are
doing for them I like to say that
pharmacy to me is not about the
prescriptions it's about the patients
and that connection is very important to
me I think for their overall health so
moving into the residence a year and
really looking for a program that will
give me the opportunity to do both both
teaching and a larger and a smaller
group setting as well as patient
education so tell me a little bit about
your residency journey we get from time
to time some options as to when and
where you get to go but but really it
kind of comes fast and furious so you
had particularly a two-day back to back
interview process can you tell me a
little bit about really just I guess
your preparation for that kind of a long
run so I'm a marathon or so my
preparation goes over months and months
and months you're given I think you had
a week so tell me a little bit about
what you do in that week you know to get
ready for something that's very very
important to you not letting it stress
me out too much because I knew that if I
tried to come into it being over
prepared that it would come across as
being cold and that no matter what I did
I could never be prepared enough so the
thing that I did going into these
interviews and you're right it was a a
long two days was just being myself and
while I couldn't anticipate some of the
questions that would come at me typical
interview style questions I didn't feel
like I had to have a canned answer I
really just wanted to be natural and be
myself and that's what I kept telling
myself is that if they don't like who I
really am that it's not a good fit for
me and it's not meant to be anyway yeah
we heard from Brandon Dyson a tldr
pharmacy that once you're at the
interview you're qualified for the
interview and it sounds like you're kind
of a Quay
that yeah what was a good fit and you
want to make sure you have enough sites
that you're going to know that okay this
one would be a good fit this one would
not but what are some of the things that
you could tell someone who is going into
an interview maybe in the next couple
weeks that I guess in terms of what to
prepare for what what does that day look
like what does your morning look like or
how do you how do you communicate with
the residency program director
afterwards what's your process for
making sure that it's as professional as
you can be in putting your best foot
forward I can speak to the experience
that I've had so far I do still have
some upcoming interviews but I know that
every sites process is a little bit
different some sites your on-site
interviewing for eight hours others it's
half a day with the particular program I
just interviewed with it was a series of
six interviews over two days and it was
an hour at each site so I can't speak to
preparing for all different types but do
know it as much about the site as you
possibly can going into it they provide
a lot of information through a SHP and
the most sites have their own websites
so just have a good understanding of
what the program is about and I can
guarantee that anywhere you go
you'll be asked why did you pick this
site so if you want to be prepared for
one question
you really shouldn't know exactly why
you have that site on your list to begin
with and what you can bring to that
residency program and then overall just
make sure you're dressing professionally
and remember even if you aren't being
asked interview questions if you'll with
the program director a preceptor a
resident anyone on site you are still in
the spotlight and that is still part of
your interview yeah I heard over and
over again the interview starts when you
get in the parking lot so tell me a
little bit about I guess you've you know
you're doing the residency interviews
now
what's the way that you think that
you're gonna try to put things in order
I think that's going to be very tough
for students I think there's going to be
some that are great and some that are oh
that was you know maybe not what I what
I thought it would be obviously I'm not
asking you to tell me which ones you're
going to put in the match in which order
but what do you feel is going to be your
process as you kind of start thinking
through some of the may be logical steps
that oh this place makes sense that way
but then some of the places that well I
just got a really good vibe from over
there where most of your sites are in
the Midwest and you've got Iowa nice
Minnesota nice all that stuff but tell
me a little bit about your process I'm
feeling very overwhelmed with trying to
put these sites in a rank order list we
talked a lot about it just being a good
fit so having that connection and that
vibe I feel is incredibly important it's
one of the bigger factors when you're
comparing all of these excellent sites
to one another but I also just have to
take into account what areas of interest
I really have each of the sites I've
interviewed with so far are very unique
and so I have to sit down make a list of
what each site has to offer and which of
those are most appealing to me in
addition to just how I felt with the
staff and the preceptor is a huge
location okay so let's get into a little
bit about the distance learning versus
the classroom in some ways online has
been given kind of a bad name oh you
took the online class that must have
been easier but in this case I've heard
time and again the online requires
actually more much more self discipline
tell me how the self-discipline that you
developed in the three years as a
distance student you feel will help you
through your residency another level of
self-discipline
and one great example of that not just
during the first three didactic years
but all of our experiential requirements
setting up rotation sites and all of
that falls on the responsibility of the
distance student because my classmates
and I are in all different states it's
hard for the experiential office to have
relationships and connections with
reputable sites in each of those states
so as a distance student we are expected
to reach out and build our own
connections and set up each of our
rotation sites and that included our IPP
es as well and it was very scary the
thought of having to set up these AP
pease on our own but I feel like that
too gave me so many more skills in being
professional gaining confidence and
talking to other people and also just
having a good sense of whether or not a
site would be a worthwhile experience
because I don't know anybody who's going
through any rotations at these
particular sites I had to really have a
discerning attitude about whether or not
it was going to be a good experience and
so far I haven't had any does okay so
where do you see yourself after
graduation
obviously you're your first kind of
milestone will be a residency and
community or am care or something like
that but not geographically but where do
you see yourself working practicing I'm
sure this was already a residency
question many times over but where do
you see yourself practicing so that
someone else could articulate this to
the residency sites they're interviewing
it for me I really need to have that
patient interaction and I want to be
able to use my clinical knowledge so for
my future I see myself either in a
clinic based setting with an care
working with physicians and me
with patients about chronic disease
management or taking the skills that I
learned in residency and taking them to
a community pharmacy that doesn't
already have the additional like
services that are provided at some of
these other sites like busy state
management immunizations and TM and then
even going beyond and just collaborating
with providers so my ultimate dream
would be to take those skills and the
knowledge that I've gained through
residency and take them to a community
pharmacy and grow them so the pharmacy
can continue to move forward in that
model well that's great the practice
model so tell me a little bit about
either the best pharmacy advice or the
best career advice you might have ever
given or received is before going on
rotations and just talking about how
apprehensive I was about now going out
and practicing I would always say I felt
like I didn't know enough and
pharmacists and educators and other
people at the college would say you know
more than you think you know such a
cliche it's so true it off every single
time but as I've been going through
rotations and I've been asked questions
it's like oh I do know that and so that
is a piece of advice that I brushed off
at first but I've really taken to heart
over the last year and it's one that
I'll continue to give other students who
are going on rotations because it is
true so people really struggle often
with time management you've had a little
bit extra challenge with time management
with the the distance pathway and making
sure that you're not only connecting it
you know you're on campus and it's not
like so that that meeting central time
right yeah it's always central time
where in you know Nebraska it's central
time but you're like okay wait so
eastern time central time wait does
Arizona you know I have daylight savings
you know and so you've got all those
other things but on a daily basis what
is it that keeps your work on track
I am a big list person I have to write
it down otherwise it's not going to
happen and I really get a lot of
enjoyment of being able to cross things
off my list but I also rely on
technology to every appointment every
due date goes into my calendar on my
phone with reminders just so that it's
always there with me and that reminder
is going off so that I don't forget to
do anything so I think being able to
write it down
and also just use technology to my
advantage to be organized has been a
lifesaver over the last three years and
what inspires you that's a good question
I've got a lot of kiddos in my life I've
got a younger brother and sister nieces
and nephews and a lot of other kids in
my life and I really just want to be a
good role model for them so everything
that I do every day of pushing myself
forward is so that they can look up to
me and that I can be a supportive
resource for them in the future that's
great thanks so much for being on the
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