St. John’s University International Student Program, School of Pharmacy, New York

27 Nov 2019

During this summer (July 22^nd –August 2^nd, 2019), four senior pharmacy students and four recent graduates had the opportunity to join St. John’s University  Pharmacy International Student Program. This program provided a great opportunity for the students to get an overview of the healthcare system in the United States and understand the role of the clinical pharmacist in different healthcare settings. The program included 6 days of the following theoretical didactic lectures on General introduction to the profession of pharmacy in the United States:

• Interprofessional, intraprofessional and professional dimensions of the practice of pharmacy
• Introduction to drug information
• Introduction to medication errors
• Introduction to Medication Therapy Management and the Pharmacist Patient Care Process
• Introduction to evidence-based medicine
• Statistics review for pharmacists: Applying study results to patient Care
• Mastering journal club presentation
• Introduction to ethics in pharmacy practice
• Pharmacists and Immunizations

Within these 6 days, students attended 2 skills labs on;

• Patient Simulation Laboratory
• Drug Information Center

The best part of the program was during the following week, where the students were able to job shadow with clinical pharmacists and professors in different healthcare settings as follow; Outpatient Pharmacy, Inpatient Pharmacy, Intensive Care Unit, Hospice Care, Emergency Department, Cardiology Department and Internal Medicine Department. Students were able to observe the use of technology in pharmacy practice and the use of electronic medical records. Moreover, students were able to see how pharmacists co-work with other healthcare professionals.
We had also a visit to an independent living facility and skilled nursing facility and were able to understand the role of pharmacists in such institutions.
On the social level, many social activities were included in this program. We were invited several times to lunch or dinner by the Dean of Pharmacy, Dr Ebtesam Ahmed and Hira Shafiq.
My recommendation is to extend the hospital shadowing program another week so that the students have a deeper opportunity to practice. Instead, the job shadowing duration could be elongated especially the Critical Care and Internal Medicine Department rounds.