Prescription Specialties Pharmacy

APPE Experience Types
Community Practice Elective

Address
6500 Excelsior Boulevard
St. Louis Park, MN
55426

Phone
952-993-5442

Main contact
Joe Meese, R.Ph.

Main Preceptor

Joe Meese, R.Ph.
Prescription Specialties Pharmacy
1601 London Road
Duluth, MN  55812

Phone 218-728-0738
Fax  218-728-0741
Home
218-724-7549

Email

Teaching Philosophy

Objectives:

• Upon completion of this rotation the student should be able to:
• Think outside the “BOX”
• Discuss with patients and practitioners individualized drug therapies.
• Have a good working knowledge of a pharmacy compounding laboratory.
• Understand basic herbal and nutritional therapies.
• Be able to recommend Natural Hormone Replacement therapy dosage forms and dosages to practitioners.
• Counsel HRT women on all aspects of their lives pertaining to HRT.
• Compound to USP 797 standards.

Detailed Site Information

Institution
Prescription Specialties pharmacy is a neighborhood community pharmacy.  We specialize in custom compounding of medications and we are doing nutritional supplementation counseling for drug depletion.  Our location is 1601 London Rd. Duluth, MN.  Parking is free outside the store in our lot.

Professionalism and Assessment
Student will be evaluated on an ongoing daily basis.Students that observe get C’s.  Students that participate get B’s and students that are outgoing and professional with “dirty” hands get A’s.

Prescription Specialties pharmacy is open 8:30 to 5:30 M-F. The student will be professionally attired and responsibly present for the required clerkship hours.  Name badge is required.

Resources
Space is available any place in the store as needed.  Cable Internet access is also available.  Also onsite is an assortment of antique and current compounding references.

Community Practice Elective

The student will always be under direct pharmacist supervision at all times thus allowing constant exchange of ideas and knowledge.  There will be no specific scheduled pharmacist student time period as the student will always have access to a pharmacist.

APPE Structure
The student will work alongside the pharmacist and interact with patients.  The student will learn very little traditional dispensing, but will see how a compounding specialty practice enhances the ability to truly provide pharmaceutical care at a level not available in a traditional community pharmacy practice setting.  The student will also experience how third parties are detrimental to good health care.  This is a 10 week rotation.

Learning Activities and Responsibilities:

• Hands on compounding activities to include developing formulations, selecting appropriate dosage form, flavoring, hazards, quality of final product.
• Ability to compound troches, suppositories, milled creams, sterile products, capsules, sustained release dosages, oil filled capsules, suspensions, tablet triturates, and lollipops.
• All aspects of developing formulations for the above listed dosage forms.
• Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy intake of patient and follow-up.
• Bulk compounding record keeping requirements.
• How customized prescription compounding allows the pharmacist to practice pharmaceutical care at a level not attainable in a traditional pharmacy practice setting.
• Possible participation in a compounding seminar.
• Patient consultation on all aspects of this practice setting.  Showing good communication skills and confidence in personal knowledge.
• Cleanroom sterile products procedure and formulation.  Understand USP 797

Student Roles and Responsibilities
On a daily basis, students will prepare thorough pharmacotherapeutic assessments and recommendations for assigned patients. Assessments will be developed through chart review (labs, progress notes, etc), direct patient interaction, communication with other health care professionals, and literature review. Assessments and recommendations will be presented to the appropriate preceptor for feedback and approval; once obtained, students will communicate recommendations to the staff and/or patient.

Students will be responsible for preparing and presenting a formal journal club. This exercise (completed and presented by the two acute care students as a group assignment) is designed to help students learn to critically read and evaluate journal articles in the era of evidence based medicine. The presenting students will lead the discussion. Non-presenting students are expected to prepare for discussion by reviewing each article prior to the conference. Participation from the entire group is strongly encouraged.

Educational Opportunities:
The student will be involved completely in the total running of the pharmacy.The student will be expected to develop formulations to compound prescriptions after discussion and consultation with the patient and pharmacist.  Direct supervision will always be present both for safety of the student and patient.  By the end of the educational experience the student will have the basic knowledge to work comfortably with alternative dosage forms such as troches, airvent suppositories, absorption enhancing gels and creams, lollipops, tablet triturates, sterile products and a variety of capsules.  The student will sit in on BHRT consultations with patient prior approval.  Pharmacist and student will be consulting with patients about natural hormone replacement therapy.  Charting and follow-up consultation will be expected.  Herbal product consultations will also be expected as will aromatherapy.  Meeting USP 797 level 3 sterile compounding requirements will also be expected.

Other Requirements
The preceptor reserves the privilege to interview the candidate for appropriateness of the student for the rotation.  Attitude and a desire to learn an alternative practice will be of most importance.  A basic nutrition course with biochemistry emphasis will be necessary.