May Blog Post

Senior year is finally coming to an end. It's now time to start a new chapter in my life. College! I will be attending the University of La Verne majoring in biology. Thanks to my senior project I've decided that pharmacy is a career I would like to pursue. I'm excited to see what the future holds for me.

Blog 23: Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?
I was very proud of my activity. I felt that it really portrayed my best answer in a way everyone could understand. I also think my audience had fun with it. 

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation (self-assessment)?
 P 

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?
 P  

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?
I didn't really have any book sources because there aren't any books that would help me answer my EQ. Instead of books, I used a lot of journals and studies. I felt that the studies really helped show that my answer actually worked in real life.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?
If I could go back, I would take the monthly post more seriously. I didn't do some but I wish I had.

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.
My senior project has been extremely helpful in my future endeavors. The reason why I chose pharmacy as my senior topic was because I was looking into pharmacy as a career. I wanted to know if pharmacy would be the right fit for me. After completing this project, I've come to realize that pharmacy is what I want to with my life. I loved being able to help different people. 

Blog 22: Mentorship

Literal

Joanne Evans, Phillips Ranch Pharmacy

Interpretive

What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

The most important thing I gained from this was the experience in general. I actually got to see how a pharmacy functions. I got to meet a lot of people that could possible help me in the future. For example my mentor. She's willing to keep me under her wing until I become a pharmacist. It's always nice to know that when I go back, all the staff there is supporting me in what I'm doing. 

Applied

How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ?  Please explain.

I couldn't exactly do any of my answers to my EQ but I did observe them on a day to day basis. My mentor would always counsel patient. One of the pharm techs would start up conversations with patients. My mentor always checks up on the pharm techs. 

Exit Interview

(1) What is your essential question, and what are your answers?  What is your best answer and why?

Essential Question: "What can a pharmacist do to enhance a patient's experience?"

Answer 1: To enhance a patient's experience, a pharmacist should provide a service to help educate a patient.

Answer 2: Getting to know your patients can help enhance the patient's experience. 

Answer 3: A pharmacist can enhance a patient's experience by having good communication with their employees.

My best answer is my first answer because it is very versatile. It helps both the patient and the pharmacist. There is also a lot you can do with providing a service.

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

I came across my answer when researching. I was looking at what a pharmacist should do for patients. That article brought up the idea of counseling. From there I started looking up different counseling articles and studies. After I first came across the idea of counseling, I realized that mentorship actually offers it for their patients. It was cool to see what I was researching being used in real life.

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

A big problem I faced was that there we're any book sources I could use. I look at almost every library in my area. I looked on the county library cite. I even asked my mentor if should knew of any book sources. She didn't have any. To solve these problem, I decided to look for a lot of medical journals and studies.

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

My two most significant sources would have to be my mentor and the McKesson article I referenced in my second and third finding. My mentor was absolutely great. I could go to her for anything. She answered a lot of the questions I had that I couldn't find an article to answer. The McKesson article because I am very familiar with their company. My mentorship actually uses that company to provide them with all their medication. 

April Blog Post

For the month of April, independent component consumed most of my time. It was a fun little project to do. I liked getting my family and friends involved. They actually go to see what I do at school. During the month of April was my last day at mentorship. I had all my hours done and still wanted to go in but since presentations are around the corner. I feel that I should really start focusing on that. 

Independent Component 2

LITERAL

(a) I, Sabrina Carrera, affirm that I completed my independent component, which represents 35 hours of work.

(b) "ASHP Guidelines on Pharmacist-Conducted Patient Education and Counseling." Ashp.org. American Society of Health‑System Pharmacists. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.

"What Pharmacy Customers Really Want." Smart Retailing Rx. MCKESSON CORPORATION. 11 Apr. 2013. Web. 08 Jan. 2015.

(c)  I first started this component by going through all my notes to see if there were key points I wanted to include in my survey. From there I started to write my survey. I took awhile because I was trying to figure out how I wanted the questions to sound. I had my mom look at it to see if my questions made sense. I then sent it to her so she could print all the surveys out. Now the fun part, cutting every survey. It really wasn’t fun at all. I had to come up with an effective way I would conduct my survey. The next few days after that, I gave my survey to a bunch of my family and friends. When I finished giving my survey, I collected all the data and made a chart to analyze it. I then pasted it all into a notebook so I could have it all together.

INTERPRETIVE

This picture was taken after I print out all the stuff.

Here I am cutting and pasting in the second page of my journal. 

In this picture, I am collecting all my data using tally marks. After I finished this, I put my data into the computer to make graphs.

APPLIED

(a)  My EQ is very opinionated. That is why I though a survey would be a good idea. It would either enforce what I already figured or tell me something I didn’t already know. In this case, it enforced what I already knew. This means what I have been researching has been very valuable. I tried to also get as many different age ranges as I possibly could.

March Blog Post

I didn't really do much project wise. I hardly went to mentorship this month due to the fact that I'm basically my mom's taxi service. Normally, my grandparents would take over the days I'd be at mentorship but they were out of town for a portion of the month. Also when they came back, powderpuff practice became a priority. The only thing I've been doing project wise are research checks.

Fourth Interview Questions

1. How do you maintain good communication with employees?

2. Is communication with employees important to enhance patient’s experience? Why or why not?

3. How can you insure your patients aren’t keeping secrets from you?

4. Are family assessment’s important in getting to know your patients?

5. How can you effectively communicate with your patients?

6. How can you enhance patient guided counseling?

7. What are some guidelines you like to go about when counseling?

8. How effective is getting to know your patients?

9. What are some questions that a pharmacist should expect from a pharmacist?

10. What are some things you can do to insure patients will come back to your store?

11. How can your build a rapport with your patient?

12. What are some benefits of getting to know your patients?

13. What are some benefits of counseling?

14. How can you monitor patient’s drug use?

15. How can counseling impact a patient’s experience?

16. What kind of behaviors should a pharmacist have when counseling?

17. Should pharmacist and doctor’s have a close relationship?

18. Is a pharmacist and doctor’s relationship needed to enhance the patient’s experience?

19. How often should a pharmacist and doctor communicate?

20. Is patient guided counseling better than regular counseling?

Blog 17: Third Answer

EQ: What can a pharmacist do to enhance a patient's experience?
Answer 3: A pharmacist can enhance a patient's experience by going the extra mile.

• Patients are more likely to come back.
• Patients enjoy it.
• You'll be remembered.

Best Source: "What Pharmacy Customers Really Want." Smart Retailing Rx. MCKESSON CORPORATION., 11 Apr. 2013. Web. 08 Jan. 2015.

Answer 2

1. What can a pharmacist do to enhance a patients experience?
2. The best way for a pharmacist to enhance a patients experience is by the patient a counseling session.
3. The seeking best way for a pharmacist to enhance a patients experience is by getting to know your patient.
4. 1) My mentor said it was important during an interview. 2) You get to understand why your patients are on certain medication. 3) They'll come back to your pharmacy.
5. #44 on my WB
6. #37 on my WB

Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

1. For my Independent Component 2, I've decided to do a survey. I've decided this because my EQ is mainly opinion based. I would like to get other people's opinion on what I've come up with and help me come up with my third answer.
2.  Like I said before I'm going to make a survey. The survey will be my evidence, along with the data I collect.
3.  This will help my senior project because I can see what other people would like to see in a pharmacy. It can also help me evolve my third answer.

Independent Component 1

Literal
(a) I, Sabrina Carrera, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 31 hours of work.
(b) Independent Component hours are up to date.
(c) I worked 31 extra hours at my mentorship.
Interpretive
I'm firm believer that your mentorship is the best place for research. You get to experience things first hand. You get to learn things you wouldn't read about. As for my proof, I couldn't actually take pictures of what I did due to the fact I deal a lot with patient's information. Luckily the pharmacy has an Instagram. I was featured in their flu shot reminder post. (It was a pretend shot.)




Applied
My independent component has helped my form my new essential question. With my first essential question, I didn't really know what I was doing. By working extra hours, I was exposed to problems the pharmacy encounters and how they solve the problems. An example would be when one of the retirement homes returned more medication than they were supposed to. We had to check to see why we had so much. We found out that they didn't give a patient their full prescription. Our solution to the problem was to go to the house and give a talk to the people in charge on how important it is to give patient's all of their medication.

Lesson 2 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in you Lesson 2 Presentation and why?
I'm proud of my lesson because, besides talking really fast, I hit all the points I wanted to make.

2. a. What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation?
         AP
    b. Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from Lesson 2 component contract.
        I feel like I should get an AP because I turned in my rough draft lesson plan late. I think that alone knocks me down to an AP.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
I think my activity worked really well. Everyone seemed to like it.

4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?
I talked really fast. I wish I had more water in my water cup so I can relax myself.

5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?
I think something about drug safety.

Blog 12: Mentorship 10 Hours Check

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?
I am doing my mentorship at Phillips Ranch Pharmacy.
2.   Who is your contact?
My contact is Joanne Evans, the owner.
3.   How many total hours have you done (total hours should be reflected in your mentorship log located on the right hand side of your blog like your WB)?
39 hours
4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.
I help out in the sending out process of our retirement homes. I tend to do a lot of separating, organizing, and checking if all medication is there. I also help out with the filing documents saying what we sent out and where it went. 

Blog 11: Holiday Project Update

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school. What did you do love the break with your senior project?
I did extra research and caught up on my research checks. 

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why? What was the source of what you learned?
I leaned how important counseling a patient actually is. Sometimes patient will think they know everything but you have to be there to make sure they fulling understand it.  

3.  If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers for your EQ, who would you talk to and why?
I would talk to Veronica, a pharmacy technician, because she deal a lot with patients.