Lab Reflections

• Lab at Manchester- Immunizations Cases (October 2020)

o It was a fantastic feeling to get to step foot on my old campus again. I also absolutely
adored the opportunity to work with students. A day of lab can be tiring, doing the same
session repeated all day long, it was certainly difficult to remain energized for the entire
day. I enjoyed that students were very responsive when I tried to be engaging, I never
had to struggle to get participation. I had two students get frustrated when they did not
understand how to use something, but I spent a little extra time one on one with them
to show them. They were very thankful afterwards and were able to answer questions
correctly. I was not nervous at all today, (until I was being evaluated ☺). My teaching
mentor gave me some good advice, if you are ever nervous- pretend you are the
smartest person in the room on that topic. If you prepare thoroughly, you will be the
expert in the room, so remind yourself of that. It was easy to feel that way when it was
just myself and the students, however when my teaching mentor was evaluating me-
that feeling quickly went away. My teaching mentor also realized there was a mistake in
the case worksheet key that I was trusting (and that I missed), which he pointed out.
Although I did lose my confidence at this point (luckily it was the last session) I took far
more away from this session that any of the others. He was very patient and reviewed
my evaluation with me one on one. Although I was embarrassed and carried this with
me for a few days, I know it will save me in the future- RUN THROUGH A CASE KEY
YOURSELF FIRST BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE HUMAN AND MAKE MISTAKES (even
pharmacists), so be ready to catch them so you can back yourself/ rationale up.
(whoops) It also motivated me to get more involved with immunizations, so I started
volunteering at an underserved clinic that my residency has a connection through for
their monthly “super shots” event. This event allows families in South Bend without
insurance to come and get their children caught up on immunizations free of charge.
This has probably been the most rewarding and fulfilling volunteer opportunity I have
ever been a part of (which I know the competitive Op Heart pharmacy student version
of myself would not approve of this statement now, I really do mean it), so there are
many, many reasons I am thankful for the mishap that happened in lab with the case
key.
• Motivational Interviewing Lab at Manchester (October 2020)
o I knew the material that was to be covered today, but did not entirely know my role. I
made a deal with my preceptor in this to take over part of the lab on my own next year
as a PGY2 and really be running it. I was very comfortable during this lab until there was
a technology blooper, but that only lasted a few minutes. I was having a lot of fun
interacting with students/ facilitating discussion. Some of the students chose bold/
sensitive examples to share with the class which was surprising and slightly difficult to
respond to seriously- but I believe I managed this well. I had to impromptu lead/ close
the last part of the presentation/ day for one half of the students and I was impressed
with their engagement. Everyone was very quick to respond and had thoughtful
answers. (This could of course be that they have learned the quicker they respond the
quicker they are released from class ☺ - however they seemed genuine).