Pharmacy Student Rotations

The Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford (LPCH) Pharmacy Department serves as a resource for practicing pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, students, residents, and other health professionals. As an academic medical center, pharmacy students have the unique opportunity to complete specialty rotations in the areas of general pediatrics, home infusion, and outpatient pharmacy.

Learning Objectives

Pharmacy students at LPCH typically spend six weeks on rotation. 
 
Pharmacy students at LPCH gain an understanding of the role of the clinical and inpatient pharmacist in a pediatric setting. Specific activities include but are not limited to:

  • Identifying those patients at greatest risk for medication therapy problems
  • Building a patient-specific data base via chart review and interdisciplinary rounds
  • Preparing a medication-related problem list
  • Identifying therapeutic goals for a patient
  • Designing or modifying therapeutic regimens
  • Designing a monitoring plan for a therapeutic regimen
  • Recommending or communicating a therapeutic plan or regimen
  • Following up on the effects of a therapeutic plan or regimen
  • Collecting outcomes information related to the care of a patient
  • Providing drug information to team members
  • Providing inservice education to team members
  • Contributing to the departmental and health systems analysis of adverse drug events 
  • Providing pharmacokinetic consults as needed
  • Presenting a minimum of two formal presentations (one journal club and one case presentation)

Daily Responsibilities

Pharmacy students on pediatric rotations are expected to pre-round on patients before interdisciplinary rounds which typically begin between 8:30 am and 9 am. 
 
In addition, students are required to contact the inpatient pharmacist staffing their unit before and after rounds to provide them with updates on medication issues. These might include:

  • Therapeutic duplications
  • Renal dose adjustments
  • Expired orders
  • Laboratory monitoring
  • Clinical interventions

In the afternoons, students meet with their preceptors to discuss readings, projects, or patient cases. 
 
In addition to keeping up with assigned readings and clinical rounds, students are evaluated on their formal presentations, attendance and inpatient pharmacy performance.

Pharmacy Location

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital is located at:
725 Welch Road
Palo Alto, CA 94304
 
Upon arrival at the hospital, students are required to obtain a name badge at the security desk located at the front entrance of the hospital. To reach the pharmacy, follow the hallway to the left of the front entrance security desk past the outpatient pharmacy, Bass Center and toy train.  Take the elevator on the right to the second floor. Upon exiting the elevator, turn right, then left down the first hallway, past the double doors to the inpatient pharmacy.

Parking

Please see the Stanford University Parking & Transportation Services website at http://transportation.stanford.edu/ for more information about parking/transportation options at LPCH.  Most students opt to purchase a “C” permit. You can purchase parking permits directly from The Parking & Transportation Services office. The office is located at 340 Bonair Siding and is open weekdays from 0730-1700

Dress Code

The pharmacy dress code is professional/business casual. Closed-toed shoes are mandatory.

Attendance Policy

Attendance is mandatory Monday through Friday (with the exception of school holidays), from 8:00 am until 5:30 pm. Personal leave is allowed for medical or family emergencies only. All other absences must be approved by the student program coordinators one week prior to the first day of rotation. Make up work may be assigned at the discretion of the preceptor.

What to Bring / How to Prepare

Students must provide valid identification, such as a driver's license on the first day so that a security badge can be made. No other medical or legal documents are necessary for this rotation. Students are required to carry a calculator everyday while on rotation. 
 
In order to prepare for this rotation, it is highly recommended that students familiarize themselves with the pediatrics chapter in the Applied Therapeutics textbook, Koda Kimble et al.    
 
For further instructions and for prospective students who are interested in completing a rotation at LPCH, please contact the student program coordinator.

Melissa Yee, PharmD
Student Program Coordinator
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital
Inpatient Pharmacy, MC 5921
725 Welch Road
Palo Alto, California 94304
Phone: (650) 497-8287
Email: myee@stanfordchildrens.org