One of the most interesting projects was updating the BCPS guide to reflect recent clinical guideline updates relevant to pharmacists. This project connected the medical writing experience more directly to my clinical interests. I had to review current recommendations and determine which updates were important for pharmacists to know. This reinforced something I have learned throughout pharmacy school: the best pharmacists never stop learning. Clinical guidelines continue to change, new evidence becomes available, and recommendations are updated as our understanding of disease and treatment evolves. Pharmacists have to be willing to continually learn and adapt.

I also had the opportunity to create a pharmacy school handbook for P1 through P4 students. This project was especially meaningful because I could think about the experiences I have had throughout pharmacy school and consider what information would have been helpful to me earlier in my education. The guide covered topics related to professional development, involvement, literature evaluation, preparation for graduation and licensure, and financial literacy. Creating it made me reflect on how much I have learned since starting pharmacy school. It was rewarding to take what I have learned through my own experiences and turn it into something that could potentially help another student.

My biggest takeaway from this rotation is the importance of being able to translate information into something that another person can actually use. As a pharmacy student, I have spent a significant amount of time learning large amounts of information. However, knowing information and effectively communicating information are two different skills. A pharmacist can know the answer to a clinical question, but if they cannot clearly explain the answer to a physician, nurse, patient, student, or another pharmacist, that knowledge may not have the impact it could. This rotation helped me appreciate communication as a clinical skill rather than simply a professional skill.

I also gained a better appreciation for the responsibility that comes with producing educational material. When someone reads a pharmacy law guide or clinical guide, they may trust that the information is correct and use it to make decisions. That means accuracy is extremely important. This reinforced the importance of checking my sources and being careful with how I word information. I plan to carry these lessons into my future career as an inpatient clinical pharmacist. My ultimate goal is to work in a hospital setting where I can be involved in clinical decision-making and contribute to patient care. Although medical writing may seem different from inpatient pharmacy practice, I now see many connections between the two. Clinical pharmacists constantly interpret guidelines, evaluate new information, and communicate recommendations to other healthcare professionals. The skills I developed during this rotation will all be valuable in that setting.

Overall, this APPE rotation with RxPharmacist gave me an experience that was different from traditional clinical rotations, but it still strengthened many of the skills I will need as a pharmacist. I became more comfortable researching unfamiliar topics, working with primary sources, evaluating information, writing for different audiences, and revising my work based on feedback. More importantly, I gained a better understanding of the role pharmacists can play in creating and communicating reliable health information. The rotation reminded me that being a good pharmacist requires not only knowing information, but also knowing how to find it, evaluate it, and communicate it effectively.

-M.W., PY4 Student