Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

P3’s Congratulations!! This is an exciting time as you guys are one step closer to practicing as pharmacists!
While it is a little nerve wracking going into APPE’s, this last year has been great. I have actually enjoyed 4 th year the most
because it has been an opportunity to practice what you have been learning during pharmacy school. In this last year, I feel
as if I have grown more than all three previous years combined. This document shares the self-reflection process and my
mindset I took on during rotations. I have also compiled useful concepts and wisdom from leadership coaches, pharmacy
leaders and successful people that really helped me to be effective. I hope that you can use this as a guide in being
successful and how to really thrive during rotations. It includes:

❖ A Workbook to develop a Strategic Plan for your Pharmacy Career.

❖ Miscellaneous APPE tips and Golden Nuggets.
❖ Student Downfalls
❖ Residency Tips
o Interview Playbook
❖ Questions for your Preceptor on First day and Weekly Review Sheet I would send my Preceptor.

In these next eight rotations, you will be pushed outside of your professional and personal comfort zones. Embrace this. I
believe that the key to being successful and a stellar intern is your mindset going into rotations. I think it’s only normal to
be a little scared. Trust me in that you are not alone. I think every student has fears that they might not know enough, but
look your still a pharmacy student and your preceptor knows that. So that is why I strongly recommend you take on a
growth mindset for yourself and to try and view rotations as a great learning opportunity.

I also want to emphasize this. It’s very important to understand that APPEs are officially the start of your professional
pharmacy career. On day ONE, you are developing your pharmacy reputation. You should start considering your self-image
and writing down the words and phrases that you would like to be defined by. This period will likely have a lasting effect on
your career and your personal brand as others assess your performance, your interactions, and your potential as a
pharmacist and leader. So ask yourself, what kind of pharmacist do you want to be known for?

Key Concepts

❖ Before Rotations, take a weekend and reflect on your current self, your past pharmacy experiences and your future
career goals.
❖ Start out strong: build good habits early. This is your career! Learn to be the best pharmacist you can be.
❖ Be teachable, have a growth mindset.
❖ Have a great attitude and be a willing team player.
❖ Ask for feedback. Lots of it.
❖ Be 100% accountable.
❖ Build your network.
❖ Journal and reflect weekly. Keep an Intervention Diary.
o Keep all your work so you can show value to future employers.
o I did this by making a Digital Portfolio. Here you can find all my APPE work and projects.

These are the qualities that I believe will drastically increase your odds of doing well not only in your APPE’s but in life:
❖ Positive Attitude, Hard Work, Growth Mindset, Striving for Excellence, Thinking About Others, Showing Effort

Developing into a competent pharmacist and leader is a process. Your personal standards will define who you are and
determine how effective you will be. Use APPE’s as chance to develop a richer set of skills independent of intellectual ability
that you can draw upon to accomplish success and get results. “As you go onto rotation, remember that raising your
personal standards is a choice, not a requirement. It isn’t something you should do; it’s something that you choose to
do”1. What you put into it, is what you get out.

Min Effort = Minimum Gains

Normal Effort = Normal Gains
Max Effort = Max Gains
Extra Effort = Extra Gains

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Before Rotations -Develop your Purpose.

As a soon to be pharmacists, this is the perfect time for you to create clear, step-by-step plans for achieving your future
career goals. I have created a small workbook to help facilitate your strategic thinking. It is at the end of this document.
Developing a clear purpose for yourself and your life goals before rotation is one of the best things you can do for
yourself. Imagining the best version of myself really motivated and inspired me to want to be awesome! It pushed me to be
engaged on rotations and to develop the skills needed to go into managed care. Here’s a couple quotes that helped me:

“My confidence came from my vision…I am a big believer that if you have a very clear vision of where you want to go,
then the rest of it is much easier. Because you always know why you are training 5 hours a day, you always know why you
are pushing and going through the pain barrier, and why you have to eat more, and why you have to struggle more, and
why you have to be more disciplined… I felt that I could win it, and that was what I was there for. I wasn’t there to
compete. I was there to win.” –Arnold Schwarzenegger2

“‘Is that a dream, or a goal? Because a dream is something you fantasize about that will probably never happen. A goal is
something you set a plan for, work toward, and achieve.” –Paul Levesque (Triple H)2

Apply these quotes to pharmacy. (Mehdi’s tip 😃) I am the biggest daydreamer. You have no idea. But also I’m a big
strategic thinker and goal setter. For example, going into rotations, I knew I was fascinated with Managed Care Pharmacy
and needed a Managed Care Residency to get the job of my dreams. So ask yourself, what are the skills most in demand in
your dream job, and then how I can develop the skills they are looking for during rotations. Here’s a good exercise to help
find out the skills you need for your dream job.

1. Keep browsing openings for jobs that you might like to hold in the future. (Managed Care Pharmacist, Ambulatory
Care Pharmacist, Informatics Pharmacist, Director of Pharmacy, Chief Pharmacy Officer) Focus specifically on the
technical skills of the description — these technical skills are mandatory to land a job within that field. especially
those skills that are required for the position, but that you don't currently have.

2. If you’re interested in residency, look at the ASHP required competency areas, goals and objectives for PGY-1
Residencies (First link). Go through the ASHP document and highlight the skills and competencies they expect you
to be able to complete during residency year. For example, completing a monograph.

Before each rotation, make a very deliberate learning plan for yourself! Make 5 goals for yourself and bring it to your
preceptor the first day. Is there a specific disease state or computer system you want to learn about? Do you want to
attend department and committee meetings? Some of the goals might not be possible! But I guarantee you that many
preceptors will go out of their way to provide you learning opportunities if you take initiative and ask. But you have to ask!
In the 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth by John Maxwell3, he has a great table comparing accidental growth to intentional
growth.

Accidental Growth Intentional Growth

Plans to Start Tomorrow
Waits for growth to come
Learns only from mistakes
Depends on good luck
Quits early and often
Falls into bad habits
Talks big
Plays it safe
Thinks like a victim
Relies on talent
Stops learning after graduation
Insists on starting today
Takes complete responsibility to grow
Often learns before mistakes
Relies on hard work
Perseveres long and hard
Fights for good habits
Follows through
Takes Risks
Thinks like a learner
Relies on character
Never stops growing

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

“In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make
are ultimately our own responsibility. If you want to reach your potential and become the person you were created to be,
you must do much more than just experiencing life and hoping that you learn what you need along the way. You must go
out of your way to seize growth opportunities as if your future depended on it. Why? Because it does. Growth doesn’t just
happen—not for me, not for you, not for anybody. You have to go after it!” - Eleanor Roosevelt

Start out Strong. Make a great first impression and build good habits starting day one.
“Long-term success—the only kind that really matters—never just happens; it is always the result of clear objectives, laser
focus, and building good work habits from day one.” -Emily Bennington and Skip Linenberg4

Your first impression will affect your preceptor and the staffs attitude toward you. So, it’s crucial to make a personable,
effective first impression. Here are some ways you can make and sustain a positive impression.
• Arrive on time.
o If you are unfamiliar with the territory or where to park, get there 30 min to an hour earlier. Better to wait
around in your car than having to put rebuild your reputation for being late on first day.
• Establish ground rules and communication with your preceptor.
o Confirm your must do priorities, responsibilities and available resources.
o Try to assess the style of your preceptor and match their style. Are they results oriented, detail oriented,
socially oriented?
o Bring your Rotation Goals!
• Have the biggest smile on your face all day. Be excited to meet people.
o Key to strong handshake – Try to feel the person’s pulse with your index fingers when you are shaking
their hand.
o Saying hi and introducing yourself “Hi My name is Mehdi. Im the new pharmacy intern”, this can establish
you as someone who will reach out and who wants to be accessible and hands on which is a good first
impression. Display humble confidence.
• Personally, connect with new staff and team members.
o Try to pick out one person who you feel comfortable going to with questions
▪ When talking to them, ask “if I have a question, would it be ok to come to you?”
• Act like a high achiever. [Upbeat and positive attitude]

Forming good habits early will you make more productive. So be disciplined and develop a strong work ethic for yourself.
Taking the right steps from the beginning and gaining early traction is vital for your success. Try to go all out on your first
rotation. It will carry over to each rotation after that. (Mehdi’s Tip)

Habits I tried to build:

• Saying good morning to any one I saw during the morning.
• Follow up quickly with preceptor, nurses and physicians. (Developing my communication skills)
• Reading daily. I made an effort to read white papers or the latest healthcare news/trends at least 30 min/wk.
o Would write and journal often.
• Being aware of my nonverbal behaviors. Try to develop an executive presence.
• Coming to topic discussions prepared. Practicing presentations beforehand (Ask your pharmacist to do a run
through).
• Becoming a more active listener. So, recognizing emotions in words and paraphrasing and reflecting back what is
being said.
• Asking for feedback early and trying to turn things in early. Only turning in high quality clean work.
• Using a daily checklist to prioritize my work. (I like to use a sticky pad where I can cross things off the list)
• Keeping track of all my work. Wanted to show my value as pharmacist to future employers.

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Take on a Growth Mindset on rotations.

“Individuals who have a growth mindset believe their talents and abilities can be developed through dedication, hard
work, deliberate learning and honest feedback. Passion, dedication and persistence count the most when cultivating
intelligence and talents.” - Carol Dweck

"If you begin with the belief that you can learn new skills no matter what your present level of competence is and that
training and coaching will pay off, then you're much more likely to do whatever it takes to improve. You are more likely
to seek and accept challenges, persist when obstacles are in your way or not be deferred when you have a setback, and see
your efforts as necessary steps toward mastering leadership.” - James Kouzes and Barry Posner5

You don’t have to be the smartest person in the class to be smart. At the end of the day, GPA is just a number. It cannot
tell you what you can achieve and cannot achieve. If you have a low GPA, remember that grades are not everything. You
can separate yourself from your peers by developing intangible leadership qualities. And if you have a high GPA, you can
separate yourself even more by also developing these leadership qualities. I once a read a book called the 10x Rule by
Grant Cardone6. In this book, he says

“If you want to become a high achiever in any aspect of life – spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, relational, career or
financial – Set targets that are 10 times higher than necessary and put 10 times the effort that others do.”6

While probably a little excessive, I think there is some truth in the quote. You can always work harder than the next
person.

In my experience, here is the downside of having a low GPA. You might not be able to answer a clinical question off the top
of your head. So, it’s important you know how to find the information you need. So, here’s some phrases you can say
when you don’t know:
o “Hmm, let me think about that for a second, Well I’m not exactly sure right now, but I would want to
check the guidelines for that, If you’d like, I can get back to you”
o “I don’t have much experience with this medication but I think it works like..”
o “Well I’m unfamiliar with how this medication is used in this situation but from my understanding it is
similar to this…”
• It is ok to say I don’t know! You’re a student. You can try to talk out your thought process so the preceptor can
help guide you to the answer. But always be willing to look up the answer. There were a few preceptors where I
told them that I am not the greatest off the top of my head, but that I can always look up the information and get
back to you. (Setting Expectations)

“Don’t be a know-it-all; be a learn-it-all.” -Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

Have a great attitude and being a willing team player.
• Preceptors appreciate students who are positive and enthusiastic. Show interest.
o People in general respond well to someone who has a positive attitude.
• Say good morning to every single staff person you run across. Especially the director and bosses. (Remember these
could be a future boss)
o When my preceptor gave me free time in the morning, I’d go say good morning and that I would be over
here at this computer working. And I would tell them that if they need anything to let me know.
• Try to use people’s name. Even if they don’t know yours.
o To remember people’s name, I would write people’s name in my journal.
• Connect with people.
o If you don’t know how to connect, A great book to read for this is “Everyone Communicates, Few
Connect” by John Maxwell7
o This is a crucial skill that will pay off x 20. (This is something you can put effort into learning during
rotations).
• Be humble. Accept that you are going to make a mistake. When you do. Take 100% accountability.
o Know when you don’t know and when to ask for help.

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

o Teachable people are willing to learn from anyone who has something to offer.
• Be willing to do tech work. (Practice saying yes I can, and absolutely with a smile on your face).
• Help the resident, tech or pharmacists in their daily duties. If there is anything you can do to make the preceptors
tech or nurses life easier, it will make you look great.
o Also if someone sees how helpful you are, they are much more interested in helping you.

Here’s how you can actively study while doing grunt work (pulling, counting or delivering medications)?
• Anytime you touch a medication, ask yourself what is the brand name, what’s the medication used for, what’s its
mechanism of action, does it have some important counseling points or special storage requirements?

Want to know how to get brownie points?

• Take out the trash without the preceptor asking you. Put medications up. Have a clean work area.
• Write people short but personal thank you notes on sticky notes.

Ask for Feedback. Early and Often.

“Assume that you can learn from criticism. That your capabilities are always evolving, that you can overcome obstacles and
deficiencies if you put in the effort, and that even the most painful information can motivate you to improve. This may
initially be difficult to do, but if you practice reframing feedback as an opportunity to get better at what you do, then it'll get
easier over time. Of course, not all feedback you receive will be negative. You also want to know what you're doing well so
that you can build on your strengths.” - James Kouzes and Barry Posner5

During rotations, I was always looking for feedback on my work because, it’s just easier to become better with honest and
specific feedback. I’d ask for feedback on my patient counseling, SOAP notes, topic discussions, monographs and case
presentations. So ask for feedback often! I’d say weekly. Here’s where having a growth mindset is helpful.

Make sure to set reasonable due dates for yourself. Don’t tell your preceptor 3 days to look like a star student. You are
going to be stressed about getting the assignment done and the quality might fall off. I actually recommend asking for a
few extra days then maybe necessary. With these extra few days, you can start working on the assignment and asking for
feedback earlier. You can then look awesome by turning the presentation 3 days earlier than the due date!

I want to emphasize though that it is crucial to get your documents to your preceptor early. They will let you know if you
are on your way to turning in high quality work. I strongly recommend that you do not turn in something in that no one
has looked at. Try to make your work look nice! Remember you are building your brand!
Would you rather be known as a pharmacist that has attention to detail and high quality work or basic, unedited work?

Here’s another tip. Turn in your work early at like 7 AM before you travel to the site. Do not turn in email with your work
between 8 PM – 4 AM. Remember that people have personal lives, they aren’t really going to be checking your work at
10PM at night.

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Be 100% accountable.
This rule comes from Chapter 1 of Speak Up, Show Up, and Stand Out by Loretta Malandro 1.

During rotations, you will encounter situations

that are difficult, unfair, or demoralizing, but you
must deal with them. Pharmacists and others may
engage in poor communication behavior with
you, but you still must be the one who changes.
You may be factually correct about something,
but you need to find a way to eliminate the
conflict and work together with others. If you feel
like their might be patient harm, I recommend
always bringing it to your preceptor.

“Being 100% accountable calls you to rise to a

new level where you put your core values front
and center. Your unique strengths and attributes
will show up to help you create a remarkable
presence and reputation. You’ll stay at the top of
people’s minds because you produce results,
build bridges, and you are decisive and direct.”

“You can reach the height of your personal

power, by being 100% accountable, even when
others take zero accountability. When you are
100% accountable, you take control of your
results and your relationships with others. You
gain the power to do extraordinary things. You
can influence people, confront difficult situations, speak up to create a strong presence, and accelerate your career.”

You can adopt a 100% accountable mindset through two principles

❖ You choose how you act and how you react.
❖ Practicing a no blame policy.
Tell yourself:
❖ I’m bigger than the circumstances
❖ I will demand more of my self.
❖ I will own and resolve the problem.

This pledge sets the stage for taking 100 % accountability:

I am 100% accountable for how my words and actions affect others. I am accountable for both business and mission results
and my impact on people. I will take responsibility for changing how I communicate and behave, and I will work in
partnership with others to produce extraordinary results. I will not blame people or circumstances when I do not get what I
want or think I deserve. My stand is this: I am bigger than my circumstances. I can handle any problem that I encounter. I
will identify and raise my personal standards so I can achieve much more and help others do the same.

I will:
❖ Apply my standards consistently, and not conveniently.
❖ Commit to the success of everyone so we can all succeed together.
❖ Declare my stand with absolute clarity and conviction.
❖ Build great working relationships with others by focusing on shared values.
❖ Accept only the best from myself, and I will not settle for less.

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Build your pharmacy network.

You guys will soon be looking for jobs and residencies. I know that you have heard this before but I am going to
reemphasize it because its scary true and I have experienced it firsthand. Pharmacy is a small world. People know each
other. So, treat each rotation as if it is an interview. Show the qualities of a great pharmacist and you will build your list of
references and improve your credibility.
Tips for networking.

• Attend a few pharmacy conferences (APhA, Midyear, AMCP).

• Actively work your network list and reach out to people.
• Get involved with professional organizations
o Volunteer for events and committees.
• If you are currently working at a community pharmacy, start talking to your district manager! Reach out to them.
o They are the ones that know where there will be available positions. Just because you have been working
there for three years, don’t expect them to give you a job. Please don’t make this mistake. Actively reach
out to DM and let him know you’re a fourth year and you’re interested in staying with the company early
in the year. If you really want to stand out, ask him if there are any important skills or things you should
try to learn on rotation.
• Make sure to keep your online identity clean. Google yourselves. Be careful with Reddit and what you post.
People will google you. So be careful, please.

Networking takes courage and confidence. But you have to go out and get the job you want. So, send an email.
❖ Think of it like this
o They don’t respond -> it is ok. You are no worse off than you were before sending the email, in fact you’re
in the exact same situation.
o They respond -> You made an opportunity for yourself!
❖ A great book that has some great networking letters is Knock ‘em Dead: Cover Letters8.

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Miscellaneous APPE Tips

• If you use UptoDate, instead of referencing UptoDate, reference the specific article they pulled.
• Buy a review book early. Will, help you for topic discussions, review material. If someone has the PDF version,
even better.
• Reflect Weekly: Keep journal of your interactions.
• Make checking blogs a 30-minute part of your week. NEJM -> Health Care blogs -> Healthcare trends. [Lifelong
learner]
o Read some White Papers. A great one to read is Getting the Medication Right. A Nationwide Snapshot of
Expert Practices.
• Be aware of HIPPA, be very careful about taking patient information home. Try to black out any HIPPA info.
Organizations and preceptors take this seriously.
• Say Good Morning. Look at people in their eyes when you walk down the hallway.
• Try to build a positive relationship with your preceptor. (Put effort into getting to know them)
• Bring mid-morning snack. (You’re not you when your Hungry)
• Is there a current resident? Learn from them. Ask them to take a look over your draft. They are usually very willing
to provide you information. If you want to be the next resident, do as the resident does.
• When writing reports or giving presentations use Calibri font. It’s clean and my personal favorite.
• Ask great questions.
o Can make you stand out.
• If you are with fellow UNTHSC student and they are about to give a presentation, ask them if there is a question
you would like them to ask.
• To Develop your writing skills. Practice, Practice and Practice! You can only get better at writing by rewriting and
rewriting.
• Know your patients. Dig deep in patient charts if need be. Be thorough but don’t spend too much time. This is a
skill that becomes easier the more patient charts you see.
• Write clear and concise memo’s, emails, letters, and reports. Outline your main points.
o Doctors and directors have limited time, they do not want to read too much.
o Be mindful of your tone.
o Before sending, go back and edit your work. Attention to detail.
• Doing a 10-minute meditation daily is really amazing. Headspace is an app that will guide you through 10 minute
meditations. Its 10 minutes of your day. That shouldn’t be too hard to give and I promise you will feel less stressed
and more focused.
• Buy yourself a small notebook that can fit in your white coat. Don’t take your big binder of notes everywhere.
• CC your preceptor when sending emails.
• If you attend a meeting, bring your laptop and take notes. Send recap to preceptor and let him know he can send it
to everyone if they would like.
• When you give a presentation – Palms up9. (Nonverbal Body Language)

Allan and Barbara Pease, authors of The Definitive Book of Body Language, did an interesting experiment. They asked eight
lecturers to deliver ten-minute talks to various audiences using three different hand gestures. “We later recorded the
attitudes of the participants to each lecturer,”

“We found that the lecturers who mostly used the Palm-Up position received 84 percent positive testimonials from the
participants, which dropped to 52 percent when they delivered exactly the same presentation to another audience using
mainly the Palm-Down position. The Finger-Pointed position recorded only 28 percent positive audience response and
some participants had walked out during the lecture. Finger-pointing not only registered the least amount of positive
responses from the listeners; they could also recall less of what the speaker had said.”

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Student Downfalls
• Student and Preceptor have different set of expectations. This is the danger of not having introductory session
with preceptor. Many don’t so request it if need be.
o Why it is super important to have a 30-minute introduction discussion with preceptor talking about goals
for rotations and expectations.
o Correct expectations verbally
• Being cold, arrogant and insensitive to others.
• Betraying preceptor trust.
o Leaving site early.
o Saying you interviewed 8 patients when you only did 4.
• Not thinking strategically.
o Won’t get the most out of your rotation.
• Not adapting to pharmacist/preceptor that has a different style.
• Being overly dependent on preceptor or extremely independent.
o Try to find a good balance. Try to find if there is a certain time that works best for your preceptor. Go to
your preceptor during those times.
• Not preparing for topic discussions. Will be pretty obvious to preceptor. Just takes 3 good questions from
preceptor to see if you are prepared.
• Turning work in without letting preceptors see it.
• Lack of Motivation
• Lack of Focus
o May find yourself juggling responsibilities and desires. Have to choose between doing something
necessary for their pharmacy education and something at home–or something they want to do for fun.
o Be careful using your mobile device
• Plagiarism - You guys have worked so hard, don’t let something stupid like copying and pasting take you down.
Make sure to give credit when credit is due. Best practice is just to try and rewrite it in your own words. It’s ok for
it to not sound as good. At times if someone has written it so well, that you don’t want to change it. Make sure to
put in quotes and reference.
o I feel as if not properly referencing is a lack of effort. It’s usually the last thing you do and so it’s hard to
want to go back and add all in the references.
o A good practice is to reference as you go or as you are reading the paper. That way you only touch the
paper once, you don’t have to go back and find the paper to reference it.
o Don’t let not properly referencing ruin all the hard work you have done. Your preceptor and school won’t
take oh I didn’t know as an excuse.
• Being overconfident
o If you don’t know. Better just not to give an answer. But that you can look it up.
• Not taking accountability.
• Not asking any questions, or asking too many questions.
o Remember, it’s a balance. 2-3 good questions are a good goal.
• Being not interested in the area your currently on rotation. For example, you know you want to go in the hospital
and so you are not interested in learning a lot about community.
o Please, please, please do not do this. I am telling you this for your own good. This will come down on
you like a ton of bricks. Preceptors can get upset and they might not want to teach you anymore.
o A better response might be “Ya I feel as if I am interested in going to the hospital, but I feel as if there are
a lot of things here that I can learn and apply to hospital practice.

The book Getting Started as a Pharmacy Preceptor10 has a good run through of what student’s mistakes are on rotations. It
is available through the UNTHSC Library and ApHA.

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Residency Tips
• Start planning right now.
o Get the formatting down now for your CV so that way you can just add your rotation experiences.
• Be deliberate for Letters of Recommendation. You need strong Letters of Recommendations.
o Target what rotations would best help you for the type of Residency you are applying for. Go all out on
these rotations. Make sure to ask early so they have enough time to write you a great letter.
▪ I asked my Medication Therapy Management Preceptor, Formulary Management Preceptor and
the great Dr. White.
• Start your Letter of Intent extremely early. Have lots of people look at it. The more people look at it, the better
it will get. I went through 42 drafts before I was happy with my Letter.
o Develop a base letter and then you can tailor it to the Individual site.
▪ Make sure to do research on the program and tailor it to the site. If they feel as if it is a generic
letter, they will throw it out. They want personal, specific letters about why you think their site is
a great match for you.
o Read a lot of Letter of Intents. There are a lot online. Imagine you’re the director and your reading a
letter of Intent. You will be able to tell a good letter from a bad letter.
o When drafting, print the letter out and read it out loud. I also liked making changes on the paper.
• Show extra effort and initiative on Rotations.
o “You can’t teach effort”. - Michael Mcmillan
o If you have a 3.0-3.5 GPA, it is especially important that you have strong performance on Rotations.
• Start thinking about how to sell yourself.
o Ask yourself one interview question a day. Start looking at interview questions now so you can gain
experiences to talk about at the interview.
o Writing out answers is fine, but you need to be able to adjust to the interview questions. The true skill of
interviewing comes when you can adjust the answer you wrote down to the question they asked.
o I recommend you make an Interview Playbook. I will add this in workbook. This helped me because I
could just look down based on the question and tell that story.
▪ Some experiences might be more relevant to certain programs. So, make sure to tailor your
interview to the program.
• If you really want to get a residency, you have to be committed. Make sure to apply to enough programs the first
time around where you get enough interviews.
o 1st round - I applied to 4 sites and received 3 interviews.
o 2nd round - I applied to 7 sites and received 6 interviews.
• I didn’t match the first round and it was the biggest punch in the gut I have ever had.
o Looking back, I felt as if I was a strong interviewer and applicant. I just might not have been their top
choice. If there is only 1 spot, you can only be one or two on their rank list most likely.
o I think that talks about how competitive it is, and so really make sure to get as many interviews as
possible the first round. This is the best way to increase your probability to match.
• If you don’t match, I won’t lie, it is very hard. So here are my recommendations,
o Cry it out for one day. After that lose the tears, you have work to do.
o I actually asked the sites I interviewed at for feedback and they gave me great feedback that really
helped me for the next round.
o You have to have this unwavering belief in yourself and your purpose. It’s really hard but you have to
tell yourself you can. I’m really proud of my persistence. Everything happens for a reason.
o It’s really important to have someone to support you through this time.
▪ I am so thankful for Dr. White who was such great support. She really helped me with my
mindset and positivity and for that I am eternally grateful.
o Write a plan for next year for yourself after round 1. For example, mine was
▪ Plan A - Match during round 2.
▪ Plan B - Do Not Match. Live at home and work at CVS for the year paying off as much of my
school loans as possible. Then reapply again next year.
• While you wait for the match to run - Stay busy! Don’t think about it. It’ll make the time go by slightly faster.
• Ask for Match day off! Also make sure to tell your preceptor about possible interview days very early.

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Who you are, isn’t who you will be.

Throughout school, I have always thought to myself How can I make a difference? How can I make an impact? I asked
myself those same questions before I went onto each rotation. I asked myself that same question as I was reflecting over
last year. I wanted to share these tips and concept while they were fresh on my mind. I hope this document makes a
difference to you guys and helps you in developing a great mindset, a plan for growth and some motivation to go out and
make the most out of rotations. Here’s my final motivational quote for you 😊

“Have your long-term purpose and pursue it with passion because it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. Challenge
yourself to go beyond your current level, looking for opportunities to grow your skills and abilities.

Persist in the face of difficulties, put in the hard work, and finish what you start. It's inevitable that you will stumble, make
mistakes, and experience disappointments. Everyone does. Don't let the failures stop you. Bounce forward from the
setbacks. Reaffirm your purpose. Declare what you want. Maintain your focus. Stay positive. Strengthen your resilience,
and transform adversities into learning possibilities. Success comes to those who stick with their future, day in, day out, not
just for the week, not just for the month, but also for years, working really hard to make that future a reality.

To become the best, you have to believe you can. You need a set of values and a vision that are greater than you are, and
you need to think long term. Aspire to excel because you have the power and capacity to be exemplary, and you need to
believe that deep down. Do not let anyone tell you anything different” 5

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Sample questions for Preceptor on First Day

• How did you get started in this healthcare organization? What do you like about working here?
• What made you get involved as a preceptor?
• Where did you graduate?
• What do you like about the job the most?
• What would you consider to be the most important aspects of this job?
• What are some challenges of the position?
• Do you expect me to lead the topic discussion or you?
• When do you expect responses? How to communicate, email, text? Actually, put preceptors phone # in cell phone.
• What would you say are the top two personality traits someone needs to do this job well?
• What separates high performing students from others?
• How do you give feedback and how often?
• Knowing that you can be busy, what is the best time to come to you with questions?
• What are some of the challenges students have on this rotation?
• Starting tomorrow, what are the top priorities on my to do list?
• What specific responsibilities/rotations do I have?
• What are your expectations of me?
• Want opportunities to learn, how committees work, reports
• What would you say your most excited about in your life right now?
• What’s the WIFI password?
• What electronic resources are available here?
• What would you consider success on this rotation?
• What characteristics do people who are successful in this setting have? What are they good at doing?

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Developing a Strategic Plan for your Pharmacy Career

The goal of this worksheet is to help you develop a strategic plan for your future. It should help identify your future goals
and what skills you need to learn on rotation to get your dream job. It should also help in developing your emotional
intelligence and improve your awareness of your abilities and purpose in life.

List and prioritize the skills, behaviors, and values that best capture the essence of your ideal self. What kind of pharmacist
and person do you want to be known for?

Close your eyes and imagine yourself in the future practicing as a pharmacist, but imagine the very best version of yourself!
You practicing at the top of your pharmacy license doing whatever your passionate about. Are you working as a pharmacist
in a hospital or an ambulatory clinic, are you the manager of a local retail pharmacy, are you the director of pharmacy at a
health plan or a managed care pharmacist, are you teaching at a College of Pharmacy? Write down your vision for yourself!

What skills/behaviors/experiences does your dream job/residency require? Browse job applications and ASHP competency
areas for PGY-1 residencies. Write those skills down here.
Examples: Excellent Medical Literature Retrieval and Evaluation Skills, Strong Organizational and Documentation Skills,
Demonstrated Leadership Skills, Attention to Detail, Effective Verbal and Written Communication Skills, Experience
Teaching, Board Certified, Efficient Use of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

Which of the skills, behaviors, and values have you identified for further professional development? How can you gain or
grow and develop these skills during rotations?

What makes you different from others with whom you have worked?

What do you see as your four most defining transferable skills and professional values and how does each help your
performance?

How do your most defining professional traits help you contribute to the team?

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Why do you stand out in your job/profession?

If you realize you don’t stand out and you want to, explain in a few sentences why the people you admire stand out. What
plans do you have for change?

In what ways are you better than others at your workplace who hold the same title?

What excites you most about being a pharmacist? Is there anything you’re really excited about it the next 10 years?

What are your biggest achievements in these areas?

What do your peers say about you?

What would past bosses say about you?

What are things do you get distracted by and what things take away your time?
Examples: (ESPN, Video games, over-sleeping, poor planning, lack of self-discipline, unclear goals, procrastination, social
media, conflicting priorities, negative attitudes, online shopping)

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

I enjoy spending my free time doing… (Work life balance)

What are your top three professional skills?

Skills: Quantifiable achievements with this skill:

What are your top three Leadership skills?

Skills: Quantifiable achievements with this skill:

What gives you greatest satisfaction in the work you do?

What value does your combination of transferable skills, professional values, and achievements enable you to bring to your
targeted future employer? (retail pharmacy, Health System or University)

Compile list of Recommendations. Write down any names that would be willing to give you a positive recommendation.
Have you talked with this person recently?

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Rotation Goals and Objectives

Please state 5 personal goals you would like to achieve during this rotation. After each goal, list at least one thing that you
are planning to do during the rotation to help achieve this goal. Bring to preceptor. (From David Banks)

Goal # 1:

Goal # 2:

Goal # 3:

Goal # 4:

Goal # 5:

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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.
July 4th -July 10th
Weekly Review - Ambulatory Care APPE
Goals
Milestones accomplished
the week of [Select Start
Date] - [Select End Date]:
Challenges:
Milestones planned for
next week:
Areas/questions for
discussion:
Habits I’m focused on
developing
• Use each interaction as an opportunity to gain new knowledge
• Acquire and Apply the knowledge and Clinical skills required to provide high quality patient
and pharmaceutical care.
• Practice and enhance my Motivational Interviewing
• Shadowed Claire at TOC, Stop Six & Polytechnic Clinic
• Led 1st anticoagulation follow up visit with patient
• Participated in Anticoagulation Topic Discussion
• Practiced and presented multiple patients to Claire.
• Met with Kim to lay out Plan for Drug Class Review
• Revise my approach to Anticoagulation visits. Try not to ask so many open-ended questions.
• Put new approach to patient visits into action.
• Go deeper into Patient Cases when presenting. Think three steps ahead when writing
assessment and plan.
• Become more familiar with EPIC
• Finish Anticoagulation Topic Discussion and start Diabetes Topic Discussion
• Can facilities upload patient’s labs through framework?
• Think workflow. What tasks would a technician need to do to help the pharmacist not have to
spend the most time.
• Active Listening
• Repeating Back
• Use patient’s names in conversations.
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Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

References and Recommended Reading List

1. Malandro, Loretta. Speak Up, Show Up, and Stand Out. McGraw-Hill Education. 2015.
2. Ferriss, Tim. Tools of Titans. The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionares, Icons and World-Class Performers.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. 2017
3. Maxwell, John. The 15 invaluable Laws of Growth: Live Them and Reach Your Potential. Hachette Book Group. 2012
4. Bennington, Emily; Lineberg, Skip. Effective Immediately: How to Fit In, Stand out, and Move Up at Your First Real
Job. Crown Publishing Group. 2010
5. Kouzes, James; Posner, Barry. Learning Leadership: The 5 Fundamentals of becoming an Exemplary Leader. A Wiley
Brand. 2016
6. Cardone, Grant. The 10x Rule: The Only Difference between Success and Failure. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2011.
7. Maxwell, John. Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently. Yates and
Yates. 2010
8. Yate, Martin. Knock em’ Dead Cover Letters. 12th Edition. Adams Media. 2016
9. Pease, Barbara; Pease, Allan. The Definitive Book of Body Language: The Hidden Meaning Behind People’s Gestures
and Expressions. Bantam. 2006
10. Doty, Randell. Getting Started as a Pharmacy Preceptor. American Pharmacist Association. (2011)
Other Books I Recommend You Read before Rotations

1. Lowndes, Linda. How to Talk to Anyone. 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships.
2. Schlimm, Dirk. Influencing Powerful People. Engage and Command the Attention of Decision Makers to get what
you need to Succeed.
3. Lomenick, Brad. Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle.
4. Carnegie, Dale. Leadership Mastery. How to Challenge Yourself and Others to Greatness.
5. Kerpen, Dave. The Art of People: 11 Simple People Skills that Will get you Everything You Want.

1. Soric, Mate. Maximize your Rotations. ASHP’s Student Guide to IPPEs, APPEs and Beyond.
2. Caballero, Joshua; Clauson, Kevin. Benavides, Sandra. Get the Residency: ASHP’s guide to Residency Interviews and
Preparation.
3. Apple, Alison L... The Maturation of Postgraduate Pharmacy Training." Roadmap to Postgraduate Training in
Pharmacy Eds. P. Brandon Bookstaver, et al. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2013,
• Available in UNTHSC Library on Access Pharmacy

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 Mehdi’s Tips for Success on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

Interview Playbook

Accomplishments
Communication Skills ISPOR/AMCP Organization’s Values
Patient Counseling Competition • Research Panel Integrity
CVS - Patient Care Que (PCQ) Calls • Professional Photo Fundraiser Collaboration
MTM Rotation - contacting caregivers through phone • Speaker Series Community
JPS - face to face patient interactions Patient Counseling Competition Stewardship
Internal Medicine- multidisplinary team rounds Student Leadership Academy
Research Presentation & Podium presentations Smartphone Workshop
Phi Lambda Sigma
5-10 Years;
Strengths
Contributing to white papers
Self-Motivated, Team Player, Reliable,
Become a preceptor and mentor.
Innovative thinker, strategic, Like to
Coping with Change read, Patient Care
New Rotations. Weakness -hyper focus
Preceptors
CVS Passion to help others and go above
AW - Passionate, loves to teach and
Starting Pharmacy School and beyond to see whole team succeed
grow people. So supportive. Great
Leadership Qualities
writing and strategic planning skills
Handling Criticism - Easier to become better with good Awareness, Empathy, Inspiration,
DB, Very organized. Made P& T
honest feedback Accountability, Follow through
packets. Eye for detail
Vision, Strategic Planning board games.
JN-Very caring. Great first rotation
Taking initiative - research project preceptor. Ambitious Listening, Positive, Integrity, High
FM- Professional, Great Public speaker, Ideals
good ideas, innovative Grow others, Being team lead
Skills Resident should possess= Good
Time management, Self-awareness.
Commitment to improve, Leadership
Dealing with Conflict
Research Project - Better setting deadlines
CVS- patients whose prescriptions were not there. Lessons
Pharmacist that would just verify. Not help in any other ISPOR/AMCP Research
way • Research Panel Pharmacy HIT
Caregiver Survey - • Professional Photo Fundraiser Mobile health
JPS - face to face patient interactions • Speaker Series Enhance Medication Adherence,
Internal Medicine- multidisplinary team rounds Patient Counseling Competition improve patient engagement
Student Leadership Academy
Research Presentation & Podium presentations
Smartphone Workshop
Phi Lambda Sigma

Creativity Open Communication - Patient

Insurscan Listening, Acknowledging, Recognize, Technical Knowledge and Skills
Question, Reflect Research, Microsoft word, PowerPoint,
ISPOR Health Newsletter
Excel -MTM graphs
Mobile Health Workshop
Epic, Outcomes, Mirixa
ApHA Video-whats your why Provider Communication
Pretty good with computers
Respect, listen, Repeat, Share, be open

Patient Care

COPD -MR W

Most significant interaction

MTM - Patient with HF, HTN mood disorder. Admitted to
hospital. DC without furosemide or potassium. Called Doctor
for caregiver. Got ahold of dr.
Going above and beyond
-Staying late with patient to fill his med box. Medication
regimen too complex

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