Meet Patrick Carnevale, from Hickory, North Carolina. He just completed a rotation experience in pediatric pharmacy at Niswonger Children’s Hospital in Johnson City with Preceptor Dr. Jim Thigpen, Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice.
What does your day look like on rotation?
PC: A typical day starts with me waking up at 6 a.m. to review the patients we have for the day. I make notes on the patients assigned to me including their age, weight, what brings them in, and what medications they are on. I ensure that doses are appropriate and look through the notes to see if anything significant occurred during the night. We meet with Dr. Thigpen at 8:15 a.m. in the morning before rounds to discuss our patients with him in a pre-round. We discuss any noteworthy disease-states, or medications on the patients, and ensure we are ready to round with the medical team. At 9 a.m. rounding begins with the medical team, and we provide recommendations or answer questions for the team as we go in to see the patients. Once rounding is complete, we all convene in the conference room to discuss our patients and discuss any plans for the patients. After ensuring the best care possible, we break for lunch. Our afternoons are filled with a variety of different topic discussions, student presentations, or additional discussion on patients or pediatric disease-state topics.
What is something unique about this rotation you might not experience elsewhere?
PC: A highly-focused insight into pediatric pharmacy. You learn a lot about how the body changes during the aging process! It is a very uplifting atmosphere helping these children and adolescents get back to happy and healthy. Make sure you're up to date on your Disney movies or you might get called out!
What did you learn from this experience?
PC: I learned about a variety of topics. Dr. Thigpen keeps a list of significant pediatric topics in his office to ensure that we cover subjects important to pediatric pharmacy even if we do not see a patient case involving them. Some topics you will see focused heavily on in the hospital include vaccination scheduling, infectious disease, asthma, medication safety, and dosing.
Why did you choose Gatton?
PC: The location on the Veterans Affairs campus was a draw to me, along with Gatton's mission to help the underserved. Veterans served for all of us, so it is only fair that we provide the highest quality care possible to give back.