APPEs at Wind River Wyoming

Rotation: After five short weeks of learning, exploring, and traveling our rotation has come to an end. This was sadly our last week in Wyoming. The clinic activities this week included finishing our Journal Club and presenting it to Katherine and the pharmacy staff. The Journal Club was on the use of Belbuca (buccal buprenorphine) for chronic low back pain in opioid-naïve patients. Presenting this article as a Journal Club sparked lots of conversations about pain management and the complexities of treating chronic pain. We both learned so much about pain management on this rotation from completing this Journal Club and from presenting patients at the Pain Committee Meetings!  During our last week, we also went to the FedEx in Riverton to ship a box of our things home. We had to do this because we both had ordered Halloween costumes that would sadly not fit in our suitcases. Since we flew to Wyoming, we did not want to have to purchase another bag to put these in, so we decided to ...

Rotation: The fourth week of the rotation fell on Halloween! The clinic had a Halloween party where everyone brought food and the pharmacy staff all dressed up in costumes. We decided to be the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who. Katherine and the pharmacy technician Leslie were Bob Ross and Amber, the other pharmacist, was the Happy Tree from Bob Ross’s painting show. Dressing up was so much fun and all the patients loved our outfits! Katherine let us order our costumes to her house because there is a note in the pharmacy school house that says it is best not to order any packages to the house. For the party, we brought pigs-in-a-blanket and Oreo balls. The food was delicious and everyone was in the Halloween spirit!   Picture of Halloween Costumes (Kristin is the Grinch and Anne Thomas is Cindy Lou Who)   On Wednesday, we attended the Pain Committee Meeting and presented two more patients. Getting to attend these meetings was a great experience because we learned so much about pain ma...

Rotation/Weekly Adventures: This week, we continued to dispense medications in the clinic and finished two writing assignments. These writing assignments included the USP <800> Standard Operating Procedure for Hazardous Drugs and a handout on the two RSV monoclonal antibodies/two RSV vaccines that are currently available. On Wednesday, we attended the P&T Committee to present both writing assignments to the other pharmacy staff and the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the Wind River clinics.   We continued to explore different places to eat in Lander. We went to Cowfish for dinner one night and it was very delicious! They have an assortment of different foods, so we were both able to find something we liked. We also went to the Italian restaurant Mulinos! This is also a great choice if you want pasta. They even had a gnocchi dish which was amazing!   At the end of the week, it snowed! It got very cold, but it was fun to experience the snow and the change in season. We ...

Rotation: In the second week of the rotation, we continued to work on various projects that were assigned to us. The first project was putting together a draft of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the Hazardous Drugs that are carried in the three clinics. This is required for all pharmacies who carry hazardous drugs so they can be compliant with the USP 800. The second project was answering a drug information question about the RSV products. We made a handout about the two different monoclonal antibodies that are available for the pediatric population along with information about the two RSV vaccines that are offered for adults. The third project was starting the process of our journal club by gathering potential journal club articles for Katherine to look over. Since we have our Wyoming Intern License, Katherine gave us the opportunity to go to the Riverton Clinic to be able to compare the different clinics. Katherine’s husband Gray works at this location so we got to work wi...

     Fort Washakie, Wyoming is a place unlike any other and the path to get here is no different! Hours of planning, long packing lists, and two hours of sleep made for a slightly hectic but successful trip into Wyoming. Let’s start at the beginning though.  General Packing List (for the colder weather): *The house has a washer and dryer so you can do laundry as needed* Sweaters/Warm Shirts  Jeans Leggings Jackets and Sweatshirts We brought two jackets and two sweatshirts. Scarves, Beanies, Gloves Rotation Clothes/Shoes The dress code is business casual and you can wear jeans on Fridays. Outdoor Clothes This includes any athletic wear that you would want to wear if you do walks, trails, or any hikes. Pajamas Undergarments Socks Bathing Suit Bring a bathing suit if you want to go to the hot springs Boots Tennis Shoes Shoes for trails and hiking  We would recommend shoes with a good grip in case it is icy and slippery. House shoes Toiletries/Laundry Supplies ...

  Thursday:  My mom and fiancé flew into town to spend a long weekend with me in Jackson Hole. Sarah Grace and I took them to Gannet Grill for a burger and look around Lander on Thursday night.  Friday: We headed over to Jackson, taking the route through Grand Teton National Park. We did a short hike near Jackson Lake and stopped by Jenny Lake for the best view of the Tetons!  Saturday: We explored downtown Jackson, did some shopping, took a ride up to the top of the ski slope, ate lunch at Palate overlooking the Elk Conservation and had an amazing dinner at Gather. At Palate, I recommend the caramelized onion grilled cheese. At Gather you have to get the crispy brussel sprouts appetizer and Logan enjoyed the pork shank. We ended our night at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar where they had live music (my mom loved it). It is surprisingly clean but very crowded.  Sunday: We went to the Jackson Art Fair where we bought some locally made jewelry and art prints. We the...