It doesn't seem that long ago that I was a pharmacy student. But actually it was a long time ago, as I graduated the same year Claritin was first introduced to the prescription drug market (you can look it up if you want).

I guess time flies when you're having fun. Nevertheless, I can still remember the fears and excitement of going on pharmacy rotations and learning new things, which would eventually enhance my career as a pharmacist.

Maybe it's these memories of my time in pharmacy school and the interesting working environments to which I was exposed that drew me to want to be a pharmacy preceptor. I now have the honor and privilege of working with both APPE and IPPE students who, those several decades later, still have mostly the same sort of questions, ideas and concerns.

Having worked as a preceptor for nearly a decade, and in more than one workplace, I feel inclined to share a few thoughts about this experience with my fellow pharmacists.

Being a preceptor is often a humbling experience. It is tough to stay sharp on areas of pharmacy practice that are not a part of your immediate day-to-day setting. I would love to be able to answer every question my students have, but sometimes we find ourselves looking up the answers together.

There are topics on which I can talk extensively. But there are also always new drugs and new indications about which I need to read up as much as my students.

Just this week I've had several interesting discussions with my students (in between filling prescriptions) on topics as diverse as enoxaparin dosing, counseling on OTC stool softeners, dealing with mentally unstable patients and the what 340B pricing system is all about. Additionally, we talked about a newly released medication for elevated cholesterol, and I demonstrated how to use a new inhaler for asthma.

I manage an outpatient pharmacy located inside a hospital. We focus on the importance of transitioning patients from hospital to home, and ensuring they have the medications they need and education necessary to improve their health.

There are so many different career paths for pharmacists today, so it is a privilege to expose students to a workplace they might not otherwise get to learn about. I'm grateful to show them a setting that can be both personally rewarding and professionally challenging.

Of course, being a preceptor isn't always easy or convenient. As I explain to all my students, we are a live, functioning, hard-working pharmacy, and some days will be downright tough. There is also homework to assign and training that needs to be done.

Incorporating new students every 4-6 weeks into our workflow can be challenging. But overall the benefits far outweigh the difficulties, and I'm glad to invite pharmacy students into our hospital on a regular basis.

Sometimes I'm asked what I think the strengths and weaknesses of our pharmacy students today are. That is a tough question, and probably impossible to answer in any sort of comprehensive way. All students have their own strengths and weaknesses, and part of doing these rotations is to help them discover their weaknesses and work on them.

In general, I would say the students I have worked with are better at research and clinical decision-making today than years ago. Likewise, I would say areas that need more work for most students are things such as verbal communication, confidence and patient counseling. These take time to develop.

If I have any regrets about serving as a preceptor, it would probably be that I have less time to work closely with my students than I would often like. It would be great to have 40 hours per week to just explain everything that is going on in the pharmacy, answer questions, research new drugs and practice counseling. But real life pharmacy businesses don't work like that.

I would love to hear some comments from other preceptors or students about their experiences. I feel like I still have a lot to learn as a teacher. I am privileged to work with a great staff that is supportive of welcoming new students into our family for a while.

And if you are a pharmacist who has thought about being a preceptor, I would warmly invite you to look into it further. We are all students, and we are all teachers. Being a preceptor allows me to be both.