Warren’s pharmacy teams up with University of Wyoming

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jason Wiese
  • 90th Missile Wing Public Affairs
F. E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. --  The F. E. Warren pharmacy provides an internship opportunity to students from the University of Wyoming. The pharmacy benefits from the up-to-date knowledge of the soon-to-be pharmacists while the students fulfill degree requirements.

"We have an agreement with the University of Wyoming," said Capt. Kyla Holmes, 90th Medical Group staff pharmacist. "When students are in their last week of school, they can do their clinical rotations here."

One such intern is Adrianna Lindgren, University of Wyoming pharmacy student.

"We have to spend four weeks at different pharmacies to gain intern experience," she said.

The pharmacy leadership provides many tasks for her, she explained.

"They have me working the out-window, answering phones and faxes and filling prescriptions," she said.

Lindgren, who has worked in multiple pharmacies, described her experiences working in the Warren pharmacy.

"It's really organized," she said. "Everyone here has been really helpful with my questions. Also, I think patients here are more consistently offered counsel [about their medications] than at other places."

Another requirement of the interns is they must give a presentation to the clinic staff, Lindgren said.

The presentation is on pharmacological topics such as preventing prescription error or new medications. Since the students are new to the field of pharmacology, they have a current education they can pass on in their presentation, Holmes said.

"It's a way of keeping the clinic up-to-date," she added. "It also helps the students get more comfortable with public speaking."

Although the students possess a current education, they are still in training, and the pharmacy staff takes measures to ensure the quality of each filled prescription, Holmes said.

"They're always under supervision of the pharmacists," she reassured. "They're never the last one to look at a prescription before it goes out the window."

The students require extra supervision, but they also make contributions to the pharmacy.
"They help out the pharmacy a lot," Holmes said. "They are able to do almost everything the pharmacists here do. They're able to help at the window, fill prescriptions, counsel patients and catch interactions with other medications that may come up.

"Since they're helping out the pharmacy and getting their degree, it's mutually beneficial."