The Rotation Files, the rotation schedule

Dear taxpayers,

The deadline has deemed and passed. I hope you didn't put up the frivolous argument that you weren't obligated to pay your taxes because you are a resident of the great nation of Texas and not of the United States. The tax-man wouldn't like that very much. There's a whole friggin section on the IRS website about arguments that won't fly, and I think I'd tango with Satan before I'd ever mess with the IRS.

Did you follow my money-making scheme about the IRA? Sure, millions of people could be wrong in using it, but then maybe you could be the wrong one in not using it (I'm sure this is a logical fallacy, but I can't quite put my finger on it). Don't worry--you can contribute for 2010 while the pretty graphs on morningstar point to the up and right, which is generally regarded as a good sign. Even though the money behind it is just a figment of our imagination, it's always nice to have pleasant dreams instead of nightmares.
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Right about this time, my comrades have received their rotation schedules for their final year of pharmacy school (Woohoo!). The elation or pain of having received or not received their first picks have set in. So here's a couple of thoughts I have about the schedule, now that I've turned my vinyl over to the B-side:

Things change. Don't get too attached to your schedule if you're loving it. Don't start making babies with that piece of paper, because after all, it is still a piece of paper. And paper has a habit of changing on you (think about the varying value of the US dollar). Preceptors leave their jobs, they have babies (not with paper), they decide they don't want you*, etc. I think it might be safe to make living arrangements, but that's as far as that goes.

Things don't change except for good reason. Rotations can break up with you; you cannot break up with rotations. It's like the biblical days when the man could give his wife a certificate of divorce but not the other way around. Sorry--you're pretty much stuck with the cards you're dealt (excuse the cliche). Crying has helped in rare occasions, but it's generally regarded as a bad move.

The retail giants for the community rotation aren't automatically bad. Some of the best preceptors work in the busiest stores. And some of the worst preceptors work in the slowest stores. It depends more on your preceptor than the company you're stuck with.

Be careful when discussing your experiences. More for later once after you had a few rotations, but never ever speak ill of any preceptor even in confidence with a friend (saying a rotation is difficult is okay; saying a preceptor is difficult is frowned upon). Pharmacy is a very, very small world, and mouthings-off have a habit of being passed around like nosocomial infections, and like nosocomial infections, they're hard to get rid of.

You can be as clinical (or unclinical) at any rotation. You get what you put into it. Preceptors are disposed to teach you (preceptor certification is voluntary after all). I used a tacky Chinese proverb (don't you find that fortune cookie stuff horribly trite?) in a high school speech: Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself. It applies here even if the quote has the consistency of Cheez-Wiz.

Finally, it will all work out for the best. And if it doesn't, it's only six weeks of your life. To paraphrase another oft-quoted expression**: that which does not kill you only makes you stronger. If you don't learn anything, you will at least learn another method of patient assessment.

It will be okay. Trust me--I'm a doctor.

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*that story is pretty sad. On a sidenote, the Washington Times has a surprising number of ads including distasteful pop-ups.
**Nietzsche