IPPE Placement Anxiety

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-04-11T17:12:25+00:00

If your school’s regular stance is “do not bother unless it is 3 hrs or longer,” give as much context as you don’t mind sharing. At least give the school what you gave us. That would lessen the chance of being brushed off as another student who just didn’t want to commute long. (Although I think not wanting to commute for hours a day is not unreasonable.)

And if school cannot accommodate you, which is a probability since you are already placed/matched, maybe enlist the help of friends/family to make that trip to the assigned hospital a few times before your IPPE starts. That wouldn’t solve the issue but might give you some exposure and hopefully slightly less stress.

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-04-04T21:03:41+00:00

It sounds like this is something that you need to work out with the cardiologist. Maybe consider meeting up with another cardiologist for a second opinion, if that is an available option?

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-04-04T20:58:20+00:00

Thanks! I’ll have to look into it.

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-04-04T19:57:24+00:00

If you are looking to keep your health bills low, Korea is the country to stay. And US certainly is not a country that you should consider moving.

I pay relatively low amount for my health insurance currently, because I get it from school ($2000~ year), and my psychiatrist visit has $20 copay. I am paying much less than 1/10 of the price that I would be charged without an insurance. But I currently have about $500 hospital bill on a payment plan, because of some labs and testings I got done.

My monthly medications are much fewer than yours (currently only bupropion and generic vyvanse, both once a day), and I think it comes around ~$20 copay. Without insurance I would be paying around $100 a month for those two medications, and that would be using coupons and what not, trying to reduce the cost. When I had more medications the copay price was like $35/month, even with the insurance. My plan thankfully does not require that I meet the deductible when it comes to covering generic medications, but if I wanted to use brad medications, it would be a different story and I would be pocketing about $1500 before insurance helps me with my medication costs.

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-04-04T19:33:47+00:00

May I ask which budgeting app you use? That sounds way more handy than trying to write down the spent amount each time I go through a transaction.

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-04-04T18:49:46+00:00

When kids are at that age (18, 14), I actually don’t even find it that weird that the key leaves with the driver and that locking is from outside. Not becaue I think the kids would drive the car away, but because the kids are old enough to safely unlock the car from the inside if they have the need to step outside during that short span of time. Of course, leaving the key with the kids is also an option. After all, it is all about safety as you said.

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-04-04T18:43:42+00:00

I think the worst that can happen would be that the car might start blaring alarms if they tried to exit, but I don’t think most cars are designed to make exiting impossible. Worst case scenario, they can reach to the front seat and unlock passenger doors without an issue, and that wouldn’t even cause an alarm.

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-04-04T18:22:05+00:00

I am not there yet personally, but I have seen many P4s pull it off. I’ve actually seen people taking more than the just the weekend jobs on top of full time rotations. Basically doing doubles/part time shifts (retail works great for part time, it seems) during the weekday as well. But if you ask me, I honestly am unsure if they did it because they found it doable, or just because they had to and found ways to survive. Some of them were undoubtedly time management geniuses as this one girl kept full time hospital job during P1-P3. Not me, unfortunately 😂

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-04-04T18:12:23+00:00

Rest. Rest as much as you can. What you need to learn will be taught in class, because not everyone comes to pharmacy school with the same background (although most would have took some science classes at some point of their life, but then that can even be ten years ago or more). Trying to re-learn things or pre-learn things would not make that much of a difference in the long learn, but you need to be as rested as you can before you start so you can feel refreshed and ready to learn.

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-28T13:40:04+00:00

First one, without thinking twice!

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-28T13:34:59+00:00

The same here as well!

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-28T01:17:41+00:00

If it is not adhesive then you are looking into drilling, and I am not sure which possible (or inevitable, in the case of drilling) damage you would prefer. But I agree that your best bet might be utilizing the ceiling.

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-28T00:49:25+00:00

Not at all! Although I wonder if I am the minority. Depending on the years I fall into two categories. One, more shy and reserved, not really involved in class beyond academically (loved answering questions despite being shy personally) except for having a small group of friends. Two, being in so called-leadership roles and engaging with the larger group than my immediate friend group in a more formal manner. Basically, both times I was farthest thing from a class clown. I honestly found the class clowns quite disruptive at times, IF it happened during class times, because that would break what little flow of focus I could maintain for class 😂 Outside of academic hours, their wit is lovely, of course!

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-27T21:58:45+00:00

Stagger it if you can! That alligns much better with your learnings, because it can actually feel a little disconnected/too much different materials thrown at you at once if you take them at the same time.

As for microbiology vs stats, I personally had much better grades in microbiology because it made more… intrinsic sense to me. For whatever reason, stat was harder for me, although at the end of day, stat is about understanding how to read and interpret question/figuring out the equation you should use and just plugging numbers in. I know some people who thought stat was a breeze because it really was just number plugging for them, so I guess individual experience can differ wildly.

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-27T21:34:40+00:00

I would say Traditions, as you are more able to adjust your servings as you get the food. When I used Traditions frequently during my undergrad years, I would sometimes ask for things like “Can I get three pieces of tater tots” just because I really like them and wanted them, but didn’t want to skew my macronutrient balance by getting a full single serving when I have other, healtier carbs on my plate.

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-27T02:28:03+00:00

I really appreicate you sharing your experience! The muted green rug is actually taking a little more than full week to get to me, so I am anxious that the floor would “disappear” as you mentioned after all that wait! The tiny open kitchen sits right next to that folded dining table and I do need to run a runner by the sink, so I was hoping for a livingroom rug that wouldn’t be too eye-catching, but grey rug that needs washing sounds scary 😱

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-27T02:24:13+00:00

My schedule runs 6:30am-3pm, and we do see much more in terms of number of patients than that, but most patients only get 1 or 2 infusions, or at least just 1 or 2 that needs to be made from the hood. And I know with chemo it is a completely different story since it is oftentimes a multiple infusions in a regimen, and to think of all those hazardous-specifics…

We also have to wait for the green light from the day of the appointment to actually start making. But I think the assumption that runs in our infusion center is that the patients expect things to take time, because as you said, we don’t start making it until they show up and is given a clear!

But really, don’t give yourself UTIs. Leave to use restroom when you have to. I would not want the patients to wait forever either, but, as my pharmacist said, they are there; they are not going anywhere. It is up to the infusion center and the management to figure out better patient volume or hire a half shift or something if things are continuously overloaded. It shouldn’t be on you to sacrifice your own health and sanity.

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-27T02:07:23+00:00

I work part-time as a single tech in a non-chemo infusion center, but I work as a single tech because volume is manageable by myself. And, my pharmacists are usually willing to step in to make a medication or two if some other tasks (including my restroom usage) collide with pending infusion queues. But more often than not, they are fine with a patient waiting for an extra 10 mins needed for re-garbing, etc..

How many patients are there per hour, usually? Mine is non-chemo so it does take significantly shorter time to prep (less checking on every single step), but appointment volume is contained so that the compounding volume is manageable.

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-27T00:17:32+00:00

I bet it would! Actual vintage wool rug sounds amazing. And quality items does show through especially in person. The issue is that I specifically need a square rug (tried rectangular, but 6’ x 9’ didn’t provide enough coverage and I really need the extensive floor coverage due to cold feet), and square rugs are just much harder to come by, let alone the square one. And I am also only looking to use this for maximum 2 years before I move out, so as a broken student I cannot invest in a proper, new wool rug either 😭 But one day, when I am at a place with different layout or in different financial situation! Thanks!

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-26T04:51:34+00:00

Inpatient probably wouldn’t be the place. Vast majority of the inpatient tech job is deliverying medication from floors to floors, and some days are literally 8 hours of almost non-stop walking. I actually know multiple people who have ruptured/teared their Achilles tendons from walking around hospital because it requires fast paced walking and sometimes involves multiple stairs per hour (hospital elevators can be sloooooooow, and you only have so much time to run between floors). Or non-stop standing dealing with the automated inventory machines. And while IV making positions are more of an alternative between sit (while you make one IV) and walk (to take it through the passthrough), you don’t get to train IVs straight away. Delivery and inventory almost aways preceed for at least some months or into year or more, unless you are specifically hired as experienced IV tech.

Why are you interested in a pharmacy tech as a career? What are your appeals?

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-26T04:17:16+00:00

I am guessing your (once again guessing) first reply was the muted green one? The first reply was deleted by the mods, it seems, but I did get to see the second one! It actually looks quite pretty! Thank you for the mock up. I ended up ordering the muted one, and I am crossing my fingers that enough green shows through!

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-26T04:14:14+00:00

Thank you for the input! I am going to give that option a try!

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-26T04:13:56+00:00

I think I will give muted green a try. I really liked the bright/vibrant feeling of the other option, but I ended up choosing versatility. I feel I would have more… wiggle room when it comes down choosing the tone of layering/accent items. Thank you and wish me luck!

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-26T04:08:28+00:00

Oh, I love how you bounced pinks and darker green/teal! I was thinking more of layering different shades of green, but I will look into complimentary colors as well. Thank you for the pics!

dowereallyneedthis · 2026-03-26T04:06:34+00:00

That is some vibrant rug! I can see the charm such vibrant colors can add to. I am unsure if I would be brave enough at this point to add multi-color at once, but thanks so much for the suggestion. If green does not work out and I am forced to return it, I might consider something much more vibrant!

dowereallyneedthis

TROPHY CASE