Indiana Veterans Home

Lafayette, IN

Long term care/geriatrics/psychiatry 

Preceptor: Carol Ott, Pharm.D. 

Overview:

The Indiana Veterans Home is a 380-bed facility in West Lafayette, IN which houses members in independent living, partial care, skilled care, and total care.  The advanced clerkship student will encounter many disease states common in geriatric patients as well as psychiatric patients.  The in house pharmacy is open 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday with an on-call pharmacist available 24 hours, 7 days a week. 

Goals and Objectives:

The student may:

1.      Participate in physician rounds

2.      Conduct chart reviews

3.      Present an in-service

4.      Perform pharmacokinetics dosing adjustments

5.      Interpret and follow-up lab values

6.      Perform patient medication objectives

7.      Interview patients about their disease state

8.      Assist with cart fills

9.      Process orders

10.    Sit in on the behavioral health committee

11.    Assist with various projects underway at the time of students clerkship.  The Pharm.D. student is strongly encouraged to select disease states of interest and engage in self directed learning to deepen his or her knowledge of its pathophysiology, presentation, and treatment alternatives.  Special attention should be devoted to the effect of progressing age on those conditions.  These disease states include but are not limited to:  Alzeimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, benign prostatic hyperplasia, congestive heart failure, major depression, and chronic renal failure.  Evaluation will take place on a continuous basis as the student's knowledge and skills grow throughout the rotation and as rotations progress.