Rachel Douglas, a current P4 student and upcoming Class of 2020 graduate was on her experiential learning rotation at Excela Westmoreland when news of COVID-19 began popping up in public health news. Rachel’s description of her experience is as follows:
“I was lucky enough to work alongside my preceptor, Nicholas Zaksek PharmD and a team of others to help build a treatment algorithm for possible scenarios of COVID-19 patient encounters based on studies done in the countries hit by the virus before the United States. The pharmacy team at Excella allowed me finish my rotation.
Since then, she has volunteered to stay working in data analytics capacities to help her team effectively react to the ever-changing pandemic. She has used her informatics background to organize reports on useful therapies for front-line healthcare workers battling the pandemic.
In Rachel’s own words:
“This experience allowed me to feel like I am making an impact on patient care in an unprecedented time. Learning more about the virus and possible treatment strategies has lessened the fear for me.”
