OEE Newsletter - Fall/Winter 2025 Edition

Happy holidays, preceptors! Wishing you and your families a wonderful season and beyond.

Below are a few brief updates!

Call for Availability: If you haven’t yet submitted your APPE/IPPE availability for next year, please do so in CORE ELMS by the end of December. We deeply appreciate your support, whether through rotations, service-learning IPPEs, vaccination and health education events, CV reviews, and more. Your experience and mentorship make an incredible impact on our students.

APPE/IPPE Progress: APPE students will complete their fourth rotation this December and return January 5th for Winter A. Thank you to everyone who participated in our APPE Rotation Fair in early November-it was a valuable opportunity for our P3s as they prepare to select rotations.

Our Summer Block IPPEs were a success. Students completed 67 hospital/health-system and 76 community pharmacy rotations across San Diego County and beyond. The P1 class has also just completed their Fall Longitudinal IPPEs. These experiences allow students to apply material they are learning in the classroom to real world situations – from OTC product selection to patient communication skills. We look forward to your evaluations and feedback.

APPE Wellness Series: Our fifth annual wellness series is underway. During the series, students participate in facilitated small group discussions to reflect on challenges they may face during the APPE year and hear faculty and alumni stories about their failures, successes, resilience, and career journeys. Based on student and facilitator feedback, the series has been reduced from three to two sessions. Session #1 in October focused on embracing imperfections and coping skills. Thank you to all preceptors, residents, and faculty who facilitated. Session #2 will take place on March 6th. We appreciate your support in allowing the P4s attendance.

Next Steps: Many of our APPE students are preparing to apply for residencies, fellowships, and career opportunities and may be seeking advice for this process. We are grateful to our sites and preceptors for their ongoing support and thank you in advance for your support of their career development opportunities. A link to the absence policy can be found here.

Gratitude: Your dedication as preceptors shapes the next generation of pharmacists. We truly value your partnership, your feedback, and your ongoing commitment to experiential education. Thank you for all you do.

UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy is proud to welcome the newest members of our community — the Doctor of Pharmacy Class of 2029!

In September, the Class of 2029 officially began their journey into the profession of pharmacy. Over the coming four years, they will gain the knowledge, skills, and experiences necessary to advance patient care, embrace innovation, and make a meaningful impact in communities across the globe.

To our preceptors: As we begin another exciting academic year, we want to extend our deepest appreciation to each of you for your continued dedication to the education and mentorship of our student pharmacists. Your guidance, expertise, and commitment to excellence are the cornerstone of our experiential education program and play a vital role in shaping the future of the profession.

Left to Right: Juan Toledo (UCSD Health Preceptor), Kimberly Minutella (APPE Student), Kyle Merchant (UCSD Health Preceptor), Cass Le (UCSD Health PGY1 Resident), Christine Vuong (APPE Student)

Megan E. Lang, Pharm.D., BCACP, APh is originally from Festus, Missouri, a small-town south of St. Louis. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy.

Dr. Lang was first introduced to ambulatory care and anticoagulation management during her pharmacy school rotations. She was drawn to the meaningful, longitudinal patient relationships inherent to this practice setting but initially felt uncertain about pursuing residency training. After graduation, she accepted a position with a retail pharmacy chain in the St. Louis area to remain close to family. However, it soon became clear that she needed a role that allowed for deeper patient engagement and greater clinical impact. This realization led her to pursue postgraduate training, and she was subsequently accepted into the PGY-1 Ambulatory Care Residency Program at UC San Diego Health.

Megan has practiced in—and helped lead—the anticoagulation clinic program at UC San Diego Health for nearly 18 years. She continues to find the work deeply rewarding and remains passionate about providing direct patient care. Her role also includes teaching and mentoring students and residents, which she considers an integral and energizing part of the clinic environment. "I absolutely love what I do today just as much as the day I started with the clinic. I feel so lucky to have a role where I get to be in a patient care environment daily. Learners enhance both the care team and patient experience, making the practice setting even more fulfilling."

Thursday, April 23, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. PT

Preceptor Development Program & Annual Preceptor Awards

"Effective Coaching of Trainees"

Kamakshi Rao, PharmD, BCOP, FASHP, FHOPA
Director of Pharmacy, Oncology/Infusion Services (UNC School of Medicine)

As a member of the Class of 2026, Anna has enjoyed her APPE rotations, especially rounding with medical residents during her internal medicine rotation at UCSD Hillcrest. She valued building strong team relationships and contributing to high-quality patient care. She also appreciated her recent experiences at Scripps Encinitas Hospital and the Scripps Osteoporosis Clinic and is looking forward to returning to UCSD Health for her Inpatient Oncology elective before the holidays. After graduation, she plans to pursue a PGY-1 residency in acute care, with interests in oncology, cardiology, and transitions of care.

Recently, Anna and her classmate Jennifer Nguyen represented UCSD at the CSHP Clinical Skills Competition, earning 3rd place among 12 pharmacy schools and advancing to ASHP Midyear. Beyond CSHP, Anna has served on the ASCP executive board for two years, organizing outreach events for older adults and local students. She has also held leadership roles as an SSPPS Student Ambassador and peer tutor. Anna looks forward to graduation and hopes to continue representing UCSD throughout her career.

On November 6, representatives from community, health-system, and industry rotation sites joined us for our annual APPE Rotation Fair. Fifty-one representatives from 35 sites attended, giving the Class of 2026 the opportunity to meet and network with preceptors and site coordinators while learning more about APPE rotation sites. We’re grateful to everyone who participated and are already looking forward to next year’s event!

We had a wonderful time celebrating our incredible students, faculty and staff with some yummy treats and relaxing games. Today and every day we are so proud of your dedication to compassionate patient care, groundbreaking research, community service and state-of-the-art education. The future of pharmacy is bright!

Benefits of being an affiliate include:

Physical and VPN access to the UC San Diego library system
Utilize the UC San Diego shuttle bus service (shuttles serve campus, UC San Diego medical centers and key points off campus)
May be eligible for reimbursement for poster presentations and/or professional meeting registration
Eligible to register for our Preceptor Development Programs, with CAPE or ACPE credit