The internship is the last year (10-1/2 months) of the professional curriculum. It consists of seven six-week rotations. These "capstone" courses provide students with the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills previously acquired through didactic and laboratory classes to actual patient care situations. The internship itself is a learning experience; thus, in order to graduate, you must successfully complete all seven rotations.

For more information on this internship and how it differs from other experiences called "internships", please visit the following web site:

http://www.utexas.edu/pharmacy/students/handbook98/8q_and_a.html#11

• Austin/Temple (some are available in Waco on an elective basis for students assigned to this region)
• Dallas/Fort Worth
• El Paso
• Galveston/Houston
• Rio Grande Valley (Harlingen, McAllen and surrounding communities)
• San Antonio

Currently the only elective region available is Texarkana. Students may spend one to three rotations in this regions, and the remaining rotations in their assigned region. If you are interested in this elective region, please contact Assistant Dean Myhra.

Students are expected to travel between the cities encompassed by the region.

Students may access information on the internship regions at any time by visiting the College's web page; specifically:

http://www.utexas.edu/pharmacy/general/experiential/info/program.html#regions

This section provides direct links to information on each of the regions, as well as e-mail addresses for the regional personnel in case students have questions. It is expected that students will visit these web pages prior to region selection early in the spring semester of the P2 year.

In the fall of your third professional year you will begin to receive information regarding preparation for the internship year. This currently occurs both in writing and as a live session.

Since no one region has the capacity to host all of our pharmacy students, students must be distributed among the regions. However, the College is privileged to be able to take advantage of the numerous pharmacy practice resources available throughout the state.

Region selection (or "the draw") occurs via a computer-generated random number sequencing process which takes into account your region preferences in ranked order. The number of positions in each region may vary from year to year based on available resources determined immediately prior to the draw. Region selection takes place in February of the second professional year. The results of the draw are considered final, and there is no provision for "switching" regions with other students under any circumstances.

A region assignment appeal process is available for students not assigned to their first-choice region, but who have special extenuating circumstances. A College committee consisting of faculty, administrators, and students considers these formal, written appeals and makes a recommendation to the dean on each individual student appeal. Extenuating circumstances include: personal or dependent's serious and chronic illness, the care of which cannot occur in another region; dependent children with special circumstances; or other (marital status, financial). Students may be moved if the appeal is considered extenuating AND an internship slot becomes available in the requested region. A written copy of this policy is available in the Student Affairs Office.

Please remember that almost ALL of our students have financial concerns, and many of our students have family matters to consider. However, it is EXPECTED that students will have made plans to accommodate these circumstances prior to the internship. Those students submitting appeals should have unusual, extenuating circumstances well documented by official paperwork (letters from physicians, etc.).

If you are assigned to San Antonio, you will spend the last didactic semester (third professional year, spring semester) in San Antonio as well as the internship year. Students who are part of the El Paso Scholars and Pan Am Program will spend the last two professional years in El Paso or the Rio Grande Valley .

All other students will spend the third year in Austin, and disperse to regions for the internship year only.

Four Required rotations
One Institutional Pharmacy Practice rotation: inpatient pharmacy in a hospital (primarily distributive)
One Ambulatory Pharmacy Practice rotation: traditional community pharmacy rotation; you can request a particular type (i.e. compounding, independent) if you have a specific interest
Two Acute Care Pharmacy Practice rotations: usually Adult Medicine, although others may qualify depending on resources in the region

One Selective
Selective Pharmacy Practice rotations must be patient-care focused. Selectives are defined for each region based on local resources.

Two Electives
Elective Pharmacy Practice rotations may include rotations related to the practice of pharmacy, but do not necessarily involve patient contact. These may include research rotations, association management, pharmaceutical sales, and many others. Not all types of electives are available in all regions.

For example, there are a number of excellent acute care, institutional, and community pharmacy practice rotations in each region. There will be slight differences in the types of selectives and electives offered in each region.

Visit our complete listing (password required) of the current rotation inventory. Contact Assistant Dean Myhra or Anda Wynn for the file name and password. Please remember that any of these may be deleted, and others added, at any time depending on preceptor and site availability.

Under certain circumstances, a student with a special interest which absolutely cannot be met in the region to which they are assigned MAY be able to participate in that rotation in another region. This must be discussed well in advance of the internship year with Asst. Dean Myhra, and will be accommodated only if adequate resources are available and the student has demonstrated a previous interest in that topic through problems courses, the Honors Program, etc.

For example, a student may have a particular interest in a scientific research topic because he/she has been working in an Austin professor's lab, but may be assigned to San Antonio for the internship. Should the professor agree to continue working with that student, he or she would be able to do one or both electives with the professor in Austin.

ALSO, please be aware that students may compete for and, if selected, participate in a state or national summer internship during the internship year. This internship, if approved in advance by Asst. Dean Myhra, will count as ONE elective rotation. Only certain summer internships qualify, so see her prior to pursuing this option.

College scholarship applications will be sent to each student who is not in Austin as part of the regular application cycle. You may contact Anda Wynn at awynn@mail.utexas.edu for assistance obtaining emergency loans.

For questions regarding federal and other forms of aid obtained through the Office of Student Financial Services, please e-mail (http://www.utexas.edu/student/finaid/) or contact your financial aid counselor.

Please remember when applying for financial aid for your internship year that you cannot work during rotations.

In most cases, yes; however, licensure requirements vary from state to state. You should contact the board of pharmacy in the state in which you wish to practice to learn more about their licensure requirements. In only a few instances, additional internship hours may be required. For state board of pharmacy contacts, check out the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy web site at http://www.nabp.net/. You will want to begin this process at least six months prior to graduation.

Information on licensure in Texas and both the NAPLEX® and MPJE™ licensure exams will be provided at Senior Conference, which occurs early in the spring semester of the internship year.