Hello everyone! My name is Meenakshi and I am an incoming P3. I've worked as a University of Michigan Health System Intern in the Investigational Drug Service (IDS) through last summer and during the school year. So a basic question I am asked is, what is IDS!? Here's a summary... IDS is a designated section of the Department of Pharmacy Services within the University of Michigan Health System that handles the experimental drugs used for patients enrolled in clinical trials. IDS is responsible for the pharmacy-related tasks of both hematology/oncology and non-hematology/oncology studies. This includes drug accountability (both paper and electronic systems), meticulous records, proper storage and disposal of drug and compounding. The pharmacists, in addition to verifying every drug order or prescription, have many responsibilities. These include drafting and verifying dispensing guidelines, amendments and opening study procedures. Also, they are active in several committees and task forces including the Institutional Review Board (IRB). There is never a routine day in IDS and the work that is accomplished here is critical for patients and for data that the FDA will analyze when deciding to approve drugs for approved indications.
Entering my second summer is pretty exciting with new innovative projects including helping to design and pilot a new Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience or APPE aka a P4 rotation experience! We have recently crossed the mark of currently handling 400 active investigational drug trials! This is an accomplishment for clinical trials research and for our dedicated team of pharmacists, technicians and interns. This summer, we've welcomed Julie Zhu as the P2 intern and throughout the year, we have been working with the P4 students who are on rotation. With the experience of both technical and professional aspects of IDS operations, I've been able to help train while working on my daily to-do lists, including audit preparation. What I love about IDS and this internship is the variety of responsibilities and projects, that all play an important role in the process of the pharmacy-focused part of a clinical trial with investigational agents. Stay tuned for updates!
