Virtual rotation valuable experience for Maggie Langdale

Maggie Langdale ’21 used to be a competitive swimmer. So when she had the opportunity to try a virtual rotation this summer, she dove right in.

The fourth-year student spent July “in” Santa Monica, rotating alongside students from the University of Southern California, Western University (in Pomona, California), and the University of Arizona at the Santa Monica Homeopathic Pharmacy. Her originally-planned rotation was cancelled due to COVID-19 and it may have been a blessing in disguise.

“We met as a group twice a day via Zoom where we discussed topics that are not heavily emphasized in the pharmacy curriculum,” said Langdale, whose sister Faith graduated from the MUSC College of Pharmacy in 2018. “I am so thankful that I was able to take this rotation and explore an area of pharmacy that I knew little about. Now I will be better equipped to discuss these alternative types of medicines with patients because of this virtual rotation experience.”

With her sister as inspiration, Langdale decided to come to MUSC after completing her pre-pharmacy work at the University of South Carolina, where she was an accomplished athlete as a Gamecock swimmer. The two-time state champion (Myrtle Beach High School) competed in the backstroke and individual medley.

Her virtual rotation at Santa Monica was with Pam Tarlow, an integrative health pharmacist who has studied various aspects of natural medicine for 20 years and introduced this foreign subject to countless pharmacy students. After Langdale and her fellow students researched topics during the day, the group met to discuss things like the use of herbs, vitamins, adaptogens, supplements, homeopathic remedies, flavanoids, hormone replacement and CBD.

“We also had numerous speakers join our meetings including an acupuncturist, a representative from a supplement company and one of our own MUSC alumni, Dr. Swathi Varanasi, who is medical cannabis consultant as well as integrative health pharmacist,” Langdale said.

Currently, Langdale is on rotation in person at Conway Medical Center, which has been especially interesting as new drugs are becoming available for COVID-19 and they begin preparing for the vaccine. But she still reflects with pleasure on her one virtual rotation.

“Dr. Tarlow encouraged us to investigate any topic that was uncomfortable to us and to learn as much as we could about it,” she said. “I not only became more confident in my knowledge of natural medicines, I also became a much better self-directed learner because of this rotation. It was such a unique and interesting rotation and I would recommend it to all my peers.”