Jake Olson

USP Leavenworth - Leavenworth, Kansas

"I'm going to jail!" was the first thought when I learned that I would be spending my summer internship as a JR COSTEP inside the walls of "The Hot House"; U.S.P. Leavenworth. My name is Jake Olson, a Pharm.D. student in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Iowa. U.S.P. Leavenworth is a charming federal maximum security penitentiary located just outside Kansas City, Kansas (45 minutes from Kauffman Stadium.) The institution was the first federal prison built and is celebrating its centennial this year. A popular saying with the Bureau of Prisons is that, "No one is sentenced directly to Leavenworth, an inmate must earn his way there." How you may ask? "By screwing up everywhere else."

And when they arrived here, it was my job to help provide the necessary pharmaceutical care. There are approximately 2,000 inmates currently residing at the prison; 1,700 inside of the walls of maximum security and 300 located in a minimum security camp located just down the hill. All of these "patients" are overseen by a medical staff consisting of 2 pharmacists, 10 physician's assistants, 3 physicians, 2 dentists, a plethora of contract technicians, and one unarmed guard. My duties for the summer include reviewing medical charts, entering the needed medications into a data base, filling and refilling the prescriptions, and dispensing them to the inmates. Dispensing can be a little hectic at times. Try and counsel as many as 200 inmates in 2 hours that the pill line is open, through 1 inch thick steel bars and bullet-proof glass. Now tell me again how hard your summer at Wal-Mart was. I also spent time doing projects such as updating medical records, Drug Use Review's for our AIDS and other special medication populations, making presentations to the staff, and sneaking in a few therapeutic interventions. Other pharmacy things have to be done like ordering and receiving of stock medications, returning outdated medications to the manufacturers, and even a little compounding. Another exciting duty was to go on rounds with the PA's to the lock down areas of the institution. It is very similar to the rounds in a hospital except that examination in a hospital is not done through a small hole in a steel door. This is also an interesting way to get to see the places they don't show you on the tour, and also learn a few new ways to say phrases in many different languages.

This has been one of the most exciting learning experiences of my life to date. It was an excellent way to get first hand experience of the health care that is provided inside a prison. It has not been that much different than my experience in other hospitals, just that this one happens to be inside a prison.

Please e-mail questions and comments to potter@fred.net Last Updated: January 26, 1998.