I was just wondering what you do as a volunteer in a pharmacy. I know that when you shadow you basically just observe the pharmacists, but what do you do as a volunteer? Thanks!

I was just wondering what you do as a volunteer in a pharmacy. I know that when you shadow you basically just observe the pharmacists, but what do you do as a volunteer? Thanks!
well if you work at a hospital, if you dont have a tech license, they will have you do some filing, which is boring as hell, but luckily i had a tech license and im also certified and had worked in retail so they had me make prepacks and even mix iv's :D

I was just wondering what you do as a volunteer in a pharmacy. I know that when you shadow you basically just observe the pharmacists, but what do you do as a volunteer? Thanks!

At one of the hospitals I was at, the volunteers would deliver meds to the floors if they were not urgent. They also would bring back IVs that were expired or discontinued so they could be credited to the patient and/or destroyed.

Oh, they also filed plenty of papers (mostly faxes the pharmacists had already checked off and input in the system).

And before I went through pharmacy school, my volunteer experience at a hospital also included some cleaning and reorganizing some of their storage. :sleep: Of course, the pharmacists and technicians also answered questions I had about pharmacy when they could.

I was just wondering what you do as a volunteer in a pharmacy. I know that when you shadow you basically just observe the pharmacists, but what do you do as a volunteer? Thanks!

I think it also depends on where you are (what state, what type of setting)-- here in CA I think it's pretty strict and volunteers can't really handle any medications (unless you have demonstrated and/or experience as a technician), much less handle IV admixtures... Some of the volunteers @ our hospital can help with packaging IV lines, labeling them for use, delivering some meds (if the robot is broken or busy), but for the most part, helping out with overall operations of the pharmacy w/o dealing with meds. It's definitely a worthwhile endeavor, though- since it gives you exposure to the field you would otherwise never have!

1) tube monkey
2) prepacking monkey
3) put returned unit dose meds back on shelf monkey
4) various other monkey

I was just wondering what you do as a volunteer in a pharmacy. I know that when you shadow you basically just observe the pharmacists, but what do you do as a volunteer? Thanks!


At Rite Aid it is known as their "Pharmacists giving back" policy. They pay you $45 per hour and extract $100 per hour in labor from you.

1) tube monkey
2) prepacking monkey
3) put returned unit dose meds back on shelf monkey
4) various other monkey


My favorite was elderly nearsighted go-back monkey placing clear glass ampules with nearly invisible white lettering back into stock. :eek:

ooh. Go-back monkey has a much better ring to it. Good call.