Hi all,

I'm going into my third year at UC Berkeley. I was wondering if working at a retail setting (Longs) would be a good exposure to pharmacy. I was more hoping to go shadow a clinical pharmacist, but I've only been able to leave messages for the pharmacist directors' voicemail at local hospitals. Would applying for a volunteer position at the pharmacy dept in the student health center be a better alternative? I'm just looking for something that where I can get a feel for whether pharmacy is for me or not.

Well, a volunteer spot at the student pharmacy should be good.

I think if you really want to know if you're a good 'mould' for pharmacy just look at your personal characteristics, and how you interact socially.

Pharmacists have to be articulate, knowledgeable, friendly and understanding. In retail you will be dealing with the general public, and let me tell you the general public is not an educated bunch. Clinical will be better perhaps if you feel you don't like some of the social aspects, you deal more with the actual treatment/medication preparation than dealing with insurance companies.

So there's a trade-off, just see how you react in different social situations, if you enjoy teaching, etc.

Hi all,

I'm going into my third year at UC Berkeley. I was wondering if working at a retail setting (Longs) would be a good exposure to pharmacy. I was more hoping to go shadow a clinical pharmacist, but I've only been able to leave messages for the pharmacist directors' voicemail at local hospitals. Would applying for a volunteer position at the pharmacy dept in the student health center be a better alternative? I'm just looking for something that where I can get a feel for whether pharmacy is for me or not.

I've been working at a retail pharmacy all summer. What you can do as a drug clerk isn't much different than what you might do working at a convience store. I mainly ring up prescriptions and any other items people want to buy. Pharmacy technicians can do more though. Maybe if you got a job in a smaller retail pharmacy they would let you do more than just be a cashier. I do other things like answer the phone and stock shelves, but I really don't get to do the things that the pharmacist and pharmacy technicians do. I wouldn't mind volunteering or shadowing in different pharmacy settings though.

I saw some statistics though from one pharmacy school that said that over 50% of the graduates went into retail pharmacy. So I guess it's good to check it out if you can.

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'm thinking of applying for the volunteer position at the student health center first. I think working as a cashier/clerk would be too boring...

Everyone starts somewhere. The lead tech at the retail store I work at started out as a pharmacy cashier. If you prove yourself as a good cashier/clerk and tell your boss you are interested, you will probably be first in line to be promoted to techinician, especially if you take and pass the CPhT exam. So don't write off this postion just yet.

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'm thinking of applying for the volunteer position at the student health center first. I think working as a cashier/clerk would be too boring...

I think that's what I would do too.

If you work at a low-volume store there is plenty of room for learning... I learned A LOT from working at Sav-on and that experience was invaluable during interviews.

On the other hand volunteering gave me little to no experience whatsoever.. all I was permitted to do was file, and while it was a good start in introducing me to the profession, I learned very little after the first week there.

If you can, try getting experience in a variety of places...

i work as a clerk at saveon,
you can learn alot during the non busy hours.

If you work at a low-volume store there is plenty of room for learning... I learned A LOT from working at Sav-on and that experience was invaluable during interviews.

On the other hand volunteering gave me little to no experience whatsoever.. all I was permitted to do was file, and while it was a good start in introducing me to the profession, I learned very little after the first week there.

If you can, try getting experience in a variety of places...

I agree. Our store is considered "low volume" and so the pharmacists needed more than just a cashier on busy Tuesday and Thursday nights, so I got to do a lot more than a typical drug clerk, although at first I did do a lot of ringing up. Now I'm certified, and the only reason I'm not the lead tech is because I don't work but 2 or 3 shifts a week during the school year.

I have been told by more than one source that if you've already had some experience as a tech (even if it is retail) then you'll get more of an opportunity to do things when you volunteer. It's the main reason I tried to get certified (that and the sweet raise).

It sounds like working at the store would be better. Do you guys know if I could just work once a week for a coupla hours or something (I'm afraid I won't have enough time this semester to do much more, got kind of a heavy courseload)? Or is that not enough?