Are pharmacy fraternities worth it?

[useruseruser]

Kappa Psi. Phi Delta Chi. Etc Etc.

Is it worth it ($$$, time, etc)? Has anyone actually benefited connection-wise as a pharmacist?

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[Yaksa]

I am curious about this also. Will frat benefit me in terms of job searching later on?

 

[297point1]

As a student = YES
As a graduating student / recent graduate (first 2 years after graduation) = MARGINAL
As a graduate (>2 years after graduating) = NO

As always, n=1...individual results may vary

 

[Dalteparin]

As a student, definitely! Lots of opportunities for leadership, community service, and you'll have a lot of fun too. I haven't done enough job hunting in the last few years to say whether it's benefited me in that arena or not.

 

[WhiteSnows]

Waste of time and there are non- fraternity opportunities you can do. A certain activities from these fraternities especially kappa psi are not professional and they act more like a gang than a prodessional fraternity.

 

[radio frequency]

Definitely worth it!

Pharmacy fraternities are the stepping stone to help you meet new friends and get involved. You can then use the fraternity and your new connections to get more involved in the fraternity or in other pharmacy school areas.

Joining a fraternity first year was the best decision I made in pharmacy school as it absolutely opened doors for me in the fraternity and in many other areas of pharmacy school. I met students in multiple years of the program who took me under their wings and faculty members, too. Some of this you can do without a fraternity, but it's much harder.

These connections (and the experiences I gained because I first joined the fraternity) will be useful as a graduate, too.

Just remember, you get out of it what you put into it. If you put nothing in, you'll get nothing out.

 

[BenJammin]

You get what you put into it. I don't regret being Phi Delta Chi for a second. Lots of my NCPA and APhA friends didn't have the experience and the memories that I have. But it varies school to school.

 

[Dred Pirate]

As a student = YES
As a graduating student / recent graduate (first 2 years after graduation) = MARGINAL
As a graduate (>2 years after graduating) = NO

As always, n=1...individual results may vary

this...

but mine was a hell of a party fraternity - so I enjoyed it

 

[TheGoatBoyy]

Everyone's experience will be unique, I know plenty of young and old alumni that got hooked up with jobs through other alumni in the fraternity. As far as while you are in school, it gives you a social release from studying and if you work for a chain you have much more people to cover shifts for you or to pick up hours from. My fraternity is definitely something I've missed since graduating.

 

[Silvermist]

I joined a small fraternity and nobody could quite understand why I joined it instead of one of the "gangs" as someone else so eloquently put it But I'd done my homework--the chapter advisors for our fraternity were both highly connected, high-ranking members of state associations, and another involved alum was the president of one of these organizations at the state level. INSANE connections. A lot of people would join these orgs for 'fun' and I never quite understood that. I was strategic and it paid off very well.

 

[stablecarbocation]

I've been learning about these professional pharmacy fraternities.

I will be 31 years old when I hopefully start pharmacy school in 2016. I am now in another healthcare profession. How receptive are such professional pharmacy fraternities to people my age? Do these organizAtions usually have their own houses?

 

[BidingMyTime]

I've been learning about these professional pharmacy fraternities.
I will be 31 years old when I hopefully start pharmacy school in 2016. I am now in another healthcare profession. How receptive are such professional pharmacy fraternities to people my age? Do these organizAtions usually have their own houses?

Pharmacy fraternities are open to people of any age, but realistically, if you have outside family or job responsibilities it will be hard to join a fraternity, because of the time commitments, especially during the pledging period. Not impossible, but pretty hard, and for that reason, it is rare that older students join.

As a student = YES
As a graduating student / recent graduate (first 2 years after graduation) = MARGINAL
As a graduate (>2 years after graduating) = NO

I think this is pretty accurate. Join a pharmacy fraternity, if you are so inclined, for fun and experience, not because you think it will get you a job in the future (it probably won't)

 

[Dalteparin]

I've been learning about these professional pharmacy fraternities.

I will be 31 years old when I hopefully start pharmacy school in 2016. I am now in another healthcare profession. How receptive are such professional pharmacy fraternities to people my age? Do these organizAtions usually have their own houses?

Honestly, whether or not they're receptive to older members is going to vary from chapter to chapter. Go to their recruitment events and see what you think; if a particular organization makes you feel uncomfortable, don't go back. For what it's worth, I know several people who were older students and were welcomed into pharmacy fraternities. Whether or not they have houses, again, that will vary from school to school, but in my limited experience it seems that the pharmacy fraternities that have houses are the ones at 6-year programs where everyone attending is straight out of high school.

 

[Lucky One]

P1 here. I'm pledging right now to an all male fraternity, so it's sort of small, but from what I encountered so far there are definitely job opportunities that can arise from being a member. The first rush event I met up with some pharmacy managers and they had conversations about things such as hiring previous students as pharmacists or interns or why they decided to not offer a job, inside information etc. This ultimately made me want to join, as well as the guys being incredibly friendly and professional-like towards me like actual future pharmacists and such. They advertise that a couple of the faculty are in it (including the previous executive dean) and that in the previous year 100% of the brothers got a job/residency and such.

It really depends on the particular chapter anyways. It's definitely not just something you can just easily join and put on your resume it's going to require commitment and in result carry a lot of substance with it on your resume/CV. You'll get out what you put in to it.

I know this thread is old but I hope this helps anyone in the future.

 

[Digsbe]

I think it's worth it. I'm in Kappa Psi and my school's chapter is very active with social and service events. We have fun, we work hard and we do some great work in our community through service. It's good to put on a CV, to get connected and also just to meet others and have fun with sponsored social events. I don't regret my decision at all and would say it's wroth the cost.

 

[BidingMyTime]

It really depends on the particular chapter anyways. It's definitely not just something you can just easily join and put on your resume it's going to require commitment and in result carry a lot of substance with it on your resume/CV. You'll get out what you put in to it.

Yes, fraternities require a lot of commitment and money, which is why they want to convince you of lifelong benefits. There are benefits to joining one during school, but 2 years out, pretty much nobody is going to care that you put a pharmacy fraternity on you resume.

 

[PharmDCandidate2014]

If you have to pay money for membership, stay away.

I don't know, isn't it a better idea to use that time helping professors do research and get publications on their CV? Most importantly, doesn't research help us get closer to improving the real problems in science and society?

But if you like the chill lifestyle, go join a frat brah.