being a competitive pgy1 applicant- currently a P2 student

[desklamp]

edit: sorry for the repetitive post title. I didn't want to hijack the thread below mine by posting my stats/issues there.

Hi there,

I wanted to get the advice of all you (wise and vastly more experienced) pharmacy board members regarding what more to do to become more competitive for residencies. I worry because it's part of my personality but also because I know a lot of my classmates are very involved in the pharmacy orgs whereas I am not (realized their importance a bit late).

So my current stats:

-GPA 4.0 (barring any disastrous finals which is entirely possible)
-1 merit scholarship
-3 research projects (2 basic science, 1 clinical)
-Work at a retail pharmacy (I worry about this on account of hearing it is better to work in hospital pharmacy- i got one hospital job offer last year but felt badly about ditching this pharmacy since they basically taught me everything I know now which now I worry will bite me in the ass)

My volunteering consists primarily of volunteer music...playing, working with med students at free clinics, not so much doing things for APhA, etc.

I guess I am curious what you all think should be done to further improve my app (which i assume at this point is making up for lack of leadership) and how to go about it.

I'd like to get involved in orgs but am unsure how to since all the leadership positions are already filled by people in my class and probably will continue to be filled by the same people.

Would starting an organization that is hospital related, but not pharmacy related, help at all?


Sorry for the long post and my paranoia thanks in advance.

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[fiorio]

will you be in Rho Chi then? Run for Rho Chi position~

I don't think you should do something solely for the purpose of making app look good.
why do you want a residency?
what is your career goal?
those are the questions you need to think about

have a clear mind what you want to do. if you don't know, try to explore,
being a qualified candidate largely depends on how you present yourself, how you work with others, your work ethic, ability to overcome difficulties, being able to communicate with other health care professionals, interpersonal skills...

you have good research background
what have you learned from volunteering at free clinics
can you think of something on how to improve the clinics--maybe collaborate with med students?