Can a pharmacist volunteer at an independent pharmacy ?

[MIRPh]

We all know how bad prospects for a pharmacist job are looking these days. I have lost count of the number of applications I've sent out in vain. When there are PharmDs and experienced pharmacists in this forum without a job, it's a reality check for a person like me who has a Bachelor in Pharmacy with hardly any experience. I feel I'm at the end of my rope, hence my question. Can I volunteer at an independent pharmacy? Does it conflict with the law( liability, insurance etc )?
My thinking is--- if I volunteer it serves 2 purposes: 1) I will be in touch with the profession and gain experience,though without pay 2) If I prove myself ,there may be a chance of the employer giving me a job there eventually.
What say are my ideas flawed?
I appreciate your advice.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[rph3664]

I don't think for-profit businesses can legally have volunteers, or else everyone would be doing it, as slave labor. If there's a free clinic in your area, they might need pharmacists, but of course that's only going to work if they provide pharmacy services, which many don't.

Just one warning if you want to go this route: It does not matter what the organization is, probably 90% of the time, organizations that solicit volunteers never answer the provided phone number, nor does it have an answering machine, and if they do, they don't return the calls, nor do they respond to e-mails, and then they wonder why they can't get people to volunteer for them.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Of course businesses can utilize volunteers. Whether a pharmacy will want to do so is a different story. You need to contact diferent pharmacies directly and see what their policy is.

 

[NorthwestRph]

I know a lady in your position, except that she has more experience than you but after staying home to raise the kids, she was having trouble finding a job. She got accepted as a volunteer at a non-profit clinic that has a pharmacy. After several months she got hired as a per-diem pharmacist. Better than nothing. She was very pleased last time I saw her.

 

[owlegrad]

OP: Hopefully you will find someone will to help you out with this. Probably going to mean some foot work/cold calls for you, which is never fun. Good Luck!

In response to a post upthread, I just want to say, I have a reasonable amount of experience volunteering for different charitable organizations and have never had a phone call or email be ignored. That would be the exception, not the rule, I would think.

 

[Hello2000]

Is there not a national minimum wage that employers must legally comply with?

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Is there not a national minimum wage that employers must legally comply with?

Of course there is. But that doesn't apply to unpaid volunteers.