Starting an Industry-related Pharmacy Club

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kapolinak

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So I've finally been accepted to a Pharmacy program and will be starting later this year. I've been doing some research and figured the next thing to do before school starts is plan out my next 4 years as a PharmD candidate. I'm interested in pursing industry but found my school doesn't offer a club relating to the field. So in hopes to better educate myself, my peers, and distinguish my application when the time comes to applying to fellowships I want to start a industry-related club at my university.

What should I do to get the ball rolling? Is it too early for me to be considering starting a club? How difficult is it managing a club while balancing school work?

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nope...do it!!

I was the founder and president of the Association of Pharmacy students for Industry (aka API - double entendre for active pharmaceutical ingredient) - we put on 3 events/semester where we got in touch with industry pharmacists, and brought them in to talk about which job they have, and how they got there. All of them were really interesting, talented individuals that really liked their jobs (unlike most retail pharmacists we met). It was also a GREAT reason to get in touch with industry professionals that essentially helped me to network efficiently. Sometimes the companies paid for the lunch (we described it as a marketing opportunity - they brand themselves into the minds of the up and coming students) and it was a great leadership opportunity for me to organize/execute events, generate interest, and schmooze the right people to get the results I wanted. I had a mediocre GPA but still won a student leadership award for all my efforts in the club.

getting the ball rolling depends entirely on your school...at my school I approached the student body, got a bunch of signatures, got a limited budget, then just cranked out events

work/school balance is all on you - I thought pharmacy school was hard, and there were days I didn't want to deal with the club, and some of my board members were at the worst during those times, but it taught me what it takes to get stuff done...so I benefited from it
 
Awesome, I greatly appreciate the advice. If I might ask another question, approximately how many members did you start off with?
 
Please reach out to us at [email protected]

2,000 students have registered with IPhO, and we are closing in on 20 approved chapters at schools around the country.

Since we have a lot of great momentum and a national network of students and chapters, it would be to your advantage to consider IPhO to affiliate with - whether you are starting a new chapter or want to convert an existing one.
 
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