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Just a few questions. I'm a P1 wrapping up my first year and my current goals are after graduation to do a PGY1 and then a PGY2 in heme/onc. I know these are rough to get, but I would like to ask advice as far as internships go.
I have worked in 2 retail chains, I worked for Rite Aid and quit in October and for a grocery chain as a tech years ago. I'm looking for another job, especially one I can work over the summer and make good money. I am really interested in interning at a hospital pharmacy. However, many students I know who work in one are considered technicians under their employment and do not make an intern pay rate. Most hospitals also seem to only want certified techs, being an intern is irrelevant or so it seems. My state does not license interns and my technician registration expired while I was in pharm school (I did not want to pay the fee, especially since I can legally work as an intern without it). I also did not acquire tech certification when I was a tech. There is only 1 hospital I know of in my area that has an intern program that pays interns a competitive rate (it's actually better than retail). However, I've been told the job is monotonous and you basically load carts all day without ever doing any kind of dispensing or anything clinically related (which I can understand the clinically related stuff due to liability and the fact that an intern isn't a licensed pharmacist by any means). This is a teaching medical university hospital though that has pharmacy residencies, I would venture to say that they are one of my top picks though as far as where I want to do my residency when I graduate.
With all that said, I'm leaning more towards working for another retail chain in the summer. I would rather do retail than load carts all day, but ideally I would like to work in a hospital doing some dispensing and being able to at least see and interact more with the clinical pharmacists (I'll just hold out for APPEs I guess). With my goal of residency in mind, would you all pursue a hospital position or a retail internship? Currently I'm leaning towards applying to WAGs because I hear that they pay their interns fairly well compared to others, but does anyone else have any input as far as the chains go? As far as professional development and making myself competitive for residency, would you go for a hospital job or work retail? Thanks!
I have worked in 2 retail chains, I worked for Rite Aid and quit in October and for a grocery chain as a tech years ago. I'm looking for another job, especially one I can work over the summer and make good money. I am really interested in interning at a hospital pharmacy. However, many students I know who work in one are considered technicians under their employment and do not make an intern pay rate. Most hospitals also seem to only want certified techs, being an intern is irrelevant or so it seems. My state does not license interns and my technician registration expired while I was in pharm school (I did not want to pay the fee, especially since I can legally work as an intern without it). I also did not acquire tech certification when I was a tech. There is only 1 hospital I know of in my area that has an intern program that pays interns a competitive rate (it's actually better than retail). However, I've been told the job is monotonous and you basically load carts all day without ever doing any kind of dispensing or anything clinically related (which I can understand the clinically related stuff due to liability and the fact that an intern isn't a licensed pharmacist by any means). This is a teaching medical university hospital though that has pharmacy residencies, I would venture to say that they are one of my top picks though as far as where I want to do my residency when I graduate.
With all that said, I'm leaning more towards working for another retail chain in the summer. I would rather do retail than load carts all day, but ideally I would like to work in a hospital doing some dispensing and being able to at least see and interact more with the clinical pharmacists (I'll just hold out for APPEs I guess). With my goal of residency in mind, would you all pursue a hospital position or a retail internship? Currently I'm leaning towards applying to WAGs because I hear that they pay their interns fairly well compared to others, but does anyone else have any input as far as the chains go? As far as professional development and making myself competitive for residency, would you go for a hospital job or work retail? Thanks!
