Do you have to get an internship while in pharmacy school?

[bjnyen]

I'm going to be a P1 and it seems like all of my friends are interning for a pharmacy. Is it a requirement to get an internship at a pharmacy while you're in pharmacy school?
I'm going to be a P1 in the fall and I know that I want to pursue the indsutry path rather than retail. I've been interning for a pharmaceutical company for the past 2 summers. I guess my question is if I don't get an internship in a pharmacy, and only internship in a industry setting, will that consider bad or negatively affect my chance of getting a job in anyway in the future?

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[RxMonkey]

No, it is not a requirement to procure an outside internship at a pharmacy.

That being said, >99% of jobs available to new PharmDs are in either retail or hospital settings. And those employers like to see pharmacy experience outside of your p4 rotations. If you have a relationship with a pharmaceutical company, I would tell you to hang on to that for dear life, because industry jobs are becoming increasingly rare and highly sought after. Unfortunately industry does not necessarily mean pharmaceutical research. A PhD would probably better equip you for such an endeavor.

 

[Googlesdn]

It's not required but some schools may require a internship

 

[bacillus1]

It may be a requirement, depending on the state. For example, Pennsylvania requires extra hours of interning in a pharmacy on top of your rotations.

 

[blueheron]

TN requires 400 hours.

 

[gwarm01]

It might be the only way you find a job by the time you graduate. Three years of hospital internship is the way I managed to get a hospital job without a residency, and although it was at a different hospital it was in the same field (peds). Otherwise they wouldn't have even considered me.

 

[dblock05]

maybe you should go after a PhD instead