Help!!!Doubts

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firstgeneration

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I am freaking out because I am seriously having second thoughts about being a pharmacist. I have volunteer at the hospital pharmacy for 8 months now and I have not learned nothing. I do the most crappiest work and I not learn anything about being a pharmacist. I am having a lot of doubts, I have registered to take the PCAT for the second time and I am just not having any strong feeling. I really would like to become a pharmacist but being a volunteer and having the worst experience, I am doubtful, could anyone offer suggestions???😕
 
what do you do when you volunteer? sometimes you have to take the initiative to observe and ask questions about the day to day responsibilities. i do mundane tasks where i volunteer too, but when i have the chance, i ask as many questions as i can and i always try to observe what exactly they do, and how they do it. it's up to you how much you want to learn also.
 
You should try to work/volunteer somewhere else to gain more knowledge about a difference branch of pharmacy. Shadowing different pharmacists will probably help you a lot too.


If you find out that pharmacy isn't your thing, then you can always switch careers.
 
what do you do when you volunteer? sometimes you have to take the initiative to observe and ask questions about the day to day responsibilities. i do mundane tasks where i volunteer too, but when i have the chance, i ask as many questions as i can and i always try to observe what exactly they do, and how they do it. it's up to you how much you want to learn also.

well they already have duties for volunteers, but the thing is the other volunteers are either high school students or retired people who are not really wanting to learn things. There's like 4 pharmacist but only 2 speak to me, like they don't want me there. Every time I try to ask something, they said they'll let me know. They tell me to scrubs the dirty shelves and irrelevant stuff, and the stupid thing is they have this sign that says they're a teaching pharmacy. When I observe it seems like I am getting in their way all the time.
 
Sounds to me, they're using you like a toilet brush or you could be annoying to them and it's their way of trying to keep you preoccupied with whatever in order to keep you from asking more questions. shrug, i dunno.
 
Sounds to me, they're using you like a toilet brush or you could be annoying to them and it's their way of trying to keep you preoccupied with whatever in order to keep you from asking more questions. shrug, i dunno.


Yeah. I agree with you, that is why I am so doubtful about being a pharmacist, I have had the worst experience.
 
i think it's time to find a new pharmacy.
 
What is happening to you is unacceptable. I know for a fact that not all hospital pharmacy volunteer positions are like that. You are clearly not getting anything out of this job, except for a bad taste about the profession. What you should be concerned (besides your lack of training) is how your rec letter is going to go... "firstgeneration" can really clean and keeps our shelves bright and sparkling. Usually your instincts are right on regarding their treatment of you. This is not a good situation for you and you should look into another hospital (if the hospital pharmacy is what you are interested in.) I am so sorry that you have been dealing with this for as many months as you have.
 
Def think about getting a part time position as a pharmacy tech - starting as a clerk first. I did the whole volunteering thing and the shadowing... and i had more fun and felt helpful while I was volunteering for the hospital overall compared to the mundane tasks within the hospital pharmacy... now i'm working for CVS which for most people - a crappy job, but I really enjoy it-even with the cranky customers sometimes. You learn so much more and it could be really helpful once you start pharmacy school with knowing all these drugs / names and such, so definitely think about getting a part time job as a tech.
 
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Yeah. I agree with you, that is why I am so doubtful about being a pharmacist, I have had the worst experience.

Pharmacy itself isn't bad as it seems! Don't worry, I've had pretty bad experiences myself with volunteering. First of all, since you're non-paid, there are regulations on what you can and cannot do - some hospital pharmacy volunteer positions won't let you do anything, except grunt work! I volunteered for a "prestigious" teaching hospital and felt like I wasn't learning anything my first time around. The only thing I learned was how the work flow in the hospital operates. But trust me, you can be doing grunt work as long as you allow yourself.

I say, go find a clerk position and move up to tech position once you gain more experience; you'll learn much more than what you can in a hospital if they don't let you do much. There's really no point in staying in a crappy volunteer position - because once you leave - be sure to take some practical, helpful knowledge with you. And trust me, time is precious and so is the value of learning. This is just my 2cents. I hope you aren't discouraged by pharmacy yet.
 
"FirstGeneration" I think you just had some bad luck with people.

Honestly, I feel like if a pharmacist or anyone in their profession does not feel like helping/talking/answering questions then he or she does not enjoy their work. I do acknowledge that their are other factors which could limit what the person could say or wants to say but come on?! Seriously.

You can either fold your cards or hold them.


Keep trying.
 
Just to make sure... you aren't asking inappropriate questions or at the wrong times are you?

You don't want to start interviewing pharmacists when you go to volunteer and ask them questions people often ask here like which schools don't require PCAT, what people GPA were and where they got accepted/interviewed, how well they scored on NAPLEX, if they have a chance to get into pharmacy or not. Those would annoy almost any pharmacist, especially if they have been a pharmacists for 20+ years, when the system was very different.

I volunteeer at hospital and I am sent to do so many things where I volunteer (never involves cleaning things, most labor work is delivery and taking out meds from boxes), I only ask questions about things happening (like events, meetings, etc), when they talk about some drug I ask them about it, and do a lot of listening when they discuss a patient (you don't want to compromise patient confidentiality). But while there is some labor work, if you do them quickly and well, they will often assign you to more pharm tech jobs (restocking meds for more than an hour gives me eye strain, so I'm glad I don't have to do it if I dont want to). Being a tech might be more interesting and helpful to you, but I figure doing only 4 hours a week helps me with dealing with the hours for my paid job, because two part time jobs would be really hard while taking 14+ units of upperdiv science classes and getting A's to raise GPA. And as a volunteer there is a bit more flexibility when it comes to extra work once the necessary tasks are complete.
 
When I volunteered at a hospital pharmacy, I thought it was really boring (basically just pushed a cart around, no human interaction...) and I actually decided to not major in pharmacy. 4 years later, I decided to work as a tech in retail, and I love it. Definitely try a different environment - independent retail, chain retail, a different hospital, a clinic - and see how it goes.
 
well they already have duties for volunteers, but the thing is the other volunteers are either high school students or retired people who are not really wanting to learn things. There's like 4 pharmacist but only 2 speak to me, like they don't want me there. Every time I try to ask something, they said they'll let me know. They tell me to scrubs the dirty shelves and irrelevant stuff, and the stupid thing is they have this sign that says they're a teaching pharmacy. When I observe it seems like I am getting in their way all the time.

These tasks are what pharmacists have to do anyway. They have to keep the pharmacy clean at all times, especially for inventory. I volunteer in a pharmacy and i do a lot of clerk work while the pharmacists are super busy, but when they have to come by me i always make it a point to speak to them, say something funny to ease thier stress, ask hows it goin, or "what's that?", "that looks wierd, why do you have to do that", what are they doing over there?, etc.. (very simple questions) to get them at ease around you but still letting them know you are staying out of thier busy way.

Now they have given me extra duties to answer the phones, pull prescriptions, send prescriptions, etc.

Always be happy, keep a smile on your face, and always speak to them when they are within speaking distance, regardless of how little you have to talk to them about. Thats how you start learning!:luck:
 
I work in a hospital pharmacy and I have also worked in retail pharmacy. The two jobs were totally different. I learned a lot more about drug names and uses at the retail pharmacy. At the hospital, there is a lot of grunt work to be done. However, its all in how you use it. I do a lot of filing and answering phones but if something catches my attention, I ask the pharmacist about it and they do not hesitate to answer my questions. They actually seem happy that I am taking an interest in what they do and want to learn more. With hospital pharmacy, no one is going to say..."ok, this drug does this, and you should treat this condition with this drug". You have to be assertive. I have gone on rounds with the clinical pharmacist at the hospital and observed how a treatment plan is devised for patients. Bottom line, ou have to get off your butt and make the initiative to learn.
 
I wouldn't let a bad experience at one pharmacy cloud my vision on the profession as a whole.
 
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