high school student interested in pharmacy

[lucky1011]

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I know that I want to be a pharmacist when I grow up but I want to start volunteering at the pharmacy. I've already asked a few places if I could volunteer or AT LEAST job shadow but none of them had that type of thing for high school students. Only pre-pharm students. I want to explore more into the pharmacy career so I know for sure I want this. What should I do? What age and where do they let high school students volunteer or job shadow at the pharmacy?

 

[StringTheorist]

my dad knew the local pharmacist so i got the job there as a tech when i was 17. so its all up to the pharmacy manager. i suggest you talk to the pharmacy managers, really REALLY express sincere interest, and tell them you would like to build experience early on and give them a resume with contact numbers of adults not in your family that can vouche for your maturity.

and if you have a red cross at your local hospital, you can volunteer as a candy striper in the pharmacy at any age past 14, or some age really young.

 

[steveysmith54]

WOW thats tough. I hear college students having difficult time finding places to volunteer. Maybe try smaller independent pharmacy.

 

[Moxxie]

When I was in high school I was in an extension of the Boy Scouts called Explorer Scouts. They are a co-ed subset of the Boy Scouts intended to help teens explore different career options. I was in the Medical Scouts, but there were also other groups - police, aviation and veterinary explorers to name a few. We met once a week at a local hospital and learned a lot about different health professions. I was able to shadow several different doctors and see many different areas of the hospital. I know that if I had expressed interest at the time I could have shadowed in the inpatient pharmacy. It was a great experience and it helped me learn that I did NOT want to be a doctor.

I found out about the explorer scouts b/c my little brother was in a Cub Scout troop, but I'm sure if you contact your local Boy Scouts office they could give you information about all of the local Explorer Scouts groups. This might be a good way to get your foot in the door!

 

[Phlame217]

I don't know about shadowing/volunteering but to my knowlege most states require you to be 18 in order to be a tech, but you only have to be 16 to be a cashier type person in a pharmacy. Its possible that you could do that until your 18 then be promoted to a tech.

 

[ADN1226]

If you want to shadow then look for independent pharmacies -- if volunteer, then go to your local hospital volunteer office and ask how you can volunteer in the hospital pharmacy.