high school student interested in pharmacy

Started by lucky1011
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
L

lucky1011

Full Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
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?
 
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.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
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!
 
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.
 
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.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.