Looking to get a residency - Best pharmacy associations to join in P4

[MBar]

I have a choice of becoming president of two pharmacy associations: ASCP or SNPhA. Which organization would look better for my profile when I apply for a residency?

Thanks

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[SparkLy09]

Being president requires a ton of work and commitment. In my opinion, both will look equally great assuming you put your best efforts in - so pick the one you genuinely care more about and are interested in, instead of choosing based on what "looks good".

 

[GoldfishPharmD]

How do you have time to be the president in your 4th year of pharmacy school?

 

[Dalteparin]

How do you have time to be the president in your 4th year of pharmacy school?

I was wondering that myself. How can you be president of a student organization when you're not on campus anymore?

 

[Transformer]

I was wondering that myself. How can you be president of a student organization when you're not on campus anymore?

It‘s definitely possible. How do you do it? You make time. I was also in leadership. After rotation, I travel to school to have my meetings. I also had two intern jobs.

 

[GoldfishPharmD]

We couldn't be president during 4th year at our school. Our rotations were 8-5, so I don't see how someone can have time. I guess if you got out early enough, but I wouldn't want to do it.

 

[Silvermist]

We couldn't be president during 4th year at our school. Our rotations were 8-5, so I don't see how someone can have time. I guess if you got out early enough, but I wouldn't want to do it.

I wasn't president during my 4th year but our orgs did have 4th years in leadership. Our rotations weren't 8-5 tho... they were whatever the preceptor said they were. I had rotations that only brought me in 3 days a week for long shifts, rotations that were 6am-2pm, and rotations that had me work from home a lot. I think it depends on the school.

 

[Dalteparin]

It‘s definitely possible. How do you do it? You make time. I was also in leadership. After rotation, I travel to school to have my meetings. I also had two intern jobs.

I guess that works if the meetings occur at a time when you aren't expected to be at your rotation site. The idea of 4th year students participating in campus organizations at all is foreign to me because at my alma mater, organizational meetings were always during the lunch hour. It was impossible for 4th year students to participate since most of our rotation sites were 30 minutes or more from campus, and no preceptor would allow a student to take that much time out of his/her day for a club meeting. If you waited until the end of your 3rd year to decide you wanted to be an officer in a student organization… sorry, you missed the boat.

Anyway, back to the original question: OP, as someone above said, being president of ANY pharmacy organization is great for your CV, but it's also a lot of work. Pick the one whose mission inspires you and who has people you think you can work with.

 

[Transformer]

I guess that works if the meetings occur at a time when you aren't expected to be at your rotation site. The idea of 4th year students participating in campus organizations at all is foreign to me because at my alma mater, organizational meetings were always during the lunch hour. It was impossible for 4th year students to participate since most of our rotation sites were 30 minutes or more from campus, and no preceptor would allow a student to take that much time out of his/her day for a club meeting. If you waited until the end of your 3rd year to decide you wanted to be an officer in a student organization… sorry, you missed the boat.

Anyway, back to the original question: OP, as someone above said, being president of ANY pharmacy organization is great for your CV, but it's also a lot of work. Pick the one whose mission inspires you and who has people you think you can work with.

In the case of the OP, I don't think becoming a president for an organization during the 4th year is too late or judged to be "missed the boat". If OP is becoming a president during the 4th year, most likely than not, he/she had to work his/her way up so was probably an officer in the 2nd and/or 3rd year.

As silvermist eluded to, it all depends on your pharmacy school. Some schools have meetings during lunch time whereas others have them after rotations. My organization held our meetings at 6:30pm because our school is structured in a 2+2 format where half of the students are in the classroom and the other half is on rotations.

I do agree with Dalteparin that one should pick an organization with a mission statement that one is most passionate about. Nevertheless, do understand a lot of residency candidates have leadership roles listed on their CVs. What makes one stand out among the rest is the ability to clearly communicate what you accomplished as a leader, in this case, President. And how these accomplishments translate into special skills/abilities that will make you an excellent resident.