non pharmacy job ideas for during school year

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rxconquistador

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Any ideas on a job to have during pharmacy school year that doesn't involve pharmacy. I'm thinking that between internships & previous tech experience that it might be nice to have a break during the school year.

I'm good at math so I might look into doing taxes.

I'd really like to be a pinsetter at a bowling alley but they've got those machines that do it. Damn machines!

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Any ideas on a job to have during pharmacy school year that doesn't involve pharmacy. I'm thinking that between internships & previous tech experience that it might be nice to have a break during the school year.

I'm good at math so I might look into doing taxes.

I'd really like to be a pinsetter at a bowling alley but they've got those machines that do it. Damn machines!

You are going to be a pharmacist. Get a job somewhere having something to do with pharmacy. If you think 56 weeks in a retail store or 6 weeks in a hospital qualifies you to be a pharmacist, I would suggest it's time for your next random drug test. People like you who DON'T get any experience while in school created an entire generation of pharmacists unprepared to practice. That's why the IPPE was created because of the sentiment you espouse....
 
i agree. whether or not you want to find another job to get a "break" from pharmacy, at least work in one no matter what.
 
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Why don't you want to intern? There are so many options. And the pay is good. And you learn a lot to help you in school.

There's always vacation time to relax. You won't have as much as during college, but some internships aren't full time during the summer.
 
Tutoring might be a great idea. Thanks!
 
Tutoring might be a great idea. Thanks!

Seriously, why are you going into pharmacy if you've barely begun your career and already feel you need a break during the school year? News flash: when you finish school and get a job, that's basically it until you retire. You work 40-50 hours a week, with about two weeks vacation and maybe a few holidays. If you're lucky, you'll get three or four weeks vacation.

It's one thing if there aren't a lot of internships available (although with all the pharmacies in various cities, I can't imagine that being the case). But if you already need a break from pharmacy, I'd start thinking about a different career.
 
Wanting to experience something other than working as a tech or intern during the school year is proof that I want to have varied interests outside of pharmacy. It is not proof that I have doubts about the career. If anything it should resonate that I am comfortable in my choice and comfortable with my level of experience in the technician role.

I would hope that many of you could diversify your work interests as well.

I want pharmacy to be one aspect of my life not the whole thing. I want to be known as a novelist, an entrepreneur, an inventor - among many pursuits that I haven't even experienced yet.

Skills and experiences gained outside of the pharmacy are what make a pharmacist useful to patients. Being able to converse with people on multiple levels is what patients need to feel comfortable talking with their health care professional.

I work with a relief pharmacist who also is a travel writer. He only works in the US a few months of the year as a pharmacist and then is off to different countries during the rest of the year. He is my pharmacy hero. He brings a much needed "outside" perspective to the other pharmacists who are the prototypical "pill counters". Guess which one patients and techs feel comfortable conversing with?
 
Wanting to experience something other than working as a tech or intern during the school year is proof that I want to have varied interests outside of pharmacy. It is not proof that I have doubts about the career. If anything it should resonate that I am comfortable in my choice and comfortable with my level of experience in the technician role.

I would hope that many of you could diversify your work interests as well.

I want pharmacy to be one aspect of my life not the whole thing. I want to be known as a novelist, an entrepreneur, an inventor - among many pursuits that I haven't even experienced yet.

Skills and experiences gained outside of the pharmacy are what make a pharmacist useful to patients. Being able to converse with people on multiple levels is what patients need to feel comfortable talking with their health care professional.

I work with a relief pharmacist who also is a travel writer. He only works in the US a few months of the year as a pharmacist and then is off to different countries during the rest of the year. He is my pharmacy hero. He brings a much needed "outside" perspective to the other pharmacists who are the prototypical "pill counters". Guess which one patients and techs feel comfortable conversing with?


Lucky for me, I wen to a liberal arts college and got a degree with a minor in classics, i consider myself well rounded, I do not need to go to Liberia to figure out how to relate to people. I don't need to cut hair to learn to converse.
 
Intern or bartending / waiting tables. Both pay about the same. I can't imagine doing anything other than pharmacy though - once you move on, you can't move back.
 
I think it's a great idea to work in a non-pharm job- it can be refreshing. I never worked as a tech, etc. during school. I worked as a bartender at a martini bar during the school year and coached swimming during the summers. 5th year I did work at a pharm company- that was kinda, eh... Anyways, just do anything thats exciting and fun! You have the rest of your life to be a pharmacist!
 
Wanting to experience something other than working as a tech or intern during the school year is proof that I want to have varied interests outside of pharmacy. It is not proof that I have doubts about the career. If anything it should resonate that I am comfortable in my choice and comfortable with my level of experience in the technician role.

I would hope that many of you could diversify your work interests as well.

I want pharmacy to be one aspect of my life not the whole thing. I want to be known as a novelist, an entrepreneur, an inventor - among many pursuits that I haven't even experienced yet.

Skills and experiences gained outside of the pharmacy are what make a pharmacist useful to patients. Being able to converse with people on multiple levels is what patients need to feel comfortable talking with their health care professional.

I work with a relief pharmacist who also is a travel writer. He only works in the US a few months of the year as a pharmacist and then is off to different countries during the rest of the year. He is my pharmacy hero. He brings a much needed "outside" perspective to the other pharmacists who are the prototypical "pill counters". Guess which one patients and techs feel comfortable conversing with?

Good luck with that. A true profession requires a lot of work and a lot of time if you want to succeed in it. Not that you can't have outside interests. I myself hike, knit, watch movies, spend time with friends, read non-fiction on a variety of subjects, etc. But any professional career, whether as a pharmacist, a lawyer, a scientist, etc. takes a lot of time to maintain and a lot of time to keep current on the field of knowledge. Unless your relief pharmacist is a genius (which most of us aren't) who reads pharmacy journals while he's off being a travel writer, he can't have the same knowledge as someone who is constantly working as a pharmacist. This, in my opinion, most likely puts his patients at risk.

I'm currently in academia, and those that are truly successful in it live, breath, and eat science. I realized early on in my science career that I don't have the drive for learning molecular pathways that they do, but I love learning about human disease, from the societal implications to its treatments to how it causes harm to the body. That's why I'm switching fields.

If you really want to be a travel writer, go be a travel writer. Or be a pharmacist and spend your vacations traveling somewhere different. There are pharmacists who have outside interests in travel and rock music, for an example, that still work full time. If I were you, I wouldn't expect to have some sort of career that you can go be a travel writer, rock star, inventor, etc. half of the year and still be an excellent pharmacist. Nor should you think that spending large amounts of time away from pharmacy will help improve your knowledge either. It may improve your ability to have conversations, but frankly, I think that's more of a skill you either have or don't have.
 
I think it's a great idea to work in a non-pharm job- it can be refreshing. I never worked as a tech, etc. during school. I worked as a bartender at a martini bar during the school year and coached swimming during the summers. 5th year I did work at a pharm company- that was kinda, eh... Anyways, just do anything thats exciting and fun! You have the rest of your life to be a pharmacist!

I do agree that it's good to expand your knowledge base and work other careers, especially during college. It's neat knowing how other jobs work, even if you decide that you don't want them.

But by the time you get to pharmacy school, that's more the time to actually be preparing yourself for your career. When you are actually a pharmacist, you alone are responsible for checking those prescriptions. It's your license at stake. Maybe you felt comfortable when you first started, AvocadoLover, but most people need all the help they can get.

Another issue with having some sort of random other job is that trying to balance work and school is hard enough when they're related. I did do child care the summer before I came to grad school, and I don't think there's anything wrong with relaxing before you go to school or maybe doing volunteer work on the side once you're there. If you can balance it, go for it. It can be one of your extracurriculars. But why not, in God's green earth, be an intern??
 
Look if there are any work-study positions at your school, at departments other than pharmacy. Maybe be a research assistant for a professor whom you think you could help out. I am fluent in Russian so I spent 2 years working as a research assistant for a Russian history professor, and am working for him again this month. Just find something that needs help with.
 
are you a chick & can you dance? just a thought
 
Do pharmacy interns in grocery chains get discounts on food? I'm sure it depends on the chain...
 
a break is a good idea! I did it and worked at veterinary office and loved it. Give it a go, you'll meet people and do something different. Just do what you think would be fun.
 
The fact that you are posting on this forum asking for input from others on what jobs you could do during your break time is causing others to question your motives.
I myself have done many things during my full-time Pharmacist career-a police officer, a FEMA Pharmacist disaster responder, a Pharmacy Tech instructor, and a international medical mission team mmber; but I sought those opportunities out myself, I did not have to wonder what I should do.
I am sure that many others could give you a multitude of job suggestions, but it is really up to you to find something that would suit you. Would it be for financial gain, emotional support, escape from reality, or something completely at odds with your Pharmacy role of helping the ill?
 
Any ideas on a job to have during pharmacy school year that doesn't involve pharmacy. I'm thinking that between internships & previous tech experience that it might be nice to have a break during the school year.

I'm good at math so I might look into doing taxes.

I'd really like to be a pinsetter at a bowling alley but they've got those machines that do it. Damn machines!

Morning shift Starbucks Barista! Free morning coffee to keep you well caffeinated for classes.... if you can wake up at 5AM and work until about 9AM. It's a fun job with awesome co-workers... and enough self-depreciation to make you look forward to becoming a pharmacist someday.
 
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