Pharmacy Experience on Applications

[doctermined]

So I've been volunteering at a pharmacy for awhile now. Just wondering whether or not I should include it on my applications? The reasons why I volunteer there are to gain patient interaction and learn about drugs, which are an important part of dentistry. Not sure if dental schools would question this particular extracurricular activity later on, like are you consider going into pharmacy?? You seem not settled on dentistry etc...

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[dentalWorks]

So I've been volunteering at a pharmacy for awhile now. Just wondering whether or not I should include it on my applications? The reasons why I volunteer there are to gain patient interaction and learn about drugs, which are an important part of dentistry. Not sure if dental schools would question this particular extracurricular activity later on, like are you consider going into pharmacy?? You seem not settled on dentistry etc...

If you wanna learn about drugs, you take a pharmacology course, not volunteer in a pharmacy.

Learning about this subject requires you to understand the mechanism of each class of drugs, their therapeutic windows, sensitivity reactions, etc etc. Your not gonna learn anything from shadowing a pharmacist.

My advice to you is, don't glorify your limited knowledge. Every now and then, your gonna get interviewed by someone knows done their residency in a hospital setting or even an oral surgeon (and these guys REALLY know their drugs) and they might decide to test how much you really know about pharmacology.

Here is a most likely question you'll get.... "if you wanted patient interaction, why didn't you shadow a dentist or a physician?" I mean lets face it, you don't get a whole lot of patient interactions in a pharmacy. Sure, every now and then, someone will ask the pharmacist how to take a drug or to clarify the instructions on the bottle, or sometimes they yell at the pharmacist for not having their script filled on time... but overall, not much interactions.

 

[nateriver]

i had a very similar question as i am applying for a job as a pharm tech, the overall response i got was that its good to have experience in general, mind you i was looking for a job, so holding any job is good, although i think shadowing a pharmacist in conjunction with a dentist/physician is good to show you've done your hmwk and it conveys to the interviewers that you really know what you want because you've seen multiple fields and still are choosing dental

 

[tendram]

I wouldn't think it would be a bad thing to put on your application at all. It is volunteering and it is healthcare related as well therefore I don't think a school is going to question it too much. The only reason I can think of to not put it down would be if you had solely pharmacy extracurriculars on your application. Just so long as you have a valid reason for volunteering there and as long as it isn't the only thing you have done volunteer-wise I think you should be okay. If it comes up in interviews I would just explain why you did it truthfully but try not to make too big of a deal about it. I am actually a pharmacy tech myself and have come across questions similar to this and like @ghost11 mentioned it seems that pharmacy work (whether paid or not) is generally good for experience but not much else when it comes to dentistry.

 

[tooth knockn]

So I've been volunteering at a pharmacy for awhile now. Just wondering whether or not I should include it on my applications? The reasons why I volunteer there are to gain patient interaction and learn about drugs, which are an important part of dentistry. Not sure if dental schools would question this particular extracurricular activity later on, like are you consider going into pharmacy?? You seem not settled on dentistry etc...

Drug dealin and understanding the drugs, and understanding what drugs are mixable or not, is very important.

It will only look bad if you were a street pharmacist.

Learn the side effects of drugs. This will help you later in DS if you get there.

 

[nateriver]

i deff feel like it should be helpful to work/volunteer in any health related field, and an interviewer should give more weight to something health related as opposed to working in burger king.....