Pharmacy Experience Questions!

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We all have different backgrounds. Working as a pharmacy tech and shadowing pharmacists are not the only ways to learn enough about the field to make an informed decision about why you want to study pharmacy.

While I'd like to agree, there is no substitute for actual experience.

Take a second and think about why medical schools - almost every last one of them - require a lot of shadowing experience.

"I watch House and ER" won't cut it. Same goes for "interacting" with pharmacists.

Although for your case specifically, "acting as a pharmacy technician" certainly would count.

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While I'd like to agree, there is no substitute for actual experience.

Take a second and think about why medical schools - almost every last one of them - require a lot of shadowing experience.

"I watch House and ER" won't cut it. Same goes for "interacting" with pharmacists.

Although for your case specifically, "acting as a pharmacy technician" certainly would count.


You were military, you know how military medicine works. A good, experienced medic (corpsman if you're Navy) that works for a good PA or doctor does so many different things.

Also, when you're working hospitals and clinics, you don't have to shadow a specific person to get a feel for what kinds of things they do in their job, and you definitely don't have to shadow someone to ask them about their job.
 
You were military, you know how military medicine works. A good, experienced medic (corpsman if you're Navy) that works for a good PA or doctor does so many different things.

Also, when you're working hospitals and clinics, you don't have to shadow a specific person to get a feel for what kinds of things they do in their job, and you definitely don't have to shadow someone to ask them about their job.

Obviously your experience will count, and would count, for "experience" in pharmacy! I don't think anyone would dispute that. When it comes to vets, we almost write our own ticket with experience, since civvies are so inexperienced with our lifestyle.

I was pretty far removed from military medicine, however. My biggest intxn with it was when I had a nice bit o' shrapnel lodged in my knee in Balad that had to be removed, and at DLI in training when I had to go to sick call... to... um... not do PT. *whistle*
 
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Obviously your experience will count, and would count, for "experience" in pharmacy! I don't think anyone would dispute that. When it comes to vets, we almost write our own ticket with experience, since civvies are so inexperienced with our lifestyle.

I was pretty far removed from military medicine, however. My biggest intxn with it was when I had a nice bit o' shrapnel lodged in my knee in Balad that had to be removed, and at DLI in training when I had to go to sick call... to... um... not do PT. *whistle*


Yeah, among other things I made a point to explain how some of the things I did were the same types of duties pharm techs do.

When were you at Balad? I was there for a year from late summer/early fall '06 til late summer '07. Total joke compared to my first deployment...

Sick call to get out of PT... I remember times in garrison when I (and some of the other medics) would try to get out of working sick call so that we could do PT with our platoon.
 
I was part of Task Force Blue Watch @ LSA Anaconda predominantly 06-07. Very similar times as you, what unit?

Ah you see, I was a perennial 250-pointer, didn't really enjoy PT @ DLI (Had to run on civilian roads, no fun) and preferred to sleep, since we were learning a language that was our livelihood. HUMINT, ftw.
 
I was part of Task Force Blue Watch @ LSA Anaconda predominantly 06-07. Very similar times as you, what unit?

Ah you see, I was a perennial 250-pointer, didn't really enjoy PT @ DLI (Had to run on civilian roads, no fun) and preferred to sleep, since we were learning a language that was our livelihood. HUMINT, ftw.

I was in 1-5 FA - part of 1BDE 1ID

I can't actually say much about that deployment though... My battery (artillery for company) was attached to someone else doing really boring work on base...

TF blue does sound familiar though... not sure...
 
I was in 1-5 FA - part of 1BDE 1ID

I can't actually say much about that deployment though... My battery (artillery for company) was attached to someone else doing really boring work on base...

TF blue does sound familiar though... not sure...

I know what BTRY is, crazy. Fort Sill for BCT, hooah. :p
 
Your logic has a major flaw to it - you assume that all applicants applying to pharmacy school want to be directly involved in patient care aspect of pharmacy.

What about people that want to be clinical scientists ?


What about people that want to be involved in legislature and pusue health policy and management ?


What about people that want to pursue a law degree and work as a consultant for a pharma company ?

This is why it pains me to read pre-pharm forum. Honestly, was that too hard to come up examples above on your own ? We talk and talk and talk about limitless possibilities of pharm.D degree but when it comes down to admittance, somehow no one can't see past basic retail experience.

When it comes down to pharm experience - it's crucial but not all mighty end of all some people make it out to be. :rolleyes:

I know people who dropped out of pharm school even after getting pharmacy experience and having thoroughly explored the field and I know people like myself who got admitted virtually with no experience aside from shadowing and are sucessfully finishing first year. ;) :rolleyes:
 
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Lastly, this must be thread number 100 about the same topic I've read in the past year, which leads me to believe you aren't genuinely interested in the subject, you just probably want to rant about people getting accepted with no experience. :rolleyes:
 
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We all want to rant about something, Chebs.

I know, I rant all the time. :rolleyes: Hi, my name is Chebs and I am a ranter.

LOL - at least you have a cute handbag though :laugh:

Lastly, this must be thread number 100 about the same topic I've read in the past year, which leads me to believe you aren't genuinely interested in the subject, you just probably want to rant about people getting accepted with no experience. :rolleyes:

Like the "high" GPA people that can't score well on the PCAT, can't write a PS, and can't do well at interviews and then rant when they don't get accepted and people with lower GPA's do?
 
There are people in my class who have pharmacy experience, but they don't seem to take things seriously or represent the profession well by being so unprofessional in class or at certain events.

Then there are others who have little or no experience, but they know how to respect others and be polite when they need to be. They also know how to be a professional even without having worked in a pharmacy.

So I think we need to specify what people should be getting from their work experiences before pharmacy school, if that's what we want to discuss.
 
Your logic has a major flaw to it - you assume that all applicants applying to pharmacy school want to be directly involved in patient care aspect of pharmacy.

What about people that want to be clinical scientists ?


What about people that want to be involved in legislature and pusue health policy and management ?


What about people that want to pursue a law degree and work as a consultant for a pharma company ?

This is why it pains me to read pre-pharm forum. Honestly, was that too hard to come up examples above on your own ? We talk and talk and talk about limitless possibilities of pharm.D degree but when it comes down to admittance, somehow no one can't see past basic retail experience.

When it comes down to pharm experience - it's crucial but not all mighty end of all some people make it out to be. :rolleyes:

I know people who dropped out of pharm school even after getting pharmacy experience and having thoroughly explored the field and I know people like myself who got admitted virtually with no experience aside from shadowing and are sucessfully finishing first year. ;) :rolleyes:

:thumbup:

There are very limited opportunities to get first hand experience due to credential, liability, and privacy/legal issues. Sometimes, the best one could do is read up on it and talk with pharmacists in those roles.
 
There are people in my class who have pharmacy experience, but they don't seem to take things seriously or represent the profession well by being so unprofessional in class or at certain events.

Then there are others who have little or no experience, but they know how to respect others and be polite when they need to be. They also know how to be a professional even without having worked in a pharmacy.

So I think we need to specify what people should be getting from their work experiences before pharmacy school, if that's what we want to discuss.

I think a lot of this probably just comes with maturity. Age is a factor, but of course we all know people mature at different rates too...
 
Hello everyone, I know there're a lot of information on this forum, and I am really trying hard to search, but I still have a couple quick questions here hope some kind people on here can help :)

I graduated with an econ degree from UC Berkeley last december, so I have not taken most of the prereqs, so I'm trying to take them in community college. Is this acceptable for pharmacy schools? or do I have to go back to Berkeley to take the prereqs? Or will this be my disadvantage since I didn't take the prereqs while I was in berkeley?

For the schools that do not require PCAT, do they just not look at it at all? or is it in a way as.. we don't require it, but it's recommended?

Thank you!

PS.. sorry I edited my original post, because I found the thread about pharmacy experience as someone has suggested.
 
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Hello everyone, I am desperately trying to get some pharmacy experience, but I don't know where to start. I have tried CVS or Walgreen, but they don't seem to be hiring right now.

I have zero pharmacy experience though, and obviously no tech license or anything, so anyone has any suggestions?

Volunteer or work, anything would work.

Thanks!

I tried the cold call thing today and talked to a nice lady who stated that she wasn't sure someone could volunteer "back here" which she meant as reference to behind the counter, however, she told me if I'd called a few days sooner she would've hired me for a position as a tech, lol. Geez. My luck. I've got a lot of free time in the afternoon right now so that would've been great. She said she just hired two girls who were also going to school for prepharm.

In the words of Maxwell Smart, secret agent 86, "Missed it by that much."
 
Why don't you merge this with the main rx exp. thread, lea?

EDIT: just realized there probably isn't one, is there? *hint hint*
EDIT 2: Ah, there is one. Thanks!
 
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I worked at giant pharm. for 1 month, before school started (rite before spring semester) and I worked mostly as a cashier and i was training to become a pharm tech, when I found out i was obligated to committ a certain amount of hours even during spring semester, so I quit.

I volunteered at a hospital for 2 months in shock trauma.
I volunteered/worked at a dental lab for over 3 years.
I worked at dental office for 3 months

So how will pharm schools look at this? I have more hours in other professional fields than pharm...
 
I worked at giant pharm. for 1 month, before school started (rite before spring semester) and I worked mostly as a cashier and i was training to become a pharm tech, when I found out i was obligated to committ a certain amount of hours even during spring semester, so I quit.

I volunteered at a hospital for 2 months in shock trauma.
I volunteered/worked at a dental lab for over 3 years.
I worked at dental office for 3 months

So how will pharm schools look at this? I have more hours in other professional fields than pharm...

You have to be able to show that you can commit to something for quite some time, instead of jumping from one place to another every few months (unless those places really didn't work out for you).
 
You have to be able to show that you can commit to something for quite some time, instead of jumping from one place to another every few months (unless those places really didn't work out for you).

So they will look at it def. as a negative thing?
I'm applying this cycle, already started pharmcas...
any suggestions on what I could do?
i'm currently studying for pcat (jun 19) so i feel i shouldn't work until thats done...
 
So they will look at it def. as a negative thing?
I'm applying this cycle, already started pharmcas...
any suggestions on what I could do?
i'm currently studying for pcat (jun 19) so i feel i shouldn't work until thats done...
Kinda not hard to listen to Bob here.

Don't quit. If you can't handle having a part-time pharmacy tech job for 2 semesters, while you go to school, (and unless you're taking an ungodly amount of hours in the next 2 semesters), well, it doesn't show that you can take huge amounts of pressure. After your PCAT, find a pharm tech job and stick with it.

The only good thing about your varied experiences are that -- varied.
 
Kinda not hard to listen to Bob here.

Don't quit. If you can't handle having a part-time pharmacy tech job for 2 semesters, while you go to school, (and unless you're taking an ungodly amount of hours in the next 2 semesters), well, it doesn't show that you can take huge amounts of pressure. After your PCAT, find a pharm tech job and stick with it.

The only good thing about your varied experiences are that -- varied.

yeah, during the semesters i work at a dental lab...and they pay a good amount of tuition... i kno it won't help me in the long run, but i'd have no means of any income then :(

i guess i should quit as soon as i find pharm tech work and stick with that til after i get into a pharm school :xf:
 
Man was I the only one who had a tough time getting pharmacy experience prior to applying? All the hospitals in southern california that I went to told me that we weren't "allowed" to volunteer in the pharmacy because those positions all went to interns, a pharmacist at CVS looked all annoyed when I went in with my resume and told me they were in a hiring freeze, and Rite-aid told me I was overqualified for a tech position and never called me back.

My only experience ended up being shadowing a pharmacist at Kaiser Permanente and I only got that because of connections through my boyfriend, and I felt bad imposing on her the whole time (because she was in ambulatory care and her job was mostly deskwork) -_-.
 
i am just wondering that i probably need some pharm tech experice to push my application to a better level. i have the certification, but i dont know how to start looking for a pahrm tech job. either austin area or dallas area. anyone can help me? any information would be a big help. :laugh::xf:
 
i am just wondering that i probably need some pharm tech experice to push my application to a better level. i have the certification, but i dont know how to start looking for a pahrm tech job. either austin area or dallas area. anyone can help me? any information would be a big help. :laugh::xf:

just goto any major retail pharmacy and they ask if they're hiring certified techs. i'm DC area and i just went around to CVS, Giant Food, Walgreens, Costco, and even riteaid (going out of business)
 
Hey everyone, I am looking for some pharmacy experience, and came to the forum, and many of you suggested that hospital's the best way to go. But I went to several hospitals, and called many, including VA hospitals, Kaiser permanente, etc, and all of them said no, they don't have volunteers in pharmacy.

So I'm just wondering how did you guys get to volunteer at a hospital pharmacy?

I also called numerous retail pharmacies, and all of them have answers as no. :(
 
Did you ask to speak with the Pharmacy Manager/Director? Or just through volunteer services?

All the hospitals I've contacted have a separate process for volunteering for the Pharmacy.

I finally got into a volunteer opportunity at the VA escorting wheelchait patients to their appointments. I'm hoping to wiggle my way into pharmacy from there. If I don't, I feel like I'm still doing something good.

In this environment, you'll probably need to think of alternative ways to get into the pharmacy!
 
yeah, MD is pretty hard to volunteer at a pharmacy in hospital...usually they require at least pharm tech students (the students that actually goto a technical school for pharm techs)...

I would actually go into the pharmacy and ask for their manager and ask directly because somtimes the ppl working just dont know... or you can goto independent pharmacies and ask to shadow a pharmacist (realli its just working without getting paid....)

hope it works! otherwise go out of ur area, 30-40 min. drive is still ok!! :)
 
What is the best way to be able to shadow a pharmacist or volunteer for a pharmacy? Where do you recommend getting experience at? retail stores or hospitals?
 
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"What is the best way to shadow a pharmacist or volunteer at a pharmacy? ":D



:oops:

Maybe I was the only one who didn't fully understood the question.

OP, check out local hospitals to see if they have a structured volunteering program. It might be easier to volunteer/shadow independent pharmacists though.
 
Talk to pharmacists individually and they can give you some advice. I've found that it worked best when I shadowed before starting pharmacy school.
 
I called a pharmacy in a small town and asked them if I could shadow there. They contacted the owner and he said I could. I learned a lot about community pharmacies and it was an interesting experience. I called a grocery store pharmacy and they said no because of privacy issues. I didn't have to sign any papers or anything at the community pharmacy. So I would just give a few places that you are interested in a call and see what happens!
 
So is it better to call a hospital pharmacist rather than a retail store pharmacist?
 
So is it better to call a hospital pharmacist rather than a retail store pharmacist?

Hospitals typically have a volunteer office that you have to call. You just have to ask to be placed in the pharmacy. Right now at my hospital, there is a LOOOOOONNGGGG waiting list to become a volunteer in the pharmacy. Lots of students trying to cram in their last EC's. :rolleyes:
 
Hello all. I am looking for advice on securing a job in a pharmacy to get experience for my pharm school application which I am planning to submit next year. I am a returning student finally pursuing what I am passionate about. I am 26, but have been on my own since 17 so I have quite a bit of work experience. My resume is nearly all sales related though and I am looking for any advice as to what I should be highlighting in order to get in with a pharmacy. I have been quite successful in outside sales of several types of technology so I am very comfortable working with people, explaining things, and answering questions. I am very involved with our local Chamber of Commerce, serving as VP of a young leaders professional group and also on the Ambassador Committee for membership. I also serve on the Advisory Council for the Salvation Army. If you need any more details let me know, I just don't want to bore you with every aspect of my resume.

In your experience, what makes an applicant stand out in the pile of resumes that a pharmacy receives? What types of information should I include in a cover letter? For example, I currently have a 4.0 in my pre-pharm course work. Does that help to list? I am not the type to toot my own horn too much, but I know I need to sell my skills especially in this job market. I would like to begin submitting resumes this week before the fall semester starts. Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thank you!
 
It sounds like you're talking about retail/work experience and not volunteer experience.

If that's the case, the best single thing you can do if get C.PhT certified. You do this by taking an extremely piss-easy exam called the PTCE. To find out more about this exam, go to PTCB.org.

The next thing you'll need to do is cold-call and walk into pharmacies in your area, and ask to speak with the pharmacy manager or RPh in charge. They will be able to "low-down" it for you.

For volunteer experience, your best bet are local hospitals and Red Cross chapters. If you can get into a gift store or some other crappy volunteer job @ a hospital, it accomplishes two things. 1, it gets your foot in the door and 2, it is something to put on your CV anyway.

HTH
 
Thanks, Passion4Sci. I will track down a study guide for the PTCB and get that out of the way. This is the 3rd time in my life that I have completely changed industries so I apologize that I am absolutely clueless as what all the steps are.

I looked up the requirements for my state (Indiana) and the website says I also have to have proof of a training course or a training guide from an employer. Do most employers offer training? I really don't want to try to squeeze in a training program as well as my 17 credit hours this fall for pre-pharm. I have no problem cold calling pharmacies, I just don't want to look like an idiot when I show up. I hate feeling unprepared.

Thanks for your input!
 
Thanks, Passion4Sci. I will track down a study guide for the PTCB and get that out of the way. This is the 3rd time in my life that I have completely changed industries so I apologize that I am absolutely clueless as what all the steps are.

I looked up the requirements for my state (Indiana) and the website says I also have to have proof of a training course or a training guide from an employer. Do most employers offer training? I really don't want to try to squeeze in a training program as well as my 17 credit hours this fall for pre-pharm. I have no problem cold calling pharmacies, I just don't want to look like an idiot when I show up. I hate feeling unprepared.

Thanks for your input!


Taken directly from Indiana BoP website:

"has completed an Indiana Board approved training and education program or has passed an Indiana Board approved examination [currently there are two: PTCB or ExCPT]."

As far as changing industries and stuff, you're not alone there. I've gone through 2 transitions myself and Pharmacy will be my third.
 
I would certainly take the PTCB exam through self study rather than going to a training program or school.

Apply to as many pharmacies as you can to land an interview opportunity. Keep your availability open too if you can. When I was looking through applications, I knew that we were always needing more people to work on weekends and evenings and that fit perfectly with a student's schedule.
 
any tips on and how and where?
especially for CA residents.
I've been looking around and the most obvious would be to work in a pharmacy but it seems the majority only hire pharm techs and require or strongly prefer you to be already be certified as a pharm tech. is there any other ways to get experience without having to be certified as a pharm tech?
 
Alright so I'm starting to freak out about this a little bit because my application deadline is in December, but I'm wondering what is more important on the application: pharmacy work experience or pharmacy volunteer experience?

The problem is that I have worked in a hospital pharmacy for about 2.5 years but have almost no volunteer experience since I was at work and school so much! (avg. 24 hours/week + 17 credit workload normally, and 32-40 hours/week + ~8 credit workload during the summer). Is this something that will look bad on my application or will the volunteering not matter so much because I have been actually working at a pharmacy?

Also, does anyone know how far back you can go with volunteer experience on PharmCAS? I have about 150 hours of pharmacy volunteer experience but it's about 2 years old...


I realize that this all depends on which school I'm applying to but I just want some outside advice about this. :) Thanks!
 
No difference in terms of pharmacy experience. It would be nice to have some sort of volunteer experience (in pharmacy or not).

How far back? Anytime during college and after is fine unless they're > 5 yrs. Those should be secondary to more recent activities.
 
Personally, I would think that work experience is probably preferred, only because you probably have more responsibilities, but I'm sure all schools are different so you really don't know. In either case, I'm sure ANY type of pharmacy experience is looked upon favorably. By the looks of it, it definitely looks like you have competitive experience hours.

For pharmCAS, I believe that anything you did during your undergrad and onwards is fair game to use. I wouldn't use anything from high school.
 
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