Pharmacy Shadowing Question?

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Lonestar Chris

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For those of you who have shadowed in a pharmacy, what are the steps?

Can you just walk into any pharmacy and ask the pharmacist if they will allow you to shadow them?

Is it hard to find a pharmacist that will allow you to do so?

Hospital vs retail?

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Not usually hard to find a pharmacist - in my experience, most of them are good natured, willing to help out students make an informed decision on choosing the profession as their career path. I would first go to the pharmacy in question and ask to speak with a pharmacist, or pharmacy manager if available. Then explain that you are Pre-Pharmacy and interested in shadowing him/her. You could potentially call and ask for the pharmacy manager, but I would go in first - a more personal touch goes a long way.

Get both hospital and retail if you can. One is better than none of course, but it would be good for you to see as many avenues of pharmacy practice as possible. If there is a COP near your current location (or at your school), ask one of the pharmacy professor/faculty if you can shadow them on their clinical practice - this would be more exciting than a traditional general hospital job as you would probably be rounding with physicians, but seeing general hospital would give you a good idea of what the majority of hospital pharmacists do (this is assuming the COP is on a medical campus).

Ask and you (usually) shall receive... but you have to start by asking.

(If they deny your request, be polite, ask if perhaps they know of another location or pharmacist in which this would be possible, and thank them for their time. They could be a potential partner/employer someday - pharmacy is a small, small world).
 
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I am definitely going to visit a few places this weekend then. Thank you so much for all the information. I sincerely appreciate it.
 
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