Pharmacy Volunteering/Shadowing

[pharm357]

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Hello,
I am interested in attending pharmacy school in future and would like to do some volunteering/shadowing a pharmacist at any pharmacy.
I called several pharmacies in my area but seems they do not want random people in the pharmacy.
Where do I go? I am willing to do some general labor in the pharmacy just to strengthen my application.

Any advice. Please direct me to the right place.
God bless you all.

 

[CMUchicka]

Try hospital pharmacy, call their volunteer dept. and ask if they take volunteer for pharmacy.I dont think retail places take volunteer. And above all , if you actually want to learn what goes around in everyday life of pharmacy, why not get certification and pick up job. This will give you better understanding than volunteering and you will get paid too. I volunteer in hospital and i haven't found it to be useful to be honest. All i do is stocking and filing, nothing so interesting.

 

[pharm357]

if you stock and fill bottles then i think that what pharmacy technician or assistant do, right?
What are you trying to do beside what are you doing now?
Do you mean working as a pharmacist is not that interesting for you. Sorry if I missed understood you.

 

[CMUchicka]

No i mean to say restocking supplies, doing paperwork and other clerical stuff. They wont let you fill prescriptions.
What are you trying to do beside what are you doing now?
I always wanted to shadow pharmacist there since i was into clinical side of pharmacy but they dont allow us to do it.
Do you mean working as a pharmacist is not that interesting for you. Sorry if I missed understood you.[/QUOTE]
I mean to say volunteering in hospital is like labor job, you go there do all mindless work and leave. But it depends on hospitals but most hospitals dont let their volunteer get involve much. You would better of getting tech job, this way you can get shadowing and get paid too.

 

[KK06]

I recently shadowed a pharmacist at Walgreen's. All you need to do is call the store, ask if they participate in the "job shadow" program, explain why you want to shadow, and see if you could for a few days (like 3-4 hr at a time). I just had to fill out paperwork once I was there but it was definitely easier than trying to shadow in an independent pharmacy.
I also volunteered at a hospital pharmacy. But it was in a college town, so all of the college-aged hospital volunteers had to signup at the beginning of each "term" (like spring, summer, ect.). I volunteered over the summer and basically shadowed the technicians. This really helped me understand the day-to-day activities that occur in a hospital setting, but it was not helpful recommendation-wise, as I was with the techs the entire time.