Purpose of Pharmacy Experience

[Ash of S Mart]

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I was wondering what people's thoughts were on pharmacy experience before getting into a program. I have an interview with the University of Utah in a week and I am nervous about my lack of experience. I have some shadowing experience but not a lot.
Do they want you to have experience so you can do better in the program or something like that. Or, is it more that they want you to have exposure to the field so that you know that pharmacy is what you really want to do? If that is the case then I might be ok, because I didn't make a sure decision on pharmacy until I shadowed a pharmacist. My shadowing experiences are what made me sure that pharmacy was right for me.
Thoughts?

 

[appalpharm]

to answer your question, i think they mostly just want you to know what you're getting into. if you are invited to interview chances are you already have the grades and pcat score that you need to exceed in their program, so they know you are smart. but i think the extra experience is just so you know about the pharmacy profession. i have less experience than you (as in zero experience working/shadowing/volunteering in a pharmacy) but i did a lot of research and have my reasons for wanting to be a pharmacist which helped during the interview. as long as you are educated about the profession and know what you're talking about then you'll be fine!

 

[wgt5]

^^^Agree^^^

I did minimal job shadowing, 10 hours, but my reason for wanting to become a pharmacist is unique and true to the heart. Before you go to an interview, have a strong answer for a “why you chose pharmacy" question. Talk about what job shadowing experience you have, what you learned & liked, and maybe how the pharmacy field would benefit from you.

I think its best to have some shadowing so you can say “I job shadowed a local pharmacist” but research will help a lot because unless you work as a tech or your parents are in the field, you will likely need to research on the topic. Job shadowing is good, but not enough to truly be able to answer pharmacy based questions well.

I think they want you to have somewhat of a clue of what you will be getting yourself into because there are people out there that know nothing about pharmacy or every researched/shadowed in the field.

 

[pharm B]

I'd second everything said above. They're looking for students who will complete the program, and someone who's clueless about the profession might have thoughts about quitting once things get difficult.

 

[Monalyce]

I'm going to be honest, some pharmacy students
are annoyed when their classmates don't know what a statin is. My advice: learn about drugs, medicine etc. Or be prepared for ridicule to a certain degree.

 

[crazybob]

Last year at my interview, I discussed what I had learned from shadowing for 4 hours. The professor I was talking to said that it sounded like I had worked in retail. I guess my response was just that good Or I just pay attention to detail a lot.

 

[Ash of S Mart]

Thanks for the input everybody.
I feel much better about my chances now.

 

[DocAcclamation]

Nothing like hands on experience to find out the ins and outs of the life of a Pharmacist. Also the pay is great for a job with no degree.😀

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