Research vs. pharm tech job

[dopedopamine]

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Hello,

I'm looking for advice about what I should do over the next summer. I am a junior applying in fall 2011 so this is pretty much my last chance to squeeze in one more extracurricular onto my resume.

Should I look for a pharmacy technician job/volunteer as a pharmacy technician or accept a research assistant position? Which would look better to the admission committees?

Factors that I am considering are:
-I already have 1 semester of pharmacy volunteering, 4 hrs/week.
-I have never done research and would like to try it. The job I got is a pretty good one too. I'll actually be working with analytical chem equipment as opposed to just washing petri dishes.

Thank you very much for your input! 🙂

 

[whatbout2morrow]

Hello,

I'm looking for advice about what I should do over the next summer. I am a junior applying in fall 2011 so this is pretty much my last chance to squeeze in one more extracurricular onto my resume.

Should I look for a pharmacy technician job/volunteer as a pharmacy technician or accept a research assistant position? Which would look better to the admission committees?

Factors that I am considering are:
-I already have 1 semester of pharmacy volunteering, 4 hrs/week.
-I have never done research and would like to try it. The job I got is a pretty good one too. I'll actually be working with analytical chem equipment as opposed to just washing petri dishes.

Thank you very much for your input! 🙂

Research would definitely add a bit more variety to your application. It would help especially if you are contemplating a career in research after pharmacy school.

A pharmacy job somewhere along the way in the future is something I would recommend you look into also in case you are also considering a career in retail/hospital. Volunteering and actually working in a pharmacy are two different things in my opinion.

 

[ARossbach]

I did not have any pharmacy experience, and most schools don't require it. I however did have excellent research experience for over 2 years, and had a couple papers published. Beats the hell out of pharm tech work.

 

[spacecowgirl]

As someone who did both, I would choose research.

 

[spacecowgirl]

Also, I would make sure that your research experience includes understanding lit searches, research design, stats and writing up results vs. just perfecting pipette technique.

 

[EmuPro]

Definitely research, you'll learn whether or not you like doing it, and whether or you'd want to pursue a pharmD/PHD. Plus, it'd be a great to talk about in an interview, especially if there is a prof who does something similar to what you did as an undergrad.

 

[dopedopamine]

Thanks for pointing that out spacecowgirl! I have been working at the research job for a few weeks now and while I am learning a lot about how to use the nifty equipment, I feel like I'm missing out on the academic part. I will definitely ask my grad student if I can help her out with lit research and processing our data.

Could you elaborate on what you mean by research design? Do you mean thinking about controls and randomization?

 

[spacecowgirl]

Thanks for pointing that out spacecowgirl! I have been working at the research job for a few weeks now and while I am learning a lot about how to use the nifty equipment, I feel like I'm missing out on the academic part. I will definitely ask my grad student if I can help her out with lit research and processing our data.

Could you elaborate on what you mean by research design? Do you mean thinking about controls and randomization?

Why is the study set up the way it is? What is the current literature in that field? What statistical tests will be used to analyze the data and why? I've never done petri-dish types of research, always biopsych stuff, so I don't know how that research is designed but I would imagine a lot of things are the same. What are the endpoints and why? What is the background for determining those endpoints? What is the application of the research? Why are you using the methods and equipment that you are (not just because the PI said so).

If you're not doing that and understanding why everything is being done in that particular manner, you're not doing something that any other technician couldn't do.