Volunteering Hours Needed?

[H7779]

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I am scheduled for a four hours shift every Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m in a hospital pharmacy and my first day is tomorrow. I did the math and if I continue to volunteer for two years while I attend Community College I will end up with around 400 hours. Is 400 hours good enough for pharmacy school or do they want more? Do they need volunteer and work hours in a pharmacy too? Also what can I expect to be doing as a volunteer in a hospital pharmacy?

Thanks for the help.

 

[tehshield]

As a volunteer in a hospital pharmacy setting I'm thinking you would have a limited role due to liability reasons, but it may depend from hospital to hospital. Just having experience in a pharmacy setting is a plus because it shows admissions committees commitment to the profession as well as demonstrating that you do know the inner workings of the pharmacy setting and can deal with it.

 

[H7779]

As a volunteer in a hospital pharmacy setting I'm thinking you would have a limited role due to liability reasons, but it may depend from hospital to hospital. Just having experience in a pharmacy setting is a plus because it shows admissions committees commitment to the profession as well as demonstrating that you do know the inner workings of the pharmacy setting and can deal with it.

Thank you for your input.

 

[NejixRockS]

I am currently a volunteer in a hospital, and like tehshield said, things can get a lil bit limited. When I started I could barely do anything, but now that it has been a few months, and I haven't done any "major" mistake, they let me do more things, especially if they are really busy. Ofc, everything I do is double-checked, but i dont mind that at all 🙂

 

[H7779]

I am currently a volunteer in a hospital, and like tehshield said, things can get a lil bit limited. When I started I could barely do anything, but now that it has been a few months, and I haven't done any "major" mistake, they let me do more things, especially if they are really busy. Ofc, everything I do is double-checked, but i dont mind that at all 🙂

What other things are you allowed to do know that they have "trusted" you?

 

[alprazolamborghini]

there is no need of volunteering....for pharmacy schools...

 

[NejixRockS]

What other things are you allowed to do know that they have "trusted" you?

I do rounds around the hospital delivering the medications. When a nurse needs to sign something, I usually have to go search for him/her around the hospital. I also organize IVs and medications in the stockroom or do stuff in the computer, and when things are not that busy, I look for expiration dates on medication (dont like this last thing) 🙁

 

[rikonyan]

Volunteer hours aren't usually required for pharmacy schools. (at least any pharmacy schools I've seen). But it's still a good thing to do so the admissions committee can see that you are truly committed in the field of pharmacy. I've volunteered at the pharmacy for a while now and at first all they had me do was return pills/tablets to their appropriate places on the shelves. Since I'm also a registered pharmacy technician, they had me actually filling out prescriptions (of course under supervision) sometimes. I've also got to make a compound once by mixing some solutions so that was different. For the most part, I usually just restock syringes, IVs, pills, tablets, injections, and just simple stuff like that because there's really only a limited of things to do at the pharmacy as a volunteer.

During that time though, if you talk to your supervisor a lot or even a pharmacist and they see you regularly, you can maybe even ask them if they can write you one of your LORs you'll need eventually.

 

[H7779]

Volunteer hours aren't usually required for pharmacy schools. (at least any pharmacy schools I've seen). But it's still a good thing to do so the admissions committee can see that you are truly committed in the field of pharmacy. I've volunteered at the pharmacy for a while now and at first all they had me do was return pills/tablets to their appropriate places on the shelves. Since I'm also a registered pharmacy technician, they had me actually filling out prescriptions (of course under supervision) sometimes. I've also got to make a compound once by mixing some solutions so that was different. For the most part, I usually just restock syringes, IVs, pills, tablets, injections, and just simple stuff like that because there's really only a limited of things to do at the pharmacy as a volunteer.

During that time though, if you talk to your supervisor a lot or even a pharmacist and they see you regularly, you can maybe even ask them if they can write you one of your LORs you'll need eventually.

University of Arizona does