volunteering?

[une]

I am confused about where i can volunteer and going about it? I tried retail but they gave me some bs no. Where did you volunteer and how'd you get that spot?

 

[Cookiecatfromouterspace]

Hey, I go to a school in Florida that is associated with a Hospital where there are a lot of opportunities to volunteer in various departments such as pharmacy, emergency, pediatrics, etc. I would recommend you find out if your college/university has such a program. At my school it is hard to get into a pharmacy volunteer position through the hospital because there are many students that apply. In order to get in, I applied during the sumer once many students are not in school and there are vacant positions. If your school has no such programs then i would go to a local hospital and ask if they have or need volunteers. I dont think you will land a volunteer position in retail because there are some rules agains that I believe and many retail pharmacies do not even allow shadowing.

 

[oldstock]

Hey, I go to a school in Florida that is associated with a Hospital where there are a lot of opportunities to volunteer in various departments such as pharmacy, emergency, pediatrics, etc. I would recommend you find out if your college/university has such a program. At my school it is hard to get into a pharmacy volunteer position through the hospital because there are many students that apply. In order to get in, I applied during the sumer once many students are not in school and there are vacant positions. If your school has no such programs then i would go to a local hospital and ask if they have or need volunteers. I dont think you will land a volunteer position in retail because there are some rules agains that I believe and many retail pharmacies do not even allow shadowing.

I know that are some states now require you to register with the State Board of Pharmacy as a Pharmacy technician if you have access to prescriptions and medications. This rule applies for all pharmacies, including retail and hospital pharmacies. Most retail pharmacies are busy and if they already have enough help, they do not want a help a student because they will have to commit their time to teaching you and also go to all that paperwork. Hospital pharmacies, esp. college/university hospital pharmacies are more accustomed and inclined to teaching, thus more likely to help out students to learn about the field of pharmacy.

If you just want to shadow, you do not need to register with the State Board of Pharmacy as a pharmacy tech. In my experience, you have to sign a confidentiality agreement with the pharmacy where you do the shadowing because you will hear and see things about patients.

For me, I went around the whole town to ask for two months if I could volunteer or shadow in pharmacy. I lost count of how many NO's I got, but at the end a pharmacist in a local university hospital pharmacy said yes to me and I started shadowing with her. She subsequently introduced me to other pharmacies where I could apply to be a volunteer and/or get a paid job as a pharmacy tech.

There might be states that do not require you to do anything but sign a confidentiality agreement to volunteer. You might need to call and check with the State Board of Pharmacy where you live.

 

[Chriskahn]

I volunteered with my local police department and participated in the drug take back program that happens nationwide a couple of times a year. Its not a lot of hours but it shows that you care about your community, it actually makes a difference, and its pharmacy related. It has all of the good qualities that makes volunteering worth while and not just something you do just to try to get into pharmacy school.

I have already been accepted and I'm still volunteering at the next event. It's actually a good time.

 

[NejixRockS]

I am volunteering at a local hospital. I knew one of the general managers, who is in charge of the hospital's pharmacy and he's letting me help. The pharmacists and the techs are really nice and whenever they have a little bit of time they teach me something new. When things are really busy, they usually put me to work too, which I love! Ofc, they triple check everything I do, and that's a given. There cannot be any mistakes, and thanks god I haven't done any until now 🙂
But If you dont have some sort of connections, it might be a little bit hard to find a volunteering job in a hospital, but its not impossible. I have a friend that is volunteering at another hospital and he had no connections, it took him some work to get there though.