Volunteers Pre-Pharmacy

[Suzy02]

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Hi guys, so this is my little story! I am from Cuba and in Cuba I graduated from Computer Science Engineering. When I came to the US, I decided to change my career and do pharmacy, so I started with my pre-requisites, right now I am finishing all my classes to apply in a pharmacy school. I am doing my PCAT in September. Well the point of all this is I do not have any experience in a pharmacy, I have applied in several retail pharmacies but they rejected me (basically because I don't have experience and I don't have the tech certification), well I decided to volunteering at the hospital so I can get a little experience (I believe) and get ready to tech certification,,, and they say yes! Today is my first day so for those who had volunteered before what are the pros and cons, and some duties? Thanks so much. 🙂🙂🙂

 

[Giannag]

i volunteered in an inpatient pharmacy at a hospital and I liked it a lot but i think it depends on how relaxed the volunteer program is. My mom worked at the hospital so people in the pharmacy were a little more inclined to give me duties that may not have been given to a new volunteer. But i was allowed to go on runs to all the floors with the techs, batch in the IV room, organize medicine, and sometimes package it. All with supervision of course!

 

[Suzy02]

thanksss so much, actually tomorrow is my first day, lets see! Thanks

 

[Pharm3110]

You should also consider shadowing pharmacists to get more exposure. Look for pharmacists who work at different areas of practice than what you are volunteering. Shadowing won't give you much experience, because basically you will be standing there for a few hours observing the pharmacists without actually doing anything. However, shadowing will expose you to other environments that you may potentially work in in the future, making you more appreciative and knowledgeable about the field. I volunteered at a independent retail so I decided to shadow a compounding pharmacy and a nuclear pharmacy. They both were an eye-opening experience for me and I learned a lot. I put those on my application and the interviewers seemed really interested and asked me questions on it, which I think makes me stand out a little.

 

[Suzy02]

You should also consider shadowing pharmacists to get more exposure. Look for pharmacists who work at different areas of practice than what you are volunteering. Shadowing won't give you much experience, because basically you will be standing there for a few hours observing the pharmacists without actually doing anything. However, shadowing will expose you to other environments that you may potentially work in in the future, making you more appreciative and knowledgeable about the field. I volunteered at a independent retail so I decided to shadow a compounding pharmacy and a nuclear pharmacy. They both were an eye-opening experience for me and I learned a lot. I put those on my application and the interviewers seemed really interested and asked me questions on it, which I think makes me stand out a little.

omg thanks, I was wondering what was that "shadowing a pharmacist thing" that everybody was talking about lol and I just got the answer thanks so much, I will for sure. today is my first day, I will try to learn as much as I can. Thanks once again.

 

[Suzy02]

You should also consider shadowing pharmacists to get more exposure. Look for pharmacists who work at different areas of practice than what you are volunteering. Shadowing won't give you much experience, because basically you will be standing there for a few hours observing the pharmacists without actually doing anything. However, shadowing will expose you to other environments that you may potentially work in in the future, making you more appreciative and knowledgeable about the field. I volunteered at a independent retail so I decided to shadow a compounding pharmacy and a nuclear pharmacy. They both were an eye-opening experience for me and I learned a lot. I put those on my application and the interviewers seemed really interested and asked me questions on it, which I think makes me stand out a little.

hey, I do not want to bother you, but since you are applying to schools, I just have a question. Right now I am in Texas (finishing my pre-pharmacy) but I am going back to Miami, FL as soon as I am done here. I have two schools that I want to apply, Nova and UF (both are in Florida) but I want schools out of state too, could you recommend me other schools? my GPA is 3.8 right now, I do not have a bachelor, so I am guessing no CA schools right? thanks so much

 

[Pharm3110]

omg thanks, I was wondering what was that "shadowing a pharmacist thing" that everybody was talking about lol and I just got the answer thanks so much, I will for sure. today is my first day, I will try to learn as much as I can. Thanks once again.

You are very welcome. My tips for shadowing: Come to see them and ask them in person. It will make it harder for them to say no than just email or call. Good luck. 🙂

hey, I do not want to bother you, but since you are applying to schools, I just have a question. Right now I am in Texas (finishing my pre-pharmacy) but I am going back to Miami, FL as soon as I am done here. I have two schools that I want to apply, Nova and UF (both are in Florida) but I want schools out of state too, could you recommend me other schools? my GPA is 3.8 right now, I do not have a bachelor, so I am guessing no CA schools right? thanks so much

Wow, 3.8 GPA is really impressive. With that GPA, I believe you will do great when you apply, but still make sure to improve other things (extracurricular activities, leadership, ...) as well.
I will have my bachelor degree so when I apply I didn't really look at that requirement at the schools I applied because I would qualify either way. But in CA, I know for sure that Uiniversity at the Pacific (UOP) in Stockton does not require bachelor degree. It has an accelerated program (3 years) and is very respected in CA. In fact, this cycle, there are people got accepted to UOP without bachelor. I think you should consider this school if you want an out-of-state school in CA. If so, apply really early, because it seems like people without bachelor did better when they apply earlier. However, I would double-check the price among these schools if I were you. I don't know how much it is in Nova and UF, but UOP is quite expensive. Give yourself plenty of time to think it through 🙂