What to do for Pharm Experience?

[smileyman22336]

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So I am applying for pharmacy school which begins in Fall 2012. Pretty much, I need to get the requirements fulfilled for my application by the time it gets submitted, which is late in this year I believe. During fall I will finish all of the pre-reqs for pharmacy school. My gpa isn't that bad, the cumulative is a 3.4 so far. I do not have any pharmacy experience or volunteering experience at all. What can I do? I don't know the first thing about doing pharmacy tech and will I even have time. I'm taking 16 credit hours during fall including Genetics and OChem 2 so I need to put a lot of effort into that but I do not want to neglect having a strong experience. Should I still go for the Pharm tech and work very few months...is there anyway to do something else for experience or just volunteer? I got a few months to do this, pretty much till the end of this year so I want something I can do from now till then.

 

[armorking]

So I am applying for pharmacy school which begins in Fall 2012. Pretty much, I need to get the requirements fulfilled for my application by the time it gets submitted, which is late in this year I believe. During fall I will finish all of the pre-reqs for pharmacy school. My gpa isn't that bad, the cumulative is a 3.4 so far. I do not have any pharmacy experience or volunteering experience at all. What can I do? I don't know the first thing about doing pharmacy tech and will I even have time. I'm taking 16 credit hours during fall including Genetics and OChem 2 so I need to put a lot of effort into that but I do not want to neglect having a strong experience. Should I still go for the Pharm tech and work very few months...is there anyway to do something else for experience or just volunteer? I got a few months to do this, pretty much till the end of this year so I want something I can do from now till then.

***Pop's fingers***

Let's detail what you should do:

1) Start filling out applications!!! Trust me, the sooner you start taking a look at them, the less stressed you will be later on in the application process. Once the PharmCAS or a particular school's 2011-2012 app becomes available, jump on it! I didn't start out early and it cost me a real decent shot at a spot at OU (which turned into a wait-list).

2) I don't know if you have taken the PCAT (or need to if you are from CA) but definitely start working on that as well. I saw from previous posts that you will take pre-cal and organic II but if you grab a PCAT prep book, they will go over what you more than likely already know. It will hopefully just be a refresher and pre-cal will definitely help for the quant section.

3) Volunteering no matter what will look strong. Pick something you would like to help out and both you and the organization will benefit tremendously. This is always a plus for pharm schools.

4) I have been reading posts that pharm techs are having a bit of trouble finding jobs at the moment. I took the PTCB exam last May and found a job the end of August. I worked for 3 months before I applied to my first school and had 300+ hours of work experience. Trust me, you will gain more than enough when you apply as long as you can get a job soon.

I used this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Revi...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281239537&sr=1-1

I also used this website for practice before the exam:

http://www.pharmacy-tech-study.com/practicetest.html

Hopefully all this helps and if there is anything else you have in mind, don't hesitate to ask!!!

 

[Greggy Weggy]

I'm in the same boat, I have no Pharmacy experience or volunteering. I am applying in the summer after the July PCAT. As long as you have a good reason to why you want become a Pharmacist and your grades are up there, then I don't see a problem. Unless, of course, the Pharmacy school requires experience.

 

[smileyman22336]

***Pop's fingers***

Let's detail what you should do:

1) Start filling out applications!!! Trust me, the sooner you start taking a look at them, the less stressed you will be later on in the application process. Once the PharmCAS or a particular school's 2011-2012 app becomes available, jump on it! I didn't start out early and it cost me a real decent shot at a spot at OU (which turned into a wait-list).

2) I don't know if you have taken the PCAT (or need to if you are from CA) but definitely start working on that as well. I saw from previous posts that you will take pre-cal and organic II but if you grab a PCAT prep book, they will go over what you more than likely already know. It will hopefully just be a refresher and pre-cal will definitely help for the quant section.

3) Volunteering no matter what will look strong. Pick something you would like to help out and both you and the organization will benefit tremendously. This is always a plus for pharm schools.

4) I have been reading posts that pharm techs are having a bit of trouble finding jobs at the moment. I took the PTCB exam last May and found a job the end of August. I worked for 3 months before I applied to my first school and had 300+ hours of work experience. Trust me, you will gain more than enough when you apply as long as you can get a job soon.

I used this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Revi...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281239537&sr=1-1

I also used this website for practice before the exam:

http://www.pharmacy-tech-study.com/practicetest.html

Hopefully all this helps and if there is anything else you have in mind, don't hesitate to ask!!!

Thanks so much for your advice! I am gonna do this pharmacy tech thing, it's worth it!

 

[smileyman22336]

I'm really having a hard time navigating the website. How do I sign up for the pharmacy tech if I've never had an inch of experience or training in pharmacy? The website and registering for the examination is a big confusing.

 

[armorking]

I'm really having a hard time navigating the website. How do I sign up for the pharmacy tech if I've never had an inch of experience or training in pharmacy? The website and registering for the examination is a big confusing.

You should be able to sign up from this page:

https://www2.proexam.org/PTCB/Candidate/%28X%281%29S%284ry0lu45objuhfvzoudcmrzs%29%29/Default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Hope this helps!

P.S. This is my hundredth post!!! =)

 

[SVB99]

While it isn't a requirement always to have pharmacy experience, I would recommend as much experience as you can possibility get irregardless of your grades. Experience will help you in many ways:

1) To really help you confirm that pharmacy is where you want to be

2) It'll also help boost up your application if you're lacking in certain areas

and 3) to give you something to talk about during your interview.

I for one and hopeful that pharmacy experience becomes a mandatory requirement for acceptance into any pharmacy program. As it is right now, most of the better established schools prefer (even strongly) it.