Will being a certified PT help with getting into a residency?

[Pharmacy Kid]

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Hi, I am planning take the ACSM exam for personal trainers. Ever since I started college, I have been passionate about physical fitness. I am not involved in any pharmacy organizations mainly because they're just not interesting. I already was majorly involved in undergrad but mostly just went through the motions.

My question is if I became ACSM certified and started my own little side business while in pharmacy school, how would it look? If Epic or Zyvox saw the following on a CV, would it help, hinder, or not affect my chances of getting into the residency at all?

PharmaFitness (Name of Business)
ACSM Certified Personal Trainer
December 2008- May 2011

 

[Glycerin]

Hi, I am planning take the ACSM exam for personal trainers. Ever since I started college, I have been passionate about physical fitness. I am not involved in any pharmacy organizations mainly because they're just not interesting. I already was majorly involved in undergrad but mostly just went through the motions.

My question is if I became ACSM certified and started my own little side business while in pharmacy school, how would it look? If Epic or Zyvox saw the following on a CV, would it help, hinder, or not affect my chances of getting into the residency at all?

PharmaFitness (Name of Business)
ACSM Certified Personal Trainer
December 2008- May 2011

They may wonder why you're in pharmacy and not just personal training. 😉 Grades and letters of recommendation are part of the equation, too, but if you have no leadership and/or membership in anything pharmacy related, I personally would have a hard time considering you compared to others with similar grades and letters but had pharmacy extracurricular experience.

 

[Pharmacy Kid]

Glycerin, I understand what you're saying. My grades are not super, but solid. I am a member of VASP but not really involved (I'm sure that paying dues and attending 2 meetings a year doesn't count).

It's just that getting into a residency seems like another set of hoops to jump through. I knew how to play the game and get into pharmacy school (get >3.5 gpa, develop relationships with 2 teachers for LOR's, be involved with 2-3 EC's, don't screw up the interview, yada, yada, yada). Now to jump all over again? I'm getting shin splints.

No really, I just wanna do something I enjoy besides studying and pretending to be involved in pharmacy EC's. I'm thinking I can somehow combine being a trainer with the expertise of drug and nutrition knowledge (prevent drug-exercise intxns, tell people how much protein to take, etc).