Work experience

[SUNY Geneseo]

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I recently had a chance to talk to two biochem majors at my school, both of whom are graduating seniors. One worked at the University of Tennessee in a Pharmacy over the summer while the other has had two summers of work at a local pharmacy. Also, to graduate from my school as a Biochem major, you need two years of research experience working in professors labs. I don't know specific stats for either of them, but they were "mentors" for freshman biochem majors so I'm guessing they've done pretty well.

Anyways both of them said they were hoping to get into pharmacy school in a few years after they had work experience. If you have worked in a pharmacy during summers along with doing undergraduate research, how much more work experience would you typically need in order to be accepted into one of the top pharmacy programs (ie Buffalo, Ohio State, Michigan)? Thanks for any info!

 

[Transformer]

I recently had a chance to talk to two biochem majors at my school, both of whom are graduating seniors. One worked at the University of Tennessee in a Pharmacy over the summer while the other has had two summers of work at a local pharmacy. Also, to graduate from my school as a Biochem major, you need two years of research experience working in professors labs. I don't know specific stats for either of them, but they were "mentors" for freshman biochem majors so I'm guessing they've done pretty well.

Anyways both of them said they were hoping to get into pharmacy school in a few years after they had work experience. If you have worked in a pharmacy during summers along with doing undergraduate research, how much more work experience would you typically need in order to be accepted into one of the top pharmacy programs (ie Buffalo, Ohio State, Michigan)? Thanks for any info!

For most schools, work experience is not needed or not required. Majority of the accepted students had no work experience at all but almost all accepted applicants had High GPAs and/or PCAT scores.

Remember Admission committee is foremost looking for applicants who can complete their academic programs and pass the board exam. If accepted students change their minds and drop out of their schools, pharmacy schools loose out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition money.


I would assume top pharmacy programs would interview an applicant who excel in everything he or she pursues. This applicant would have HIGH GPA (above 3.2 or 3.3), HIGH composite, quantitative, and chemistry PCAT scores (above 80), lots of work experience (more than 2 or 3 years), and above all the determination to become a pharmacist.

If you apply early, these stats will more likely than not land you an interview.

Everything else is up to your knowledge, personality, character, communication skills, and how well you perform on your interviews

Good luck!

 

[SUNY Geneseo]

Thanks for the info. One clarification:

"Majority of the accepted students had no work experience at all"
"lots of work experience (more than 2 or 3 years)"

You're saying most schools don't require work experience, but the top ones do? Thanks again!

 

[happycow]

Here's how I see it:

High GPA/PCAT (where applicable) are the most concrete things that a school's adcom have to determine the quality of an applicant. HOWEVER, although certain things may not be "REQUIRED" of an applicant, all pharm schools look for the cream of the crop. By that, I mean that all schools require a certain X-factor... whether it's work experience, volunteer, extracurricular, leadership, or all of the above. After all, if there are tons of other applicants with high GPAs/PCAT scores (which there are/will be at top institutions), what's going to set you apart from the rest?

What I think is even more important is what you get out of whatever experiences you have. Working 5 years in a pharmacy or some volunteer position is only helpful on paper, and virtually useless elsewhere (whether it be on an application essay or interview question) if you are unable to profoundly express what you got out of it and how it will help you become a better pharmacist. Getting the experience itself is valuable for showing an adcom that you've done more than study, but being able to tell them the significance of said experience is what gives it multiple dimensions, and is what brings life to it.

Just my two cents.

 

[mrblah]

Thanks for the info. One clarification:

"Majority of the accepted students had no work experience at all"
"lots of work experience (more than 2 or 3 years)"

You're saying most schools don't require work experience, but the top ones do? Thanks again!

it depends. Most schools (pretty much all schools) say its not a requirement, but at the same time, many applicants have some kind of pharmacy experience (depending on how competitive the pharm schools are). However, even though many people apply with experience, many people who don't have experience also get accepted. Did I confuse you yet, sorry.

In terms of how long you should work in a pharmacy...it depends on the individual. Some people do it once a week for one month, others work for 8 years fulltime in a pharmacy. The point is that if you choose to work/volunteer/shadow at a pharmacy, you are trying to learn something about yourself and about the pharmacy profession, more specifically, what are the traits the pharmacists have that make them successful, and whether or not you have those traits. If you do have those traits, you want to show to the adcom that you can demonstrate those traits (either through your schooling, through your other EC's, etc)....