Working during pharmacy school

[Superflyjsc]

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how many of you work or plan to work 20 hours or more while going fulltime at school? I know it can be done but how advisable is it to do so?

 

[AngryRPh]

You have to weigh several things:

1. How much time do you need to study?
2. Are you a gunner?
3. How much do the interns make in your area?
4. How much OJT do you want prior to your rotations?

During rotations, was sad to see the how many of my classmates only knew what they were taught, and not how things are done in the real world.

You have to be the final judge when it comes to your capabilities, though.

 

[imperial frog]

I didn't work the first year but looking back on it I could have managed a couple shifts a week. I know a few people in my class tried to work full time but most eventually cut back their hours. Next year I'm hoping to slip in at least one shift a week and maybe more once I see how difficult 2nd year is.

 

[OSURxgirl]

I worked during my first year of pharmacy school. I felt it was a valuable experience. I learned almost NOTHING about pharmacy during my first year classes, so I needed to learn something somewhere. For me, I learned from my hospital pharmacy job. Plus, the extra money is nice. If you are good at time management, then I don't see that working would be a problem, though 20 hours may be a little high. Most people I know who work in pharm school work about 8 to 15 hours per week.

 

[lord999]

35 hour week: Year I
45 hour week: Year II
30 hour week: Year III

Graduate RC and Magna Cum Laude (just missed Summa)
In grad school now at 40 hours/week
It's possible and doable. Just give up a part of your life.

 

[AngryRPh]

35 hour week: Year I
45 hour week: Year II
30 hour week: Year III

Graduate RC and Magna Cum Laude (just missed Summa)
In grad school now at 40 hours/week
It's possible and doable. Just give up a part of your life.

Show-off 😉

 

[spacecowgirl]

I did it the first semester of my first year and had to cut back to 12 hours/week. I am just the kind of person that needs a lot of free time. I want time for hobbies, family, friends, relationships...so for me, it didn't pan out. There was no part of my life I wanted to give up. I would suggest working fewer hours at first and adding more if you find you can handle it.

lord999 - you are a complete show-off

I also agree that work experience is approximately 10000000x more valuable than most of what I learned in school.

 

[lord999]

Work, study, sleep. Pick two.

 

[kwakster928]

i worked 16 hours a week. worked out great for me. also you learn a lot just by looking at the drug. it is definitely doable.

 

[letjin]

35 hour week: Year I
45 hour week: Year II
30 hour week: Year III

Graduate RC and Magna Cum Laude (just missed Summa)
In grad school now at 40 hours/week
It's possible and doable. Just give up a part of your life.

Couldn't resist posting this. Overachiever! 😉

 

[museabuse]

Work, study, sleep. Pick two.

How about just sleep? 🙂

Here is my take on working:

I worked full time as a tech for almost two years before pharmacy school... The first 2 quarters of pharmacy school I worked about 25 hours a week.

Now I cut back to about 14, not because I need more time to study... but I figure I have all the time to work once I graduate. I'll just take out a little more private loans. Plus working as a tech full time for two years gave me plenty of experience in retail that I don't feel I need much more. I may even cut back more.

And now that I am going to do my first set of rotations... and I have to drive downtown in traffic, that doesn't give me much time to work except on the weekends. Unless I work for 2 hours after a roatation which seems pointless. I think I am going to cut back to only sundays and have saturdays off during rotations.

Actually where you work also helps. I think if you work 8 hours at a busy store you will gain much more experience than working 16 hours at a slow store. For example in a busy store you will experience several different insurance problems in one day where in a slow store you may only experience an insurance problem once a day. In a busy store you will be able to see many different medications and have oppurtunity to counsel on them but in a slow store you may never see certain medications.

I think it is beneficial to work at least one day a week while in pharmacy school. It gives you oppurtunity to practice counseling and prepare you for rotations. Even if it is just 6 hours a week. Working 6 hours on a saturday or sunday shouldn't effect your grades.