Working during the school year

[crazybob]

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How many hours per week during the school year would you say is manageable?

I tried searching and found one thread but I wanted to ask something different. And with a poll.

I'm putting up a poll.

 

[Praziquantel86]

Depends on your schedule should be a part of every answer. I've ranged from 30 hours to none...

If it was only classes that I had to worry about, then 30-40 easily. It's the outside commitments that really kill the time available.

 

[SHC1984]

Depends on what kind of grades you are aiming for too. If you are aiming for a 3.0 GPA then 30 to 40 hours should be fine...if you are aiming for a 4.0 then much fewer hours of course.

 

[xiphoid2010]

I say 16-24 hrs during school, and full time or more during summer, which is what I did.

(1) It's a balancing act, try to be flexible about work within the limits to accommodate tests. Try to anticipate working well ahead of changing study work load.
(2) Be dependable and steady at work. Pharmacy is a small world. Nothing burns bridges faster than be known as a sh*ty unreliable intern.
(3) Good GPA isn't just a number. It's scholarship $$$, awards and honors that you can't buy, tax free, no effect of FAFSA. Working doesn't always pay more than studying more.
(4) Your post graduation plan. Residency? Keep a 3.5 GPA to be safe. Retail? Doesn't matter. Low GPA already, no chance for scholarship $? Might as well work.
(5) type of work. Hospital? You can often study on the job. Retail? No time to even take a piss. Guess which one is easier on your grades.
(6) Scheduling matters. I scheduled to working every weekend, then picked up a open shift when nothing is due. 16-24 hours/wk interfering with school at all.
(7) Summer = $$$. Work 40-60 hours during the summer and you can easily make as much in those 3 mo as in the whole school year. Learn to save rather than spending in on H&B.

 

[owlegrad]

I say 16-24 hrs during school, and full time or more during summer, which is what I did.

(1) It's a balancing act, try to be flexible about work within the limits to accommodate tests. Try to anticipate working well ahead of changing study work load.
(2) Be dependable and steady at work. Pharmacy is a small world. Nothing burns bridges faster than be known as a sh*ty unreliable intern.
(3) Good GPA isn't just a number. It's scholarship $$$, awards and honors that you can't buy, tax free, no effect of FAFSA. Working doesn't always pay more than studying more.
(4) Your post graduation plan. Residency? Keep a 3.5 GPA to be safe. Retail? Doesn't matter. Low GPA already, no chance for scholarship $? Might as well work.
(5) type of work. Hospital? You can often study on the job. Retail? No time to even take a piss. Guess which one is easier on your grades.
(6) Scheduling matters. I scheduled to working every weekend, then picked up a open shift when nothing is due. 16-24 hours/wk interfering with school at all.
(7) Summer = $$$. Work 40-60 hours during the summer and you can easily make as much in those 3 mo as in the whole school year. Learn to save rather than spending in on H&B.

I am almost afraid to ask. H&B?

 

[crazybob]

I am almost afraid to ask. H&B?

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=h&b

 

[owlegrad]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=h&b

I knew it was gonna be bad.

 

[Old Timer]

If you can't work 20 hours per week and go to school, you should not be a pharmacist. If you wonder why you now have to do IPPE's it's because your predecessors didn't work and when they went on their rotations in the sixth year they were less than useless. So the accrediting body made the schools do IPPE's so they would at least have a modicum of knowledge when they went out into the world.

 

[crazybob]

If you can't work 20 hours per week and go to school, you should not be a pharmacist. If you wonder why you now have to do IPPE's it's because your predecessors didn't work and when they went on their rotations in the sixth year they were less than useless. So the accrediting body made the schools do IPPE's so they would at least have a modicum of knowledge when they went out into the world.

20 hours every week or just an average of 20/wk?

In 4 weeks, I could probably work at least 80 hours, and if I pick up the weekend every other week, then I could do 25, 15, 25, 15. Would that still be ok?

 

[deleted205891]

Whatever happened to the 40-hour work week. No wonder our life expectancy is lower than many other developed countries.

Say you take 19 credits (my courseload last semester). They say an hour studying a week for every credit but let's be realistic and instead say 15 hours a week, so that's 34 hours. I'm not going to mention organizations and whatnot. If you work 20 hours a week, you're basically pulling a 54-hour work week every week for those of us that work at places to busy to leave time for studying at work. For 30 hours? That's a 64-hour week.
Sounds insane to me. When do people sleep?

So I say about 10 hours tops for 19 credits. Maybe put it up to 15 if you have 16 credits or so without too many BS classes. About half of my class just works maybe 8 hours a month to keep in the system, then full-time over the summer. I think working during the school year is good so you can have some cash year-round, but I don't think one should overwork themselves either.

BTW I have heard one of our professors acknowledge that all we should have time for is eating, sleeping and pharmacy school.

 

[confettiflyer]

I like to have lots of R&R time so I usually work 16hrs a week max (one day per weekend = 8hrs + one PM shift during the week).

c'mon, you might get hit by a bus tomorrow...relax and enjoy a little before your body parts start failing.

 

[crazybob]

So if I work those full days on a weekend, and happen to come across the first of the month, should I try to avoid those or just work anyway? I know the first of the month is always known for being the craziest.

 

[jinga]

10-20 at least. Keep that debt to a MINIMUM.

CHEAP IN-STATE SCHOOL ALL THE WAY!!

🙂

 

[charfdorn]

How many hours per week during the school year would you say is manageable?

I tried searching and found one thread but I wanted to ask something different. And with a poll.

I'm putting up a poll.

Nice poll. Everyone should have answered the "depends on your schedule" question. It also depends on your priorities. If work is what you want to do most, then you can probably work 40+ hours. It won't leave much time for study or social life, but it's doable. If, on the other hand, you want to go to a bunch of basketball games and concerts and go out partying all the time, you may not even have enough time for class, let alone work. I also agree with whoever said it depends on your goals. If you're shooting for Rho Chi/residency, less work will suit you better. If you're pretty set on chain retail pharmacy, you'll want to put in as many hours as you can with a prospective employer and get your foot in the door. In the first year, I worked 25 hours a week outside of pharmacy because I got paid a lot more and I have a lot of bills. It was really hard, and I didn't have time to be very involved in extracurriculars or social events. But it can be done.

 

[deleted205891]

So if I work those full days on a weekend, and happen to come across the first of the month, should I try to avoid those or just work anyway? I know the first of the month is always known for being the craziest.

Sure you could call off because it's crazy, and all the other techs and interns, and even the pharmacist, since the first of the month is so hard to handle!

If you make a schedule for yourself, you should try to stick to it. If you say you're gonna work every Saturday, work every Saturday and try to give about 2 weeks notice for any time you need off. And if you need off, have a good reason instead of "I don't feel like working on the 1st". It's just the nice thing to do. This way, your employer may like you and give you more hours if you ask for them, or not reduce your hours when they have to reduce tech hrs.

 

[Sparda29]

I'm trying to pick up more hours now that I have rotations. I'm trying to set my rotation hours around the rest of my schedule. Hopefully for my next rotation, I can convince them to let me work the overnight shift. I've discovered that I am not a 9AM-5PM person.

 

[Nupe954]

How many of you were able to balance school, working part time and working out??

That will be what I try to achieve my first year.

 

[crazybob]

How many of you were able to balance school, working part time and working out??

That will be what I try to achieve my first year.

The working out part was hard for me to manage since I had to commute, so I usually put my studying first and then working out second. Which meant that I rarely had time to work out when I was busy.

Since I'm living on campus this year, I'll at least try to go work out more often, since my room will be a 5-minute walk.

I've heard of people in my class who worked part time during school and they seemed to be doing just fine. I know some P2s who worked part time in addition to their crazy schedule. But they were mostly studying almost all of the time, so we never saw them at social events for clubs.

 

[deleted205891]

How many of you were able to balance school, working part time and working out??

That will be what I try to achieve my first year.

1st year it was doable. 2nd year I didn't work out that much, especially since I had other things besides school/work to commit time to.

 

[CUpharmD2013]

I pull down 40+ hours a week during the school year and hold a 3.7, so it can be done. It depends on the person, though. There's not too much time for outside activities. You also need to be motivated to hit the books before/after your work schedule.

 

[FruitFly]

Work as much as you can. You will learn more from work than from from pharmacy school very few have proper educational models in my opinion. There needs to be more academic position papers on pharmacy education. It's currently lacking. I'm a firm believer in experiential learning with the proper amount of book-smarts to back it up.

 

[charfdorn]

Work as much as you can. You will learn more from work than from from pharmacy school very few have proper educational models in my opinion. There needs to be more academic position papers on pharmacy education. It's currently lacking. I'm a firm believer in experiential learning with the proper amount of book-smarts to back it up.

I second this. As I mentioned above, I didn't work in a pharmacy during the year, but I started to a couple weeks ago. That's made me a better pharmacist (in training) than the entire first year.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

The difficulty of the pharmacy school and the amount of studying one needs to succeed are grossly overrated for most people with intelligence higher than that of my shoes. Most people, who don't have issues like being a single parent with a very young child, or two-hour one way daily commute to and from school, should be able to work 15-20 hours a week and do well in school and still have time to have fun.

It's easy enough to work one or two nights a week (4, 5 or 6 hours) and then work 8, 10 or 12 hours on a weekend. No one actually studies as much as they like to think/say they are. 🙂 And most people don't realize how much time they waste on stupid crap that they can't even remember doing. Like being online, for instance.

 

[FruitFly]

The difficulty of the pharmacy school and the amount of studying one needs to succeed are grossly overrated for most people with intelligence higher than that of my shoes.

How intelligent are your shoes? 😕

 

[SHC1984]

The difficulty of the pharmacy school and the amount of studying one needs to succeed are grossly overrated for most people with intelligence higher than that of my shoes. Most people, who don't have issues like being a single parent with a very young child, or two-hour one way daily commute to and from school, should be able to work 15-20 hours a week and do well in school and still have time to have fun.

It's easy enough to work one or two nights a week (4, 5 or 6 hours) and then work 8, 10 or 12 hours on a weekend. No one actually studies as much as they like to think/say they are. 🙂 And most people don't realize how much time they waste on stupid crap that they can't even remember doing. Like being online, for instance.

you can easily maintain a 3.0 to 3.2 GPA if you work 15 to 20 hours a week. But a 4.0? I don't think so...

 

[rxlea]

you can easily maintain a 3.0 to 3.2 GPA if you work 15 to 20 hours a week. But a 4.0? I don't think so...

I hope to prove you wrong 😀

 

[SHC1984]

I hope to prove you wrong 😀

Well, maybe the first year you can work 20 hours a week and still maintain a 4.0 b/c the first year is fairly easy. But the second and third year I don't think so...unless of course a 3.2 GPA is okay for you.

 

[rxlea]

Well, maybe the first year you can work 20 hours a week and still maintain a 4.0 b/c the first year is fairly easy. But the second and third year I don't think so...unless of course a 3.2 GPA is okay for you.

3.2 gpa is not okay. i'll come back in a few years and let you know 🙂

 

[SHC1984]

3.2 gpa is not okay. i'll come back in a few years and let you know 🙂

Sounds good! 🙂 I am sure some people can do it and get a 3.4 or 3.5 GPA...but if you want a 4.0 GPA then working would be too much. But I have only finished my first year of pharmacy school...so I am not sure yet either! LOL... I will try to find a job and work maybe 4 hours a week if possible during my P2 year.

 

[joetrisman]

Sounds good! 🙂 I am sure some people can do it and get a 3.4 or 3.5 GPA...but if you want a 4.0 GPA then working would be too much. But I have only finished my first year of pharmacy school...so I am not sure yet either! LOL... I will try to find a job and work maybe 4 hours a week if possible during my P2 year.

All things are possible with determination and enough coffee 👍

 

[IndustryPharmD]

you can easily maintain a 3.0 to 3.2 GPA if you work 15 to 20 hours a week. But a 4.0? I don't think so...

Good thing I didn't know that when I was in school! It must have been my ignorance of the fact that allowed me to graduate with a 3.8 GPA working at least 16 hours every week... that's in addition to taking an extra five credit hour foreign language class every semester in P-2 and P-3 years (that's Spanish in P-2 year and Italian in P-3 year), helping take care of my father as he battled cancer during my P-2 year, being very active with a student-run clinic and APhA... and having an hourlong one-way commute every day to top it off. 😀

PS Speaking of the post above, about coffee... I also happen to be one of the 2% of population resistant to caffeine. 😀

 

[crazybob]

SHC, what do you plan to do with your 4.0 GPA after you graduate?

 

[owlegrad]

SHC, what do you plan to do with your 4.0 GPA after you graduate?

👍

 

[SHC1984]

SHC, what do you plan to do with your 4.0 GPA after you graduate?

I get merit based scholarships. Other then that nothing else. Residency maybe.

 

[SHC1984]

Good thing I didn't know that when I was in school! It must have been my ignorance of the fact that allowed me to graduate with a 3.8 GPA working at least 16 hours every week... that's in addition to taking an extra five credit hour foreign language class every semester in P-2 and P-3 years (that's Spanish in P-2 year and Italian in P-3 year), helping take care of my father as he battled cancer during my P-2 year, being very active with a student-run clinic and APhA... and having an hourlong one-way commute every day to top it off. 😀

PS Speaking of the post above, about coffee... I also happen to be one of the 2% of population resistant to caffeine. 😀

That is impressive! I like to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night though and I don't like to get over-worked or stress either....maybe that has something to do with it.

Off topic, but what are the chances of getting a job like yours without any research experience?

What do you do everyday at work? I am kinda interested in what you do.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

That is impressive! I like to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night though and I don't like to get over-worked or stress either....maybe that has something to do with it.

I did sleep about 5-6 hour a night when I was at school... can't quite do it anymore. Overall, I notice how my body just can't handle some things I used to pull off easily when I was 20. 🙁

Plus, I hardly ever studied, other than the night or two before exams. I have a good memory, and also I get things - so I don't need to read something twice to understand it. And I don't need to memorize all the details because if I understand the logic behind them, I can figure them out, so why waste time memorizing? That helps use time more productively both in school, and later on life. 🙂

Off topic, but what are the chances of getting a job like yours without any research experience?

Pretty much the same as with research experience. 😀 Business acumen, analytical thinking and communication skills are a lot more important. Though positions like my current one are not entry-level positions, so you can't get them out of school anyway. 🙂

What do you do everyday at work? I am kinda interested in what you do.

Business intelligence, which means market and competitive analysis to support commercial, scientific, and new business development strategic decisions. Basically, I read a lot about what's going on - be it clinical studies reports, pre-clinical publications, patents, government legislation or regulations, competitor companies' financial reports or press releases, trade journals, internet - a lot of different things. Then I decide what's important and what's not and analyze it and then talk about it with people who will need this information to make decisions. Or, alternatively, people who have a question come to me and ask me to analyze the situation. All kinds of questions from simple and straightforward to very complex. Also it is a very collaborative position, so I interact with almost every department within the company and get their input, or provide my input for them - so I am in the middle of all things and wear a few different hats. That's what makes my job so interesting, and also so challenging. My current position is the third one I hold in this field, and all three have been a little different, but all three I really loved. To me, it's important to enjoy my work, so I am quite picky in terms of both job descriptions and the company climate - in a wrong climate my job would turn from a dream job into a nightmare where I would feel useless and frustrated...

 

[gmuskie]

It also depends on how where you work does scheduling. I work for an independent and our shifts are only 3-8 or 4-8..so to do 20 hours in a week seems more overwhelming sometimes because of commute times and time to let your brain relax after a night at work.

 

[phathead]

I worked full time during undergrad, I can't imagine it'll change all that much aside from an increased workload.

Less House on Monday's I presume.

 

[SHC1984]

I did sleep about 5-6 hour a night when I was at school... can't quite do it anymore. Overall, I notice how my body just can't handle some things I used to pull off easily when I was 20. 🙁

Plus, I hardly ever studied, other than the night or two before exams. I have a good memory, and also I get things - so I don't need to read something twice to understand it. And I don't need to memorize all the details because if I understand the logic behind them, I can figure them out, so why waste time memorizing? That helps use time more productively both in school, and later on life. 🙂

Pretty much the same as with research experience. 😀 Business acumen, analytical thinking and communication skills are a lot more important. Though positions like my current one are not entry-level positions, so you can't get them out of school anyway. 🙂

Business intelligence, which means market and competitive analysis to support commercial, scientific, and new business development strategic decisions. Basically, I read a lot about what's going on - be it clinical studies reports, pre-clinical publications, patents, government legislation or regulations, competitor companies' financial reports or press releases, trade journals, internet - a lot of different things. Then I decide what's important and what's not and analyze it and then talk about it with people who will need this information to make decisions. Or, alternatively, people who have a question come to me and ask me to analyze the situation. All kinds of questions from simple and straightforward to very complex. Also it is a very collaborative position, so I interact with almost every department within the company and get their input, or provide my input for them - so I am in the middle of all things and wear a few different hats. That's what makes my job so interesting, and also so challenging. My current position is the third one I hold in this field, and all three have been a little different, but all three I really loved. To me, it's important to enjoy my work, so I am quite picky in terms of both job descriptions and the company climate - in a wrong climate my job would turn from a dream job into a nightmare where I would feel useless and frustrated...

Thanks for the response! 🙂 Yeah, I have a friend that hardly need to study much while she was in undergrad and pharmacy school. She told me the same thing that you told me. I do spend a lot of time looking and memorzing all details though. I think thats why a lot of my time is spent studying because I try to know every single detail over everything. LOL...I need to learn how to study more efficiently.

What do you recommend I do if I want a job like yours? Or what do you recommend that I do if I want an entry level job that eventually leads to your job! lol....What is the name of the company you work for?

Also is your job available everywhere in the united states? or is it just certain states? if so where?

Thanks for the job description! So I guess the most stressful part is getting all your anaylsis and data correct right? I mean if you make a wrong anaylsis your company can lose a ton of money right?

Sorry for the questions that seem really obvious, I don't have any experience in any field of pharmacy except retail, so I don't know anything else about all the other fields. thanks! 🙂

 

[busyizzy]

Thanks for the response! 🙂 Yeah, I have a friend that hardly need to study much while she was in undergrad and pharmacy school. She told me the same thing that you told me. I do spend a lot of time looking and memorzing all details though. I think thats why a lot of my time is spent studying because I try to know every single detail over everything. LOL...I need to learn how to study more efficiently.

What do you recommend I do if I want a job like yours? Or what do you recommend that I do if I want an entry level job that eventually leads to your job! lol....What is the name of the company you work for?

Also is your job available everywhere in the united states? or is it just certain states? if so where?

Thanks for the job description! So I guess the most stressful part is getting all your anaylsis and data correct right? I mean if you make a wrong anaylsis your company can lose a ton of money right?

Sorry for the questions that seem really obvious, I don't have any experience in any field of pharmacy except retail, so I don't know anything else about all the other fields. thanks! 🙂

I would also be interested in knowing this...

Also, if you don't mind posting this, what were the job titles or descriptions of the three jobs you've held in that field?

Thanks, it's super informative! 😀

 

[SHC1984]

I would also be interested in knowing this...

Also, if you don't mind posting this, what were the job titles or descriptions of the three jobs you've held in that field?

Thanks, it's super informative! 😀

The only thing I would be worry about is making the wrong anaylsis OR if there are just too much to read. I am a slow reader! lol....

Her job does sound really interesting though! beats retail!

Oh and what are all the companies that offer positions like yours? if you don't mind sharing. 🙂

 

[IndustryPharmD]

Thanks for the response! 🙂 Yeah, I have a friend that hardly need to study much while she was in undergrad and pharmacy school. She told me the same thing that you told me. I do spend a lot of time looking and memorzing all details though. I think thats why a lot of my time is spent studying because I try to know every single detail over everything. LOL...I need to learn how to study more efficiently.

You certainly do. As the amount of information increases, you will fail. No one can know every side effect of every one of 10,000 drugs out there. If you try to memorize them all, you will waste a lot of time and you still will not remember them all accurately, unless you are a robot. You need to learn to separate what's important and what's not, and not waste your time. It's not just about getting grades, it about life in general. 🙂

What do you recommend I do if I want a job like yours? Or what do you recommend that I do if I want an entry level job that eventually leads to your job! lol....What is the name of the company you work for?

Also is your job available everywhere in the united states? or is it just certain states? if so where?

Thanks for the job description! So I guess the most stressful part is getting all your anaylsis and data correct right? I mean if you make a wrong anaylsis your company can lose a ton of money right?

I will take this discussion to the Industry 101 thread in the Mentor forum (linked in my signature as well) as it is off-topic here. 🙂

Sorry for the questions that seem really obvious, I don't have any experience in any field of pharmacy except retail, so I don't know anything else about all the other fields. thanks! 🙂

Pharmacy school IS the time to explore all options. That's why doing things other than studying is so important - you get hands-on experience. And rotations help gain that experience too, but they come during the fourth year - and if you are going to do post-graduate training, you need to be prepared already in October of your fourth year, as ASHP Midyear in early December is when you make your final decision(s).

 

[IndustryPharmD]

The only thing I would be worry about is making the wrong anaylsis OR if there are just too much to read. I am a slow reader! lol....

Her job does sound really interesting though! beats retail!

Oh and what are all the companies that offer positions like yours? if you don't mind sharing. 🙂

Again, I am taking this discussion to the Industry 101 thread. 🙂

And it sure is a lot more intersting than retail. In fact, I think it is the most interesting thing I could be doing with a pharmacy degree, which is exactly why I am doing this and not something else. To me, liking what I do has always come before money and always will. 🙂

 

[bananaface]

I have a hard time not going nuts if I did more than 10-12 hours/week at my internship site. But, I also spent roughly the same amount of time doing administrative stuff for SDN, so I typically put in hours in the 20-24 hour range.

The thing about working a ton of hours is that unless you have a flexible employer, you could potentially lose out on alot of extracurricular stuff. Fri/Sat/Sun is not such a big deal, but working weeknights has always seemed like a PITA, scheduling wise.

 

[Markovnikov]

I am almost afraid to ask. H&B?

haha I honestly thought it meant "Health and Beauty" before I saw the urban dictionary link. Health and beauty department is right next to the pharmacy at the Giant Eagle grocery store.

 

[Trankuil]

I worked full time during undergrad, I can't imagine it'll change all that much aside from an increased workload.

Less House on Monday's I presume.

House = win!

 

[rxlea]

house = win!

+1