Worried

[Perseverance]

I was wondering if anyone has gotten into pharmacy schools without any prior experiences in retail pharmacy/shadowing/volunteering, etc,.? I just want to know because for the past 2 years, I've been trying to apply to different pharmacies around my area but so far no luck I'm trying not to worry too much because I stil have a long way to go (I just finished my sophomore year) and I haven't taken the PCAT or finished all of my pre-reqs. I am working on my bachelors in chemistry and I am planning to re-take some courses, particularily organic chemistry b/c it was a hectic year for me. I'm sorry if this thread has already been resolved from other people but positive comments would be most appreciated.

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[Perseverance]

Just to let everyone know, I accidently posted the same thread twice with different titles because I didn't know what to call it. I'm sorry for the trouble

 

[LabbyRatty]

The same question was addressed about a week ago.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=170856

FYI, a similar question was addressed.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=533611

Also, you can edit/delete your postings by logging in and clicking the edit button in the lower right corner, I believe. Feel free to delete your duplicated post to keep the board clean.

Oh, to answer your question, I got into several schools without any paid pharmacy experience. I did a bit of shadowing, though. I learned about the field by talking with pharmacists for hours (students, hospital, retail, retired, etc).

 

[DoctorRx1986]

My situation turned out to be a bit ironic. First, I got into pharmacy school after having volunteered only about 50 hours at a hospital pharmacy. 50 hours is barely sufficient, especially when many of the tasks you are asked to complete are menial and sometimes completely irrelevant to pharmacy. Either way, just before receiving an invitation to interview, I found a job at a retail pharmacy (CVS) two weeks before going for my interview. So, basically, I had something to really talk about and use in my conversation with the interviewers. I got lucky. Had I not found a job by coincidence, I wouldn't have been able to have anything to refer to other than my mediocre hospital volunteer experience. I've been working as a clerk for almost 5 months now.

The great thing is that even though being a pharmacy clerk/tech can be quite stressful, I can see myself working in a pharmacy for the rest of my life and that vision alone is enough to solidify my decision to pursue this profession. But in general, as you can see from my experience, you don't really need much experience to get an interview. My situation probably appealed to my interviewers when they realized I had never worked in a pharmacy officially, but suddenly, I had obtained a position just before interviewing. I'm pretty sure that was looked upon favorably and gave me a slight advantage. Otherwise, I'm not too certain of what the adcoms' final decision would have been.

 

[Drug Doc]

Although actual experience is the easiest way to learn about the profession don't feel you are screwed without it. The most important thing to do if you can't find a position anywhere is to find a different way to educate yourself about the profession. Talk to people (pharmacists/students/techs/clerk) about the different problems they've encountered while working in a pharmacy and how they dealt with them (i.e insurance crap, irate patients). At interviews they aren't going to expect you to know how to solve these problems. Instead, I've noticed that they just like to know you are aware of the problems that exist. This shows them you put in the effort to learn about the profession and are not pursuing it blindly.