Why You Need a Job in Pharmacy School

Pharmacy school does a great job of teaching you the pharmacology knowledge and they give you a chance to get real life experience with your rotations. But let’s be real nothing beats real life experiences working in a pharmacy that you aren’t being graded for. You not only get to learn the drugs that are being used regularly, but you get the chance to learn about insurance, interact with patients, network with different pharmacists, and learn about what your job may be like in the future. This obviously differs depending on if you work in retail, hospital, or any other unique setting. By working now while you’re in college, you’ll have an easier transition going from pharmacy student to pharmacist.

Now before you go out there and take the first job that you are offered, be honest with yourself and your future employer about your limitations and work schedule. Unless you are working to pay the bills, you should only be taking the hours that you can reasonably manage with your studies. Pharmacy school comes first, first and foremost.

How to Land a Pharmacy Intern Role

Just like any job, many hospitals and retail pharmacies post online when they are hiring pharmacy intern roles and what year (P1, P2, or P3) that they are looking for. If you see a company that you want to work for and don’t see an open position, don’t be shy! Reach out to them and see if they hire pharmacy interns. Some companies will only hire pharmacy interns by word of mouth or when their current students graduate, but don’t let that stop you from making the effort.

To work as a pharmacy intern in the US, you do have to register with your state’s Board of Pharmacy, and you have to obviously be in pharmacy school. You can start working as a pharmacy intern usually the summer before your P1 year, but this varies between companies when they allow pharmacy interns to start working. Some companies will wait until you have at least 1 year of pharmacy school under your belt while others don’t care.

Before reaching out to potential employers, you’ll want to make sure that your CV or resume looks amazing and highlights all of your strong points. If you don’t currently have a CV, I highly recommend checking out the CV Template that I have for sale online. It’s a simple, but professional template that is easy to plug in your information and use right away.

Pharmacy Intern Responsibilities and Pay

As a pharmacy intern your role is a blend of a pharmacy technician and a pharmacist’s job. You can do everything that a technician can and almost everything that a pharmacist can do as long you’re being supervised by a pharmacist on duty. The key is that everything that you do has to be checked off and verified by a pharmacist, including giving vaccinations, providing counseling, making IV solutions, giving recommendations, etc.

Pay varies from company to company. Generally, first year pharmacy students start off at a base rate, which increases every year that you complete in your program. Don’t forget that pharmacy intern licenses are good for 5 years (make sure to double check that with your individual state!).

Tips On Balancing a Part Time Job and School

1. Prioritize your life, health, and schoolwork

Prioritizing your life, health, and schoolwork is the easiest way to learn how to balance a part time job and school. The reason for this is because you learn how to make your time more meaningful and how much time you need for each task on your to-do list.

When I used to work two jobs in pharmacy school, I knew what classes needed more of my time and which ones I didn’t need to put as much effort in. This definitely allowed me to utilize my time more effectively, and I made sure to always prioritize my health over my studies. If I felt like I was at the point in my studying where nothing else was going in, I took a break to do something else. I relaxed, watched a movie, called a friend, etc. It’s just as important to take care of yourself in college, physically and mentally.

2. Be honest with yourself

Honesty is the key to a successful college experience, especially if you are juggling a part time job and pharmacy school. Juggling two different responsibilities can be tough and exhausting – let’s not sugarcoat that simple fact. Before you take on the responsibility of a pharmacy intern job, be honest with yourself about what you can handle. If you aren’t sure what your limits are, start off slow by taking on 5 or 10 hours of work per week.

After working for a few weeks, take note of your grades, your mental health, and how you feel physically. Do you feel overwhelmed, exhausted, tired? At this point, you should be able to tell if this is something that you can handle or not.

3. Communication

Part of balancing a part time job and school is clear communication between yourself and your employer. Before starting your new job, make it clear your expectations, course load, and priorities. Normally a boss that is aware of your upcoming school responsibilities (such as tests, school events, etc) is more likely to be accommodating and flexible with your work schedule. Be honest, plan ahead, and be reliable when you are at work. You’ll want to make a good impression at your job. You never know who may be recommending (or not) for a future pharmacist role.

4. Make a schedule and keep to it

When you have a full course load and a part time job, it’s easy to forget things that come up in your schedule. Between schedule changes and new assignments, you don’t want to rely on your memory to remember everything. And you sure as heck don’t want to do things on a whim. Write down everything that needs to be accomplished this week and make a schedule that will allow you to complete them all (or if not most). Use a digital or paper planner to schedule out your week. As you progress in your studies, you’ll get a better understanding of how long it takes you to do things and can make a better schedule based on it.  

5. Don’t procrastinate

You may have heard this before, but procrastination is the thief of joy. To be more productive within your busy day, you have to plan ahead and be able to recognize when you’re procrastinating. It’s incredible how much time can go by when you’re watching Netflix or hanging out with friends. When you feel like you need a mental break from studying, take it. Set a timer for 10-15 minutes to go do something that you enjoy. When the timer dings, immediately get back to work and knock out of the rest of your assignment. Taking breaks will help you feel less stressed and allow you to get more work done.

6. Get enough sleep

Trust me, I’ve been there before – pulling all-nighters and even sleeping in the study room in my pharmacy program. It’s 100% not worth it! Not getting sleep actually makes you do worst on the exam than you may realize. Let me explain your brain uses the time that you’re sleeping to store memories into short term and long term. When you don’t sleep the night before an exam, you likely won’t remember much of what you studied in the wee hours of the night. You’ll also have a hard time recalling the information and concentrating on the exam. Since the material taught in pharmacy school can save lives, it’s crucial for you to learn it. As a guideline, you should be shooting for 6-8 hours a sleep per night.

7. Set aside “Me Time”

When you’re overwhelmed with a packed schedule, it’s easy to forget to care of the one thing that is important:  yourself. It starts off slowly but it can quickly lead to burnout, depression, and health issues. The easiest way to set aside personal time is to schedule it in your agenda. Short on time, take a few minutes to write down what you’re grateful for or do mediation to recenter your mind. Having “me time” can look different for each of us, but the concept is the same. Spend time with yourself to do something that you enjoy, whether that be spending time with your partner, reading a book, or going to the gym.

8. Keep your goals in mind

As you get overwhelmed and struggle to find a balance, it can be easy to forget why you’re doing this. During the times when you may be struggling, keep your goals in mind and the reasons that got you to this point in life. For me I always like to put things into perspective and remember how a few years ago I was praying to be in the position that I am in today. Nothing like a mindset shift to change entire mood!

The post 8 Tangible Tips to Balancing a Pharmacy Intern Job and Pharmacy School appeared first on Uniquely Mickie.

Tip #1: Take quality notes during class

Once classes get started, you’ll be thanking me later for telling you that you’re going to need to start taking quality notes. There are a ton of ways for you to take notes during class from using a pen and paper to using a touchscreen device. Whatever works best for you, you’ll want to stick with it over the next few years.

The reason why taking your own notes is super important is because you’re more likely to remember the material when you’re actively participating and making connections in the material during the lecture. It’s called active learning and it really does work! For me, I handwrote all of my notes during class, and I also relistened to the lectures to fill-in any gaps that I might’ve missed.

Tip #2: Organize your calendar for the entire semester

At the beginning of every semester, I highly recommend that you read through every class syllabus and put all of your assignments and exams into a calendar. Then add in any personal events, work schedule, and any other extracurricular activities that you know of at the beginning of the semester. This way you can stay organize and stay on track for any assignments. With the constant influx of projects, assignments, and exams in pharmacy school, it’s super easy to fall behind and to let something fall between the cracks.

I personally use the Recollections planner from Michaels, which is the bomb dot com and has loads of space for everything that you could possibly need in pharmacy school. I also really like the Erin Condren Academic planner, which is more customizable option. But if you prefer a digital calendar, then I know some of my fellow pharmacy students used Google Calendar, which syncs up to all of their devices for easy access. Once you have a complete agenda or calendar, you can finally start blocking off time on a daily basis to study and to complete any upcoming projects. This will greatly help you manage your time appropriately and instill a great study routine.

Tip #3: Learn how you study the best

Learning how you, as an individual, learn the best is easily the best advice that I can give you on how to study in pharmacy school. Everyone is so different in the way that our minds work and how our brains learn things. Some people are visual learners while others are auditory. This just means that the way you have to study is going to be different from your friends in pharmacy school to even your loved ones.

I know this isn’t a quick fix, but in the field of healthcare where the literature is always adapting, it’s super important for you to nail down a study routine that works for you. For me personally once I got into pharmacy school, I had to completely change up the way that I studied in undergrad. It was a completely different ballpark (in terms of workload and the material) that I had to try new techniques and re-learn how to study. Now the best way for me to remember anything is re-read the material multiple times and to make my own color-coded study guides.

Tip #4: Utilize different study techniques

As soon as classes start, go ahead and break down the material into easy bite size pieces that are easier to comprehend and to remember. This may include creating your own study guides, summary sheets on a topic, medication charts, or flashcards. When you’re utilizing different study techniques, you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel and create your own 20-page study guide. Utilize what your teachers give you in class and make adjustments to it such as adding notes and comments to the file or color coding each individual section.

If you do have the time to create your own study materials, then make sure to write them in your own voice. You’ll be surprised how much somethings sticks with you when you can relate to the material or make a personal connection to it. During my second year of pharmacy school, I started making my own study guides including diagrams, color coding, and links to videos, and it made a world of a difference in the grades that I received.

Tip #5: Ask questions and get help from your professors

Let me say this one louder for the students in the back: Professors are your friends and they are there to help you! If you’re ever confused about the course material or have any questions about it, ask questions and get advice from your professors. Don’t forget that they are the experts in this area, and they want to see you succeed in their class.

This will not only help you understand the material better but also allow you to show your professor your willingness to learn and how much you care to do so. I won’t lie I’ve probably seen almost all of my teachers in their office hours one year or another because I found that 1-on-1 time with my teachers really made a difference in my grades. I also continue to have a great relationship with all of those teachers to this day!

Tip #6: Prioritize your material based on difficulty level

Remember when I said that pharmacy school throws a ton of work at you all the time? Yeah well, I wasn’t kidding which is why it’s so important to prioritize your studying based on the difficulty level of the class. Everyone is going to be completely different in this area, but some classes will naturally be easier for you and require less work than others. This is where you have to figure out where you need to prioritize your studying based on your strengths and weaknesses.

Basically, you’ll want to spend more time on the classes that are harder for you to understand and spend less time on classes that are easier. Typically after the first exam of the semester, you’ll have a better understanding of what the different exams are like, the type of exam questions, and what your teacher is looking for you to remember for the next exam.

Tip #7: Don’t cram the night before

I feel like this tip is a given, but I know students in pharmacy school who cram the night before for every exam. Please please don’t do this! If you think pulling an all-nighter for a big exam the is a smart decision, please think again. There are a ton of studies out there about the cons of all-nighters, so I won’t go into much details here. But you can read my tips on what to actually do the night before an exam later (hint: it includes lots of sleep!).

Remember that what you’re learning in pharmacy school is actually important for patient care and everything builds upon each other year after year. This means that it may not seem important right now for this exam, but it’ll come back to bite you later on. It’s better to stay organize and to study a little bit every day, instead of cramming a month worth of lectures into one night. Plus you can relieve a lot of stress if you plan ahead and create a solid study schedule.

Tip #8: Work in a pharmacy during your time in pharmacy school

Besides making a little extra money on the side, working in a pharmacy is a vital asset to any pharmacy student who is looking to get better at studying. Are you a little confused by this? Let me explain. When you work in a pharmacy (regardless of its retail or hospital), you’re going to be exposed to patients, drugs, and the healthcare system. Aka everything that you’re going to be learning in school is happening right before your eyes!

I’ve worked in a retail pharmacy for almost 5 years now, and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to work while in pharmacy school. I had the ability to become well-versed in the pharmacy language including drug therapies, drug usages, and mechanism of actions. It became so easy and second nature that by the time that I started pharmacy school, I was already ahead of the game compared to my fellow students. Plus my pharmacists always made it a point to quiz me during the work shift to reinforce the knowledge that I was learning in school.

Take the opportunity right now to get started in the pharmacy field. You’ll be surprised about how much you’ll learn from working part-time somewhere in a pharmacy and how it’ll all connect during your coursework. Plus you’ll meet some pretty cool people that will continue to guide you throughout pharmacy school.

Tip #9: Take time for yourself

Honestly, a good healthy work-life balance is super important if you want to study more effectively. If you study all day and night, you’ll quickly become burned out mentally and physically. Even if you have a ton of work on your hands, you have to give yourself and your brain a break (and this includes sleep!).

Even if you give yourself a 15-minute break while studying, that’s completely fine! Just remember that you don’t have to study every minute of every day to do well in pharmacy school. Take a class, play intramural sports on campus, or whatever it is that makes you happy.

During my P1 year, I was studying every minute of every day, and I quickly burned out in a few months and was miserable in the process. Now that I’m almost done with my P4 year, I finally found a balance that works for me, and I’ve worked two jobs the entire time I’ve been in pharmacy school (which is insanity, I know!).  

Tip #10: Test your knowledge

After you’ve done a big study session, take a few minutes to test your knowledge and to see what you actually remember from your study session. I personally recommend taking a blank sheet of paper and write down anything and everything that you remember from a specific topic that you just studied. This little tip will not only reinforce the material that you just learned but also identify where the gaps are. After you’ve written down everything that you could, identify what areas need improvement and go back to the drawing board.

Another great way for you to quiz yourself is by creating your own exam on Quizlet. It’s super easy to do and is another way for you to study the material.  When I used to make my own exams, I would create questions based off of my notes and what I think will be important for the exam. I have to admit, sometimes I used to make practice exams that were exactly like the real ones, which as you can imagine was pretty dope.

What are your favorite study techniques that have helped you pass a tough semester?

The post 10 Study Tips to Survive Pharmacy School appeared first on Uniquely Mickie.

There are 5 main ways to gain the experience that you need that also allows you to network, which is always a key concept. Those 5 ways are working, volunteering, interviewing, jobshadowing, and attending meetings or pharmacy-related conferences.

Become a Pharmacy Technician

There are two types of pharmacy technicians: registered and certified. Registered is exactly what it sounds like. Being a registered pharmacy technician means that you went into your local board of pharmacy office, signed a few papers, and now are able to work in a pharmacy legally. This type doesn’t have any formal training besides the one that is learned on the job. Certified pharmacy technician is when you actually go to school to become a certified and take a national test called the PTCB. Depending on your state, some states allows you to work in pharmacy with only being registered while others require you to be certified.

I actually have a cool story to tell you all! So the high school that I graduated from had a technical school close by that they allowed high school students to take classes there. I ended up taking the pharmacy technician course, taking the PTCB, and becoming certified right after high school.

But regardless of what you get being able to work in a pharmacy is the best way to gain pharmacy experience and get paid for it.

Volunteer

Volunteering is also a great way to gain pharmacy experience as well as network with some really awesome people. Some of your local hospitals and the free medical clinic will gladly take on volunteers and teach you the ropes around the pharmacy. You just have to ask and you shall receive for this kind of experience.

Be sure though when you are volunteering to document your hours and any important people you might’ve met while volunteering. These will be really important for when you apply for pharmacy school and you need documentation or recommendation letters.

Jobshadow

It’s very similar to volunteering except you’re an observer and you’re only there for the day. The great part of jobshadowing a local pharmacist or a specialty pharmacy is that you get to experience different types of pharmacy and ask as many questions as you can think of. A lot of people don’t know all of the different fields that pharmacists can go into, such as nuclear pharmacy, veterinary pharmacy, compounding, infectious diseases, board of pharmacy, and so many more.

Conduct an Interview

An interview is when you get the chance to ask more in-depth questions as well as make a real connection with a pharmacy teacher or pharmacists. It sounds like a scary experience, but it’s really not. You get the chance to speak to someone who’s been there done that and is willing to help you learn everything you want to. Take that advantage and get your notepad out. It’s also a great way to network, the thing that everyone keep saying throughout your career. Have a set of questions ready for the interview then tailor any further questions based off of their responses to the previous questions.

[bctt tweet=”Conducting an interview is like interviewing your future job. So ask away!” username=”uniquelymickie”]

Attend a pharmacy-related conference or pharmacy meeting

If you have a pharmacy program nearby, then some of the pharmacy school clubs allow pre-pharmacy students to participate in meetings as well as volunteer with the group. This is a great way to gain pharmacy experience as well as get the chance to meet pharmacy students in the program. You’ll also get to learn more about pharmacy as a profession and nitty-gritty of what a PharmD degree can do for your career.

What is your favorite way to gain pharmacy experience or funny story that you have working with a pharmacist?

You may also enjoy: How to Ace Your Pharmacy or Medical School Interview, 8 Questions to Ask During Your Pharmacy School Interview, and 3 Study Tips to Ace the PCAT

The post Pharmacy School Advice: How I Gained Pharmacy Experience as a Freshmen in College appeared first on Uniquely Mickie.