Worried

In 2nd year of 4 year pharmacy degree but feel like its pointless at the moment. I probably have'nt got a summer placement this year as the companies have not replied and this will make it difficult to get a 3rd year place which I need to get a pre-reg. Is anyone else in the same boat or has been in the same boat. Whats the point in doing this degree if I cant be a pharmacist.

Reply 1

geine

Sounds like you're having a tough time. I'm just applying to do pharmacy this year and i was wondering which university you're at? Do you have to do summer placements every year?

Reply 2

HannahD

menton

I was in a similar situation in 2nd year. I hadn't had any real work experience in any pharmacy setting and was really really worried that this would look bad on my pre-reg apps. I got rejection after rejection from Boots, Lloyds, Alliance, Cohens.... list goes on. A lot of other people in my year had experience from doing a summer placement in the first year and had also been offered summer placements in 2nd year and I felt a bit of a failure.

No summer placement so I decided to enjoy myself - had a great holiday abroad and got back and earned loads more money in an admin job then I would have made doing the summer placement. I'd strongly advise the same if you don't get a placement this year!

Then come third year and I applied to the whole lot of 'em again. All of 'em rejected me again. Boots sent me an email saying they'd let me know in January (i.e. I wasn't their first choice applicant). Boots then offered me a summer placement which I completed last summer.

On all my pre-reg apps I confirmed that I hadn't had any real experience of working in a pharmacy setting (apart from my clinical placements in hospital which are done as part of the course) and I hadn't done my summer placement yet so didn't mention it. I was so worried that my lack of experience would hinder them from offering me a place but guess what happened? I got offers from Boots (after my summer placement), Lloyds (who didn't really seem to give a toss about experience but more about whether you share their company values) and also from a hospital. I guess I was pretty lucky but I do know of quite a few people like me who had very little experience but managed to get more pre-reg offers than those who had been doing a summer placement from 1st yr, had a job in pharmacy since 16 etc.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is DON'T WORRY, it happens and you'll be fine. You've still got next year to apply for a summer placement. If you really want that experience this year you could try getting a part-time job over the hols.

And I don't know of ANYONE in my year who has failed to get a pre-reg place this year.

Reply 3

BellaNotte

What would happen if you got to the time of applying for pre-reg places but got rejected from them all? then what happens?

Reply 4

HannahD

Zuluana

What would happen if you got to the time of applying for pre-reg places but got rejected from them all? then what happens?

The larger multiples tend to give their offers pretty early so there'll always be places that people didn't want and the multiples will be looking to fill these. So you could get a pre-reg place but most likely not in your desired location. I know Lloyds actually rejected some people intially but later offered the same people places. Hospitals also have a clearing policy.

You still have the independents recruiting so you could apply there.

There will always be some places somewhere in the country. It just won't be where you prefer.

My uni. is still advertising some places that haven't been filled yet.

Reply 5

Jimmocrates

Don't get too down! I know second year is extremely boring and also pretty hard, but i didn't do a summer placement until end of third year. I applied to late to do a paid summer placement in hospital, so did unpaid work experience stuff for a week. It shows that you are eager and that is the main thing.

My hospital tutor in 3rd/4th year at uni said that when they're looking at applications, they want to make sure that the person understands exactly what they are planning for. Nobody will have extensive experience of hospital - you can't really hold down a hospital job whilst studying, so the emphasis is different to community. I'd recommend getting some experience, even if it is unpaid. Write to your local hospitals pharmacy dept's and explain why you want to work there.

As for community placement, there are usually loads about until fairly late. Boots/lloyds try and pressure people into making decisions in early october, but in reality we were still getting circular emails sent to us in around march/april time begging for people to be pre-regs, usually for independent pharmacys.

As for boots... . Anyone with experience of working for them worked against the company cos everybody seemed to hate them and their strict money-grabbing hand over fist ethos.

Just relax for now and concentrate on having fun in your vast amounjt of free time whilst you still have it!

Reply 6

HannahD

Jimmocrates

As for boots... . Anyone with experience of working for them worked against the company cos everybody seemed to hate them and their strict money-grabbing hand over fist ethos.

Not sure I totally agree with you there. I WOULD have done a pre-reg with Boots had I wanted to do my pre-reg in community. They treated me very well and I had a great time working for them.

Reply 7

Xenon

I didn't get a summer placement in the 2nd year either, but come the 3rd year, I got a placement with Boots, and now have a pre-reg place lined up with them for next year. Don;t lose hpe. There is plenty of opportunity yet. Plus, for boots, the number of places available for 3rd year placement is doubled than for previous years
Oh and I really liked the people I worked with in my 3rd year placement at boots.

Reply 8

sameeha

hi.. i'm new to this forum.. was 'googling' for some info on lloyds pharmacy placements and came across this site.. I'm sure you'll get a placement sometime don't worry.. i have a friend who's from Malaysia and spent her entire summer travelling during her first 2 years of studying pharmacy, but she managed to get a 3rd year placement with Boots. Try applying to independent pharmacies or even hospitals..coz i think tesco and sainsburys applications are past their deadline by now.. Don't worry and remember whatever happens dus for the best.. Don't give up hope.. enjoy your time at uni whilst u can..cheer up :-)

Reply 9

sameeha

Hi.. I'm new to this forum.. I was just searching on google for possible interview questins lloyds pharmacy are likely to ask. I applied for a summer placement programme with them and have an interview next week, As part if the interview i am required to prepare a 10 min :eek:

presentation on 1 outta 3 topics. I chose 'how the role of pharmacists in changing over the next 5 years' if anyone has any info that could help me, i would really really appreciate if you could post it!! thanxxxx... i really want this placement as its my 3rd year nw .. gud luck to me xx

Reply 10

Fire Point

Hey, I'm starting Pharmacy in September. Does it help too have had some work experience under your belt to get these work placements? And is it more beneficial to have had community or hospital?

Hope you can advise me on this, David

Reply 11

sameeha

Hi.. I would say prior work experience would definitely be helpful to yourself in uni during practical sessions when you will have to dispeense medicines etc etc..Coz obviously you would have had real life experience witht that and so would be familiar witht the way things are done..
Concerning work placements it would have its benefits.. it would look good on your CV, but the companies (i.e private ones such as Boots, lloyds etc) don't base their decisions to offer you a place on your prior work experience..I got a placement with Boots last summer and had no experience whatsoever.. They have online applications where you have multiple choice questions and questions that ask you to choose how you would act in certain situations and basically they just wanna know what kinda person you are and what are your strengths and weaknesses..
basically they score you and the people who get the highest marks are selected for the job. Hope that helps!! And also this is just my opinion..bt i wud say if you can get a saturday job or sumthng in a pharmacy, go for it!! It's definitely helpful in uni!!

Reply 12

Xenon

Hey sameeha. I actually did the same presentation. It's not too bad. I didn't get in for pre-reg, but it's pretty hard as a lot of people think they did well in their interview but didn't get a place. Might be that I was pretty unwilling to work too much further than London though.