Pharmacy work experience

Hi,
I’m in year 12, interested in pharmacy. Was wondering whether someone who got pharmacy work experience/ any work experience that helped their application for pharmacy could answer these questions:

-where was your work experience
-how did you get it
-what did you do and see
-what did you learn

thanks!

Reply 1

Aspirin123

Hi, I am a hospital pharmacist. I'd imagine the course would be pretty over-scribed so any work experience will definitely help. When I was looking for pharmacy experience, I wrote to my local hospital pharmacy department and sent a bunch of letters to some community pharmacies. I never heard back from lots of places but I managed to secure half a day in hospital pharmacy which really helped my application. During the day I spoke with the team lead pharmacist and the pre-registration pharmacist showed me around the department. She also went through clinical enquiries that she would deal with on a daily basis from doctors/ward staff, and I got to see what technicians and assistant technical officers do. The pre-registration pharmacist went through briefly what she studied at university and competencies that she is currently working toward to gain registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council.

Not sure with COVID how feasible it would be to accommodate work experience in hospital/community pharmacy but it's worth a go.

Good luck with your application.

Reply 2

zayzay1234

Original post by Aspirin123

Thanks for your response!
Why do you think pharmacy is over-subscribed? Is there not a shortage of pharmacists?
Also, could you tell me what your day to day job involves, and what you most and least like about it?
Thank you!

Reply 3

TheChosenWon

Original post by zayzay1234

I would suggest reading all of the existing threads on this forum about Pharmacy as a career, before choosing this path so lightly :smile:

Reply 4

0895

Original post by zayzay1234

There may be a shortage of pharmacists in rural Wales, or the Scottish Highlands, or anywhere out in the sticks like little towns in say, Cornwall, Devon, East Anglia or Shropshire, but in big cities, big towns, university towns and cities, then no, there really isn't a shortage of pharmacists. There are around 3000 graduates a year. Pharmacy really doesn't need that many. There are many people who study pharmacy and then in their late 20s/early 30s decide to pursue another career, usually due to the relatively low pay and stress of community pharmacy, which is where two thirds of pharmacy graduates work.

Reply 5

tinygirl96

Contact some local pharmacies to enquire about the different career options. In my area there are at least two good pharmacies neither accepting new candidates at present. See if you can really dig out the important information that you need online on their site, email them or ask in person. Make up some brief notes. Also try to do up your resume in case as this is useful anyway. Get their contact details etc if possible. But seriously look at some other industries as a precaution. Read some pharmacy job descriptions, focus on improving your key skills and so on.

Reply 6

zayzay1234

Not directly related to pharmacy, but what could I put on my resume if I’ve never had a job?

Reply 7

TheChosenWon

Original post by zayzay1234

Not directly related to pharmacy, but what could I put on my resume if I’ve never had a job?

Boast about skills you have acquired through school/life which would help you thrive in the job/degree you're applying for i.e. leadership skills, communication, critical thinking, problem solving, perseverance etc. Try to use real-world examples of when you've shown these skills (perhaps in a school project or something like that?)

For entry level jobs and degrees, these are the kind of things they look for. Also, if you do have any work experience in anything then definitely apply examples to the time you spent in work experience which helped developed your skill.

Employers/universities don't expect you to be very experienced, but they want to see your potential and that you're shapeable to their organisation.

Hope that helps.

Reply 8

networthamilly

Original post by Aspirin123

Hi I know this isn’t related but I’d like to know what it’s like being a hospital pharmacist?? I start pharmacy degree in September and would just like to know options. So like how does the pay for hospital pharmacy look like, is the job overwhelming does it affect your social life etc ? You can pm me if you don’t want to answer on here xx (new on tsr so not sure how to sorry lol)