Pharmacy Work Experience

Hey guys
Im in s6 and want some pharmacy experience in Edinburgh.
Does anyone know any places or companies that give work experience/shadowing for secondary school students?
Ive emailed and called many pharmacies and haven't managed to get anything so if anyone has any tips lmk!

Reply 1

LJMUStudentReps

Official Rep

Original post

by noodles706

Hi,

It’s great that you’re looking to gain pharmacy experience. I’d recommend a few things:

• Keep trying local pharmacies. Smaller independent ones are often more flexible than big chains.
• Contact hospital pharmacies. Some NHS hospitals offer work experience or taster days, so check the NHS website or call their pharmacy departments.
• Ask family, friends, or teachers if they know a pharmacist who might let you shadow for a short period.
•Even a short half-day can give you valuable insight and experience.

Hope this helps, and good luck :smile:

Tayba
Student Rep

Reply 2

nna84

Original post

by noodles706

The best thing to do is to go in person and ask them. I would recommend printing out your CV and going to pharmacists in your area and asking them if you could shadow them at the pharmacy. That’s how I got work experience at a GP pharmacy and community pharmacy.

Reply 3

McGinger

Pharmacy does not require 'relevant work experience' - Unis are very realistic about the difficulties in obtaining this. Any sort of people experience is useful - retail, hospitality, volunteering in a charity shop etc - perfect for those 'give me an example of how you dealt with a difficult situation / difficult people' etc questions at interview.

An awareness of what Pharmacy involves is essential,but you dont need to have 'worked' in a Pharmacy to have this. Lots of useful links here - Useful resources for MPharm PS and Interviews - The Student Room

Reply 4

mrlittlebigman

I would recommend trying to arrange even a chat with a couple of community pharmacists if you can't get any actual full-day work experience, just to find out the realities of day to day work in a community pharmacy. It's very busy and some people don't like the repetitive nature, others however, like the regularity.

Some people really hate the 'healthcare in a retail environment' and don't like the idea of having a degree and working in a shop. And it's important to remember 60-65% of pharmacy grads end up in retail pharmacy. You don't want to spend £40k and 5 years of your life then find out you really don't like what you trained to do.
In the large chains and the supermarkets, your managers will usually not be pharmacists and may focus more on the retail side and targets, which some more clinically-minded retail pharmacists can find difficult to adapt to. But a business exists to make a profit.

But let's finish with some positives!
There are lots of new jobs opening up in GP practices and PCNs, and all new pharmacists will now qualify as independent prescribers after completing the degree and foundation year, so there are lots of new opportunities on the horizon hopefully, if the government will engage with the profession on having a prescriber in every pharmacy soon.

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 5

McGinger

It is not just 'running a shop' - Pharmacists are vital in hospital and research settings :
Hospital Pharmacy - https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/hospital-pharmacist
Clinical research jobs - pharmaceutical jobs - NHS Jobs

More links etc here - Useful resources for MPharm PS and Interviews - The Student Room

Reply 6

mrlittlebigman

Original post

by McGinger

It is not just 'running a shop' - Pharmacists are vital in hospital and research settings :
Hospital Pharmacy - https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/hospital-pharmacist
Clinical research jobs - pharmaceutical jobs - NHS Jobs
More links etc here - Useful resources for MPharm PS and Interviews - The Student Room

I've done it for 35 years McG. Are you a pharmacist?
I'm simply pointing out that it is a retail environment that not everyone takes to. I'm not referring to hospital or research. I said there were other options. You post an awful lot on this site. Are you an admission's tutor ?

Reply 7

mrlittlebigman

Original post

by McGinger

It is not just 'running a shop' - Pharmacists are vital in hospital and research settings :
Hospital Pharmacy - https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/hospital-pharmacist
Clinical research jobs - pharmaceutical jobs - NHS Jobs
More links etc here - Useful resources for MPharm PS and Interviews - The Student Room

The majority of pharmacy graduates go into retail pharmacy, which is a shop, although I didn't use the words you did! Any community pharmacist will tell you a day in there is far from just 'running a shop'. Hence my advice to the guy to go and see. You tell everyone they don't need any work experience, true, but would you spend £40k on a course and 5 yrs of your life without even finding out about it. I certainly wouldn't.
Too many people go and do pharmacy and know little about it. Have you seen the drop-out rates at some schools of pharmacy?