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Pharmacy: Is there any way for a student applying to pharmacy school to shadow a pharmacist?

My husband is applying to pharmacy school programs this fall and needs to get pharmacy hours somehow. He is not a pharmacy technician so it's a bit harder. Any suggestions?

Public Comments

1. The only thing he could do would be to apply for a part-time job as a pharmacy technician, which requires no schooling or experience. The only way to get an internship is if you've already been accepted into pharmacy school
2. He could do 2 options: 1. Volunteer: This can be done by calling a pharmacy; perferably not one that is a walgreens or CVS because they are a company and customer service base and you would be considered in the way. That would leave private pharmacies or hospital pharmacies to volunteer at. Hospitals are the best because they take volunteers, just remind them that he perfers to be in the pharmacy area. If he gets certified or licensed and volunteer, then he could possibly do more like count the pills out etc... 2. Get certified/licensed: Two ways to do this a. He takes a pharmacy technician class and they will pay for him to be come certified and licensed but it costs money and not to mention to much time, which assuming your husband doesn't have. b. He can go to the certified pharmacy technican board or ptcb.org and pay a fee (depending on your state) then take a pharmacy technician exam. If he passes, he get certified which is one way (again, depending on your state) that can lead to applying for a pharmacy technican license which will surely lead to a job. *If he volunteers while getting certified/licensed (he will need to be licensed from his state's board of pharmacy when he gets into pharmacy school anyway, so why not get it now) then when he does get certified/licensed plus the experience from the volunteer work will lead to a job and hopefully acceptance to pharmacy school
3. Hours? If he's looking for experience to relate in interviews or to add to his application he can shadow a pharmacist or multiple pharmacists. The best place to start would be with the professors at the closest school(s) to you. There is usually a contact person at the school that helps people during the admissions process. This is the person he can ask for contacts from. If there is a pharmacy you regularly visit in retail, then this is one that you can ask to shadow. There are rules/regulations/laws involved with some environments. HIPAA and similar patient protection acts that he may need training on. Getting a job as a tech is a great way to get experience, even in addition to another job to show interest.