Someone asked me the other day what are some things that I wish I had known before starting pharmacy school, which got me thinking about the question. I’m in my last year of pharmacy school and a lot has changed over the years in terms of how I feel about my program, what I’ve learned, and what I wish I would’ve known before signing up. So, I figured in today’s post we would dive right in on some pieces of advice that I wish someone would’ve told me before pharmacy school.
The different types of career paths in the pharmacy field
When I first applied to pharmacy school, I only knew about two main types of pharmacy career paths: retail and hospital pharmacy. This is a normal perception for most people coming into the program! I had no idea about the hundreds of other career paths that pharmacist could go into, which really limited my mindset. It’s hard to learn about new different career paths and to tailor your resume for those opportunities if you don’t know that they are out there.
Thankfully, my school did a great job in making sure we had plenty of opportunity to expand our horizons. We would have monthly talks from different pharmacists in unique jobs, took classes to expand our horizons, and got weekly emails with opportunities to get involved. If you’re interested in pharmacy, take the time to dig into Google and read up on all of the career paths that you can have as a pharmacist, such as forensics, research, informatics, management, etc. The world is bright for pharmacists!
The amount of time I had to spend studying
Now I knew that pharmacy school was going to be more difficult than undergraduate, but I honestly had no idea how much time I would spend studying on a regular basis. My first year in pharmacy school, I probably studied anywhere from 6-8 hours a day. If you think it gets better over time, it really doesn’t. You’re just studying different material and you probably don’t care as much as you used to about your grades.
I wish before I started pharmacy school that I had enjoyed my time and freedom in my undergrad years. You don’t realize how much that you miss when you can’t do it anymore like hanging out with friends, partying, and going to every event on campus. Basically enjoy your freedom!
The sheer diversity of your fellow classmates
Coming into pharmacy school, I thought everyone would be very similar in personality, values, education level, nationalities, and competency, but alas they weren’t. Everyone was so different from each other, which is a great thing. I just wasn’t expecting it when I walked into the first day of class. Some of my classmates have degrees (yep, more than one), some have children, some are older, and some are out-of-state.
Diversity in healthcare is so important for patients and for the healthcare culture. I’m thankful that my classmates are all so diverse and that I can learn from each and every one of them. It also opens up a little light at the end of the tunnel that no matter who you are, you have a chance of getting into pharmacy school even if you are different and unique. Just work hard and be yourself because you’re magical.
The time commitment
When I first started pharmacy school, I had only completed two years of undergrad and was set to complete six years of college total. You don’t realize how those extra two years of schooling can affect you emotionally and physically. After two years of pharmacy school, all of my friends moved off, got their first full-time job, and some are even getting married and having babies right now.
It was difficult to say the least to see everyone moving on with their lives and you’re stuck in college. It hit even harder when I would have to study all day and couldn’t take time off to travel the world like I wish could. And even if I did take time off, I was still a broke college student because I couldn’t work a full-time gig, like my friends who had already graduated. Before starting pharmacy school, make sure you’re ready financially and emotionally for the time commitment that it takes to complete the program.
All of the organizations that you can be involved in
Typically within the first week of school, there’s an organizational fair that is held with all of the different organizations that you can be part of during your time in pharmacy school. From my experience, the fair is super overwhelming, and every club sounds amazing, which of course makes it hard to pick a few that you want to join.
Instead of waiting to get involved once you’ve started the program, if you can get involved when you’re just a pre-pharmacy student. There is a lot of opportunities from doing that such as networking, beefing up your resume, and get a real feel of what each organization is like when it doesn’t matter as much. You can take the time to find out what you enjoy or dislike about a club before you’re in pharmacy school, which is something that I wish I would’ve done for myself.
The importance of networking
You might’ve heard it before, but if not here it is again: networking is super important in the world of pharmacy. Pharmacy is such a small close-knit community that who know is sometimes more important than your PCAT score and your GPA. Now I’m not saying that those things aren’t important, but I am saying personal connections are even more important.
As a future pharmacist, your patients want to connect with you on a personal level and feel like they can trust your opinions. The same goes with your future fellow colleagues. My advice on getting started is to job shadow, work in a pharmacy, go to pharmacy organizational meetings, and just get involved with the profession in any way that you can. You never know…those connections may help you land your first pharmacy job or put in a good word into your potential pharmacy school program.
P4 year is not a walk in the park
I’ve always imagined that once you reach P4 year that it would be a walk in the park and that they would be super fun! Now don’t get me wrong, some rotations are fun, but others literally suck the life out of you. Some rotations are going to have you work ten-hour shifts, have loads of projects due daily, and require a lot of effort from you while others are going to work you as if you’re a tech.
Rotations are really all about preceptors, institution, and what you can take away from the experience. Which for me coming into the program, I didn’t realize how different each rotation would be from each other. P4 year really teaches you a lot about yourself, what you like and dislike, and what you can tolerate in terms of responsibility and manager style.
Your GPA isn’t everything, your character is
Let me be clear, your character is the most important thing that you have in life. I’m not saying that grades and academics aren’t important because they definitely are, but I am saying that nobody is going to remember your GPA at your grave. I wish I had known before starting pharmacy school how important it is to develop yourself in terms of how you want others to remember you and how you want others to perceive you.
Now take this advice with a grain of salt because you don’t need to set out to make sure everyone in class loves you, but it’s just to remind you about what’s important. Develop your leadership, be honest, and strive for success before, after, and during pharmacy school.
