Reflections of a 4th yr pharm student--pls read if you're considering pharm (3 Viewers)

[spdr20]

Re: Pls read if you're considering pharm (warning: very lengthy)

Yeah hospital research would involve a lot of clinical trials, which could add a bit more itneret to your job
haha yeah, community pharmacy would be boring, but then again, you could always mix and match (work, teach, research). I geuss it comes down to what you want to do with your job and life.
And me, well Ive taken a year off after my honours. Currently working in a hospital as a research/resp scientist. So far so good, though I dont think I will be staying here for too long (thinking of doing phd or dent or med....too many options in my head!), though the money is quite good for a hospital job (im pretty lucky i got this job haha).And yeah, you are a bit of a stalker hahah, nah we are on a forum, so we might as well know who the other person is to some extent!
So where do you do your pharmacy at? and you got yourself a job lined up yet?
I think getting a job comes down to the interview and what youve done in the past. I know I got employed here not only because of my uni work and research stuff, but its because Ive done a lot of paid employment to get myself through uni, which sort of shows tyhat your flexible and able to work with anyone. But my 2cents in it anyway. I just find a lot of people think getting a job is like going to uni, get your marks and your in. But often its not the case.

 

[sunjet]

Re: Pls read if you're considering pharm (warning: very lengthy)

Become an academic? My parents are both pharmacists who became academics and it has opened up a lot of travel/additional research and entirely different job prospects for them..

To be honest I don't see the appeal in retail pharmacy (is that community pharmacy?) - although our good family friend owns a big chain and is very wealthy..

 

[lala2]

Re: Pls read if you're considering pharm (warning: very lengthy)

^^Yeah, retail pharmacy = community pharmacy. That'd be cool--are your parents entirely academics or do they work in hospital or community as well? What do you mean by different job prospects?

 

[sunjet]

Re: Pls read if you're considering pharm (warning: very lengthy)

Well my mum is in private sector now but does a lot of her work in hospitals.. and my dad is still an academic. Umm it just seems they have had some fairly varied roles throughout their career.

 

[lala2]

Re: Pls read if you're considering pharm (warning: very lengthy)

For closure, the remaining Harrison's Broadway position got filled this week. So, after searching since at least late July if not earlier. 3.5 months of being picky. A long, and very frustratingly, unsuccessful 3.5 month wait for my friend. Not saying anything against the process, but that successful applicant is, imo, the most undeserving person. Yes, interviews are a very artificial way of accessing applicants--and the only way, unfortunately, but I'm still angry. Especially because that guy is full of shit. And I don't mean like he just talks bullshit or a bad habit like that, I mean, he really is a very bad person. Even if my friend hadn't applied for the position I could've thought of a million people more deserving of it. Sigh, I suppose life is unfair like that.

Onto better things though--negotiated my start date today and expect to receive the job offer letter within a week so the all clear's ahead!

 

[sam5]

i feel really sorry for u lala.

I would hate to get to the final year in my biomed degree at new uni and then regret what i had done. Wasted time, effort and money.

I dont think id ever forgive myself.

 

[lala2]

Thanks sam5. Unfortunately, I realised at the beginning of third year, so, being over halfway, too late to pull out. And the worst thing is, that meant the last two years were absolute hell for me. But yeah, I hope this thread's been helpful in some way--it's gotten a lot of views so hopefully it has made people think just a little bit more. It's a shame pharmacy is always viewed through rose-coloured glasses, though I do agree it has its perks.

 

[adeyemi]

I DONT LIKE THE WAY YOU GUYS TALK ABOUT PHARMACY,I BELIEVE you guys are sentimental about it,you guys are almost saying the same thing"that u were not interested in studying the course from the onset.In my country more than 2000 people apply for the course in a university.and i think from the beginning u should study what interests you the most.OR WAS ANYONE INTERESTED IN IT BEFORE AND LOST INTEREST AFTER SOME TIME???????

 

[danz90]

I DONT LIKE THE WAY YOU GUYS TALK ABOUT PHARMACY,I BELIEVE you guys are sentimental about it,you guys are almost saying the same thing"that u were not interested in studying the course from the onset.In my country more than 2000 people apply for the course in a university.and i think from the beginning u should study what interests you the most.OR WAS ANYONE INTERESTED IN IT BEFORE AND LOST INTEREST AFTER SOME TIME???????

Everyone has a different opinion, and of course that's normal and should be respected.

Everything that lala has said in this thread is completely true.

 

[lala2]

Thanks danz. How's TSP going? Have you started yet?

 

[danz90]

Thanks danz. How's TSP going? Have you started yet?

Hey lala

For TSP we've only had 1 meeting so far... our academic mentors are actually Romano Fois together with Lorraine Smith and Jane Hanrahan, but they are pretty good. We haven't started activities as yet.. but will start next year. We could be doing placements/visits to pharm companies, TGA, NPS and places like that - which REALLY interests me. And they are really considerate about time management issues - they only want us to allocate like an hour or two per week during sem for TSP, and that during summer holidays for eg. only a few weeks. Hopefully it will be interesting

 

[lala2]

That sounds awesome, let us know how it goes yeah? I'm thinking of dabbling a little bit in industry after my rego year, maybe not immediately but your experience would definitely help me make a decision. Especially as I really don't know anything about industry.

In other news--that's it!!!!!!!!!! I'm now officially a B.Pharm.(USYD). Can't believe it's the end of four years!

 

[Deltan]

That sounds awesome, let us know how it goes yeah? I'm thinking of dabbling a little bit in industry after my rego year, maybe not immediately but your experience would definitely help me make a decision. Especially as I really don't know anything about industry.

In other news--that's it!!!!!!!!!! I'm now officially a B.Pharm.(USYD). Can't believe it's the end of four years!

lala, does that mean your not going to study arts/science anymore?

 

[lala2]

lol not for next year no. I was actually all prepared in case I couldn't get a job--submitting the UAC application and all that. I'd still like to do Arts/Science at some stage. Fulltime or part-time would depend on whether I can get a job after registration. Even though I'm (obviously) very pleased with the result, I hope that this thread has given you an idea of "the other side" of pharmacy. The job market can only go downhill from here. Not trying to depress anyone, but simply stating the facts as I've experienced them.

I guess another point which hasn't come up and which shouldn't concern local graduates too much especially if you're from NSW but still may--don't forget, there are interstate and overseas people as well to compete with. I only work to cover people when they're sick, on holidays or need a day off for whatever reason. It so happened I worked last Thurs and Fri week, and yesterday, and between those three days, I had 2 overseas pharmacists come in asking for a graduate job (they also need to register via the same system).

The point being, I work so irregularly (hadn't worked in 2 months prior to this recent stint) and am still able to make this observation. I asked my pharmacist if it was just a major coincidence but she said no, so many overseas people have come looking as well, so there you go. Be very well prepared to consider a career outside of Sydney. Even that will change I think, with the opening of UNE's course next year.

 

[lala2]

Thanks Nope, my grad (pre-registration) job is (thankfully) fulltime. But after I'm registered, I'll need to apply for jobs as a registered pharmacist. I've heard conflicting views on whether it's easier to get a job before or after registration, but yeah, it definitely won't be a piece of cake either way.

 

[meilz92]

ok i know you guys are saying your having trouble finding work

but i work as a pharmacy assistant right, and today at work my boss was congratulating me on my ATAR and asking what i want to do next year...
i mentioned my interests in pharmacy, and she was like "oooh yes, do pharmacy, do pharmacy" and i told her my reservations on pharmacy about how so many graduates were struggling to find jobs...
and shes like "dont worry, theres plenty of jobs... and if you cant find one.... [gestures around the pharmacy and winks]"

so do you think it would be to my advantage that i currently work in a pharmacy, if i do a bachelor of pharmacy?

 

[danz90]

ok i know you guys are saying your having trouble finding work

but i work as a pharmacy assistant right, and today at work my boss was congratulating me on my ATAR and asking what i want to do next year...
i mentioned my interests in pharmacy, and she was like "oooh yes, do pharmacy, do pharmacy" and i told her my reservations on pharmacy about how so many graduates were struggling to find jobs...
and shes like "dont worry, theres plenty of jobs... and if you cant find one.... [gestures around the pharmacy and winks]"

so do you think it would be to my advantage that i currently work in a pharmacy, if i do a bachelor of pharmacy?

It's always an advantage to be working in a pharmacy as an undergrad. You learn on the job itself - so you learn about the profession from an early stage in your career.

 

[McBean88]

wow thanks for the thread =]
having worked in a pharmacy i was kinda turned off doing it. neva really got many customers and all i ever saw the pharmacist doing was sticking labels on a box =='...iunno i just can't imagine doing this everyday for 20+ years and not going anywhere. to me, working in a pharmacy = working in a shop and i don't want to waste 10+ yrs of learning to end up as a shop keeper selling toothpaste and watnot =/
but i know people who really enjoy doing the course (usyd) and reading dis thread has deff helped me understand why. thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences..hopsital pharamacy sounds very appealing =]...just hope i can make the course...according to the uac book the cut-off is 92.60 atar..i got 92.20 =[...
would it be easier to transer to usyd pharmacy from doing a usyd science course (eg. med science) or doing a pharmacy couse in say une? =S

 

[danz90]

wow thanks for the thread =]
having worked in a pharmacy i was kinda turned off doing it. neva really got many customers and all i ever saw the pharmacist doing was sticking labels on a box =='...iunno i just can't imagine doing this everyday for 20+ years and not going anywhere. to me, working in a pharmacy = working in a shop and i don't want to waste 10+ yrs of learning to end up as a shop keeper selling toothpaste and watnot =/
but i know people who really enjoy doing the course (usyd) and reading dis thread has deff helped me understand why. thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences..hopsital pharamacy sounds very appealing =]...just hope i can make the course...according to the uac book the cut-off is 92.60 atar..i got 92.20 =[...
would it be easier to transer to usyd pharmacy from doing a usyd science course (eg. med science) or doing a pharmacy couse in say une? =S

I think that 92.60 is an equivalent ATAR from last year's UAI cut-off (91.90). There is a downward trend in the cut-off over the past few years.

Good luck in getting in!

 

[lala2]

Haha danz thanks for taking care of my thread...completely forgot about it (and everything else) thanks to the tiring routine that's fulltime work. I hereby appoint you honorary co-author of this thread

Well, I guess the next logical step is what do I do as a hosp intern? The first 8 weeks (just completed week 2) is stock distribution. So basically everything from ordering ward stock, to disposing or crediting any ward drugs (whether ward stock or stuff's the patient's brought in), to prepacking (pre-labelled boxes with spaces on the label for the Dr to write in the dose, etc), to putting away the order (yes, you're not exempt from that as a hosp intern). All the technician stuff really, but it's a good basis for everything else. It's also not as boring as it sounds, because literally >50% of the drugs you'll see in the dispensary you'll never see in community, e.g. all the antibiotic injections.

Hoping to start on dispensing in the new year--have already been introduced to the discharge monitoring system. After the first 8 weeks I then have 3 month rotations between Manly and Mona Vale Hospitals being introduced to all the different therapeutic areas. It also seems all clear's ahead for me to drop in at RNSH on Wednesday mornings when they have their tutes so yay