Question:
Hi, I’m in Rx2021 and I don’t really know what to expect for my first co-op. I want to try applying to a non-retail/community pharmacy position, but I don’t know if I would be at a disadvantage with my lack of experience. From your experience, would you advise doing retail/community pharmacy first and then trying something new (e.g. hospital pharmacy) for future co-op positions?
Thanks!
Response:
Hi there!
The first co-op term is a very exciting time, but it can be hard to figure out exactly what to do when there’s so many options. Before my first co-op term, my thought process was that I wanted to do community pharmacy for the first one since I had experience in community already, then I would try hospital once I had more clinical knowledge. But after completing my co-op and hearing other people’s experiences, I actually wouldn’t recommend doing or avoiding a certain type of placement in the first term specifically. I haven’t come across anyone in my class that felt they made a mistake by doing non-retail placements first. As I said, I did my first placement in community and despite years of experience in community, there was still a great deal of learning in the first little bit, as I was adjusting to the new environment and expanding my comfort with pharmacy student tasks that I hadn’t done before. So I think that pretty much no matter where you go, there will be a learning curve, but it is manageable.
What I would recommend is to reach out to upper years who have done placements that you may be interested in (a document will be provided to you guys that shows where upper years have done their placements + gives contact info) to get a feel for what their responsibilities were, and how comfortable you would feel with those responsibilities. I have reached out to a lot of people to ask about their experiences, and everyone I have talked to was eager to share their experience and super helpful! Don’t be afraid to go for what you want, the employers know that you are learning, and the more you expand your comfort zone the more you will learn!
Hope that helps!