bigbang6356 asked:
Hi, I was wondering what is the best way to get letter of recommendation. I'm a 3rd year and I am not really close to any of my professors. Would you suggest applying to be TA? Office hours? Lab work?? I'm currently volunteering at a independent pharmacy.

Thank you for asking this question. I would definitely suggest TAing for a class. I think it’s a good experience since you are able to hone your interpersonal and communication skills. On top of that, if you TAed for a course that you have already taken with the same professor, it would provide you another opportunity to get to know your professor even better since you would have to meet for weekly TA meetings and you can also easily get a hold of your professor because of your TA position. 

Office hours is another great opportunity to get your professor better. You just have to use your time with your professor wisely. Come prepared with questions since it shows that you are really engaged with the class material. 

Lab work is also another great opportunity to get to know a faculty / researcher / Principal investigator (PIs). I went to UCSD, which is an R1 (research 1st) institution, so most of my science professors own their own lab to further their research. It is another way to get to know some of your professors better through their research.

Volunteering at an independent pharmacy is definitely a great way for any pre-pharmacy student to get exposed to the profession. And when people usually volunteer at a pharmacy, they ask, “what if I don’t even touch medications?” My answer is “It does not matter if you are touching medications or not.” This actually has been happening because of recent changes in privacy rules at chain pharmacies. As long as you have an insight into the profession, it will show in your application that you have invested time and energy in ensuring that the pharmacy profession is the best fit for you.

Ultimately, pharmacy applications tend to say that you do not need be a TA for a science class, a lab researchers, or even sometimes a pharmacy volunteer to be accepted to their schools. However, it won’t hurt you to take advantage of these opportunities. I believe that these experience will help enrich your education experience. It will also help you solidify your professional goals and will challenge you along with your academics. That’s what pharmacy schools want. They want students who are well-rounded and those who are active in the community. Being “active” can come in many shapes or form. It doesn’t have to be the three things that I mentioned above.


Shattering Drug Myths: Fact 1

Prescription pain medications like Vicodin and OxyContin are involved in more overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.

IT’S BEEN 2 MONTHS!

Hi Everyone, 

It’s been two months since I logged on to this blog. When I logged on, I was happy with what I saw: 100+ more followers. I am not sure where this flood of followers came from but I am truly grateful to share my experiences with you all. Welcome!

I haven’t logged on to here in so long because I’ve been focusing more on my personal blog than this blog. Juggling between two blogs has been more difficult than I expected. But to be honest, I know that this is going to tip over very soon once I get kicking with pharmacy school. I am still debating whether I should reveal my personal blog or not. 

My personal blog has pharmacy stuff in it too especially prior to creating this blog since I did not have an outlet just solely for my pharmacy-related experiences. There are some useful pharmacy-related stuff in my personal blog and it would take ages to transfer those posts to this page. But it’s doable. I will try my best to rummage through those posts because not all of them were tagged as “pharmacy.” On top of that, my personal blog is a mixture of my life (school, work, adventures, music, inspirations, etc.) so if you want something more cohesive.

Ultimately, this blog serves solely to provide pharmacy-related information. No personal agendas haha. 

I took some time today to update my page. Tell me what you think. I am open to any advice / constructive criticism. 

I hope all is well with you all.

-Mark :D

Hello followers, I just realized…

My TUMBLR ASK BOX WAS NOT ACTIVATED!

NOW it is! Sorry about that! 

Hello Followers!

I just wanted to update you all that I am planning to attend the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Pharmacy for Fall 2012. 

For those of you who have been getting acceptance letters from your desired pharmacy schools, I want to congratulate you for your success. I hope that you choose the right school that best fits your academic, professional, and personal needs. For those of who are still in the interview process, I hope the tips that I’ve been providing for the past few months have helped you. I hope you rock those interviews as well!

And last but not the least, tor those of you who are planning to apply to pharmacy school next year or the years after, I am here as a resource. I hope to expand this blog to provide some advice and insight for future pharmacy students. Please help me publicize this blog because I really want to use this social-based media (ehem Tumblr) as a tool for the success of future pharmacy students. If not, it would be nice if you can reblog my previous and future posts so that this blog gets it’s name out there. 

Good luck with your journey towards this dynamic profession. 

-Mark (Pharmasaurusrx)

Pharmacy Experience vs. No Pharmacy Experience

Some students are intimidated to apply because they do not have any pharmacy-related experience. To be honest, anyone who is applying to pharmacy school should have a little bit of exposure to a pharmacy chain. It could just be once a week or even biweekly. At least have some exposure so that you know if the profession is best for you.

Some schools do require pharmacy experience but it doesn’t have to be a paid work experience. Take advantage of opportunities that your school offers. Many schools are affiliated with medical centers/hospitals/clinics where there are pharmacies. Visit those healthcare institutions and ask if there are any volunteer opportunities. Some schools probably have more competitive spots and if that’s the case, take advantage of independent chain pharmacies. Independent pharmacies usually need a lot of help especially those who are just starting off their business. So if you think there aren’t any opportunities, think again! The opportunity might just be around the corner. 

Interview Tip #4: Avoid Vocal Fillers

It is better to pause before answering a question rather than using “vocal fillers.” The point is that…Uhmm You know like uhm…you want to have clear answers. Having vocal fillers like in the previous sentence can really interrupt the flow of your responses and can be distracting to your interviewers. An important quality that interviewers seek for is your ability to communicate clearly. If vocal fillers dominate your responses, then you are not communicating as clearly as you could.

To avoid vocal fillers, learn how to pause when responding to the question. It really helps to ask the interviewer to clarify or repeat their question. That will give you a couple of seconds to think of a cohesive response instead of a fragmented one.

Interview Tip #3: Be Yourself.

Don’t sugarcoat your experiences. Speak truthfully about them. Your soft skills should naturally flourish during your interview if you do so.

Don’t be robotic. Be human.

Interview Tip #2: Think About What You Say But Don’t Write a Script

The best way to prepare for an interview is to formulate potential interview questions and coming up with answers for them. But when it comes to responding to these questions, it is important to make your responses sound natural. Having a script will make your responses sound artificial.

Have an outline of the key ideas you want to address to the question.