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Pharmacy Careers
Student Career Resources
A range of resources is available to help guide pharmacy students as they prepare to launch their careers.
The APhA Career Center
The first and largest national professional society of pharmacists, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) is made up of more than 62,000 members including practicing pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians. The APhA features a career center where students can download information on the many options available in pharmacy, learn about residency programs, and search for jobs in all sectors of pharmacy. Additional resources and career articles, including tips on resume building, job searching, and dressing for interviews, are also available on the website.
In addition to the career center, the organization offers a workshop to help students choose their pharmacy career path, the APhA Career Pathway Evaluation Program for Pharmacy Professionals. The program aims to provide students with detailed information on several areas of pharmacy practice and with strategies to identify which career option is best suited for an individual.
www.pharmacist.com/career-center
NCPA Student Resources
The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) represents the interests of pharmacy owners, managers, and employees of independent pharmacies across the country. The organization’s website offers information about promoting independent pharmacy, advocating legislative action, creating new members, fundraising, pharmacy ownership, and NCPA student chapter activities and community service projects. The website also features links to pharmacy schools and information about internship and leadership opportunities, NCPA conferences, scholarships, award nominations, and their student business plan competition.
In addition, the pharmacist e-Link portal provides news, continuing education courses, and business management tools. Students can also download the Independent Pharmacy Career Guide, a publication providing information on multiple areas of independent practice, including community pharmacy residency programs, junior partnerships, women in community pharmacy, and purchasing an existing practice or opening a brand new one.
www.ncpanet.org/index.php/student-resources
ASHP Pharmacy Student Forum
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) is a national professional organization that advocates and supports the practice of pharmacists in hospitals, health systems, and ambulatory clinics. To help prepare pharmacy students for successful careers, the organization hosts the ASHP Pharmacy Student Forum on its website. In the forum, students can learn about career options, find networking opportunities, and access a variety of resources. In the forum’s career center, students can learn about career planning and preparation and get tips for writing their curriculum vitae. The forum also presents extensive information on residencies, including a residency directory, a webinar series on navigating the residency process, and a video on residency training, opportunities, and how to select the right program.
Students can also download the ASHP student brochure, which provides information on the society’s mission, programs, meetings and conferences, and the benefits of becoming a member. The brochure also provides questions frequently asked about pharmacy in the health-system setting and a checklist to help students prepare for a residency program during their final year of pharmacy school.
NACDS
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) aims to “advance the interests and objectives of the chain community pharmacy industry, by fostering its growth and promoting its role as a provider of healthcare services and consumer products.” To achieve this goal, the NACDS Foundation, a non-profit organization, works alongside the NACDS using education, research, and charitable efforts to improve the health of Americans. The organization provides resources, scholarships, and opportunities to pharmacy students. Each year, the NACDS foundation awards top pharmacy students with scholarships along with awarding funds to pharmacy colleges to use for scholarships through its Pharmacy Partners Scholarship Program. The foundation also offers a one-year Executive Fellowship in which a pharmacy graduate is given the opportunity to work on projects with a team of research and health care leaders to enhance patient care at a national level.
Powered by Rx Career Center, the Chain Community Pharmacy Internship Center offered on the organization’s website allows students to search for internship opportunities in chain pharmacy by company, city, and state. Students can register with the site to gain access to their free resume builder and additional career tools.
