My internship plays a large role in terms of partnership with my education, because it gives me the opportunity to get real experience in the pharmaceutical field before making the decision in college to begin pharmaceutical study without any real experience. I also consider this internship my first job, because it is currently giving me my first general experience in the working world. I am learning things outside of what I normally learn in school, which is continuously interesting, though my internship/mentorship site.
In regard to my previous and current goals -- I currently feel that pharmacy is not the career that I want to pursue because of the late hours and repetitive work that comes along with being a pharmacist. The Honors Mentorship Program has helped me cross one profession that I was considering off my list, which helps me narrow down my choices of interest. My goals of becoming a pharmacist have changed, and I currently have my mind set on gaining experience in the realm of medical oncology.
The daily routines in the pharmacy is rarely differentiate from each other. The pharmacy receives the prescription physically or via fax, profiles the prescription, prints the prescription and the corresponding labels as well as directions for the consumer, counts the pills twice, dumps the pills into a pill bottle, labels the bottle, puts the bottle and its matching directions and prescription into a paper bag, staples the piece of paper containing the barcode to use at the register to the outside of the bag, and allows the pharmacist to check the pill count, label(s), and corresponding warnings and directions before transferring the medicine to the patient. It is a boring process, but it is easy to catch onto with the exception of the code used when filing information into the computers and looking up insurance for the customers. Through this process, I have learned the basics of how a pharmacy runs itself.