A dose of experience: How co-op shapes future pharmacists
Sara Gatti (she/her) is a third-year Health Sciences student. She speaks about learning to adapt and finding confidence during her co-op experience. Sara also shares her advice for students balancing work, school and extracurriculars while gaining hands-on industry experience.
Sara’s co-op journey:
Work terms one and two: In her last two work terms, Sara worked as a pharmacy assistant at Town Square Pharmacy. Sara helped with prescription processing and aided patients while gaining hands-on experience with medication dispensing and insurance billing.
Q&A with Sara:
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What has been the most rewarding thing about co-op?
“The most rewarding thing about co-op is being able to get hands-on experience in a career that I aspire to have once I finish my schooling. Being in a physical pharmacy really opened my eyes to all of the things that I did not know about the job."
"It allowed me to interact with different patients. My co-workers also truly inspired me to work as hard as I could. It was so rewarding when I was able to take concepts I learned in school and apply them throughout my job.”
What is the most memorable experience you had from your co-op terms?
“The most memorable experience I had from my co-op term was this past term when my coworkers told me how proud they were of me on my last day of work. This may seem like such a small thing, but it meant so much to me because they are people I look up to and aspire to be one day."
"In addition, at the beginning of the job I struggled to pick everything up."
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I was very overwhelmed with all the new information at first. Before my co-op, I had no idea what each drug does along with billing to the appropriate insurance plans. With practice, I eventually was able to do it more efficiently with fewer questions.
"My co-workers recognized this improvement and went out of their way to tell me that on my last day. I got quite emotional about this because them noticing my growth and mentioning it to me made me feel extremely accomplished.”
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What have you learned about the pharmacy industry from being on co-op?
“I have learned so much from the industry and I hope to continue learning more. One of the major things I have learned is how important communication is. Whether it is between co-workers, or with patients, communicating both effectively and respectfully is something that goes a long way."
"During my co-op, I would listen to how the pharmacist speaks to the patients that they would interact with. It gave me the opportunity to watch how they would always make sure to politely greet them and go through the medication.”
“There are so many patients being looked after so if something gets misconstrued or lost, it can be really difficult to figure it out. Especially if there is no effective communication occurring. That is why each patient had a profile on the system and extra comments were added if needed. Also, if something is urgent, a sticky note would be left with this information so that all the workers are aware of what is going on and could deal with it when necessary.”
What was your technique to stay organized during your work term?
“My key tip to staying organized during my work term, and realistically any term, is scheduling and taking efficient notes. As a competitive dancer, a lot of my time is also dedicated to my team and my rehearsals. This can get very crowded when working a full-time job and partaking in an optional course for school."
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"I also made sure to have a schedule handy, so I know when I am free and when I need to attend these rehearsals or have an assignment due for a class. In regards to staying organized in my job, I took efficient notes while I was being trained and I separated them into subtopics so that if I needed to reference something, I could be self-sufficient and look up the information.”
“These notes helped me stay organized, especially during a crazy day, where there is less time to be confused about certain things that you’re unsure about. It might turn out to be a better fit for you than you thought.”
What's next for you?
"I am in the process of applying to pharmacy school for the first time, so I am going through that process. In terms of my next co-op, I decided to take the term off to travel as well as take some optional classes. With this busy time of the year, I felt that having this break in the summer to take it easy will help prepare me for whatever is to come."