Questions to Ask a Pharmacist as a Student

The questions

Open any question to see why it works.

1. 1

   Which year of pharmacy school was hardest for you, and why that one?

   Answers usually split between the year of heaviest coursework and the year of rotations, for completely different reasons: volume in one case, and a loss of control over your schedule and your evaluators in the other. Knowing which is coming lets you plan the year you are weakest for.

2. 2

   What did you figure out late that you wish you had known in first year?

   Often something structural, such as how the class ranks, which electives lead to which rotations, or that a specific professor writes the letters that matter. These are things nobody tells you and everybody learns eventually.

3. 3

   How much of what I am memorizing now will I actually use?

   A working pharmacist can tell you which material becomes reflex, which is looked up every single time, and which exists to make you pass an exam. That does not excuse you from learning it, but it changes how you allocate the last week before a test.

4. 4

   How did you choose which rotations to push for?

   Rotations decide your first job more than your transcript does, and the good ones are competitive and requested early. Ask which sites in your area are worth the effort and who controls the assignment.

5. 5

   What does a good student look like on your rotation, and what does a bad one look like?

   If they precept, this is the most valuable question you can ask them. Expect answers about arriving early, following up on a question without being chased, and admitting when you do not know something, which is where most students actually lose credit.

6. 6

   How did you study for the licensing exam, and how long did it take?

   You want the shape of the plan: how many weeks, which materials, how many practice questions a day, and how they handled the law exam separately. Take the schedule, not the reassurance.

7. 7

   Is a residency worth it for what I want to do, and how competitive is the match around here?

   Residency is close to required for hospital and clinical roles and close to irrelevant for others, so the answer depends entirely on your goal. Ask them to be specific about the local programs, since match odds differ enormously by region.

8. 8

   How did you pay for school, and what would you do differently about the loans?

   This is an awkward question that most people answer generously if you ask it plainly. What you are after is the repayment reality against a first salary, and which borrowing decisions they now consider avoidable.

9. 9

   Should I be working as an intern or technician while I study, and where?

   Paid hours in a pharmacy build speed, familiarity with the software and a reference, but they cost study time and sleep. Ask which setting taught them most, and how many hours a week is too many.

10. 10

    Which student organizations or committees were actually worth the time?

    Most students join too many and get little from any. Someone a few years out can tell you which involvement led to a contact, a rotation or a job, and which was a line on a CV that nobody read.

11. 11

    How do I get research or a poster on my record if my school does not push it?

    Useful mainly if you are aiming at residency or academia, where a project is close to expected. The practical answer is usually the name of a faculty member who takes students, so ask for it.

12. 12

    What should be on my CV by the time I graduate?

    Ask them to describe the CV of a student they would hire, in order of what they read first. New graduate CVs tend to be padded with coursework and light on the things that distinguish anyone: hours worked, a project finished, a service delivered.

13. 13

    How do I ask someone for a letter of recommendation without it being awkward?

    The mechanics matter: how much notice, what to send with the request, and how to ask in a way that lets someone decline. A letter written reluctantly reads as reluctant, and preceptors can tell you how they prefer to be approached.

14. 14

    What questions catch new graduates out in interviews?

    Expect questions about a mistake, about handling an angry patient, or about a time they disagreed with a prescriber. Students who have never rehearsed a real example tend to answer in generalities, which is the actual failure mode.

15. 15

    What do new pharmacists get wrong in their first six months?

    Common answers are working too slowly, not asking for help, or the reverse, signing off things they should have questioned. Hearing the pattern named in advance is the cheapest possible way to learn it.

16. 16

    What happened the first time you made a real mistake, and how did you handle it?

    A serious question that requires trust, so ask it once you have talked a while. The value is in hearing that a career survives it, and in learning what the reporting and disclosure process actually involves.

17. 17

    What is the pay difference between the settings I could start in, and what do you give up for the higher number?

    Retail typically pays more at entry than a residency or a hospital position, and the trade is in hours, autonomy and where the path leads. Ask them to describe the trade rather than the figures alone.

18. 18

    Which parts of the profession are growing where you live, and which are shrinking?

    Local conditions matter far more to your first job than national commentary. Ask what they see in the hiring at their own site and in what colleagues who moved recently ended up doing.

19. 19

    Can I shadow you for a shift, and when would be a good day?

    The most useful thing you can ask for, and easier to grant than an hour of conversation. Offer to fit their schedule, expect to sign a confidentiality form, and ask what to wear and where to stand.

20. 20

    Who else should I be talking to, and what should I ask them?

    The second half of the question is what makes it work: it invites them to hand over the question they think you have not thought of yet, along with the name.