P1: My First Year of Pharmacy School

08/1/2021

The week after white coat ceremony, but before classes began…

There were so many emotions and thoughts racing through my mind, but I was excited more than anything. How hard were classes going to be, and was I going to be overwhelmed? How many new people would I get the chance to meet? How was social life? I’m finally on my way to becoming a pharmacist! I felt a sense of security, as the next 4 years of my life were now all planned out.

In this blog, I’ll be going over my life as a first-year student at USC’s School of Pharmacy. Everything from the classes I took and extracurriculars, to social life and job opportunities.

What classes do you take as a first-year pharmacy student and how hard are they?

Keep in mind, this curriculum is from USC’s School of Pharmacy in 2016. Pharmacy school curriculums can differ in terms of courses, as well as difficulty. The following is just my perception of my experiences!

Usually, the first year of classes consists of a review of some prerequisite science classes from undergrad in combination with introductory pharmacy knowledge. Here is the complete course list that we took and brief descriptions of each course:

Fall Semester 2016:

1. Introduction to Pharmacy Practice - A melting pot of introductory information that USC didn’t know where to include elsewhere. Memorizing top 300 drugs, HIPAA laws, introductory disease state lectures focused on screening (diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, etc.), how to counsel patients, etc. Probably the most important thing from this course was our immunization certification (we basically watched instructional videos, then practiced on an orange, then practiced on each other).

2. Pharmacogenetics - A very difficult class. It’s a combination of molecular biology and genetics (from undergrad) tied into pharmacy. Think gene expression (transcription/translation) and molecular tests (FISH, IHC…) on steroids. Something cool I didn’t know back then was that people with certain genetic differences react to the same drug in different ways!

3. Biochemistry for Pharmacy Practice - Basically a very surface level repeat of the biochemistry series you took in college.

4. Pharmacy Practice and Professionalism 1 - A class that focuses on professionalism… How to write a email, how to talk to patients, how to self-reflect… an easy A. I’m not sure USC even has this course anymore since they realized how bogus it was.

5. Biological Systems 1 - An undergrad anatomy course again on steroids. Reviews bodily systems (nervous, muscle, skeletal, cardiovascular) and an introduction to immunology.

6. Pharmaceutics 1 -The first pharmaceutics course focuses on chemistry (pH, pKa, solubility, dissolutions, partitioning, etc.) and prepares you for the next installments in the series.

Spring Semester 2017:

1. Biological Systems 2 - A continuation of Biological Systems 1. Except this time, we focus on GI, respiratory, renal, endocrine, and reproduction.

2. Pharmaceutics 2 & 3 - Continuations of pharmaceutics 1. Interesting course. Basically discusses what happens to a drug once it goes into your body (pharmacokinetics), and what happens to your body once you take a drug (pharmacodynamics). Topics include bioavailability of a drug, and how to target drugs to a specific site within the body (tumors, for example).

3. Non-Prescription Therapies - A fun class that is extremely applicable to your future job. Learn all about over-the-counter medications!

4. Pharmacy Practice and Professionalism 2 - A little more informational than the first installment. This one focused on preparing us for participation in health fairs.

5. Case Conference 1 - Think of these like “discussions” in college. You break out into small groups and participate in group sessions. There is usually a case conference every semester. This particular one taught us about compounding medications and common pharmacy calculations.

In terms of difficulty, it’s impossible for me to give an exact answer. I personally thought undergrad courses were harder than pharmacy school courses in the first year. There is usually NO homework in pharmacy school, aside from the occasional presentation, group project, or paper. You don’t take all your classes every day. Some are Monday, Wednesday, Friday and others are Tuesday and Thursdays. I still had a lot of time for social life during my first year of pharmacy school.

One thing I want to emphasize is grades are NOT everything!! Try to balance your academic life with your professional and social life. Even if you’re set on gunning for a residency, grades are not everything. Granted, if you want to get into a top residency program, then a high GPA can at least get you an interview. However, if you just want any residency or even no residency, don’t worry so much about grades. I strongly believe it’s better to be a well-rounded candidate.

How are rotations during the first year of pharmacy school?

First, second, and third year rotations at USC are called IPPE (Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience). Basically, you are required to do 2 outpatient, 2 inpatient, and 1 elective IPPE spread out across years one through three in pharmacy school. An outpatient IPPE would be like working at CVS and an inpatient IPPE would be inside of a hospital. To be honest, I don’t quite remember what choices you have for your elective IPPE, but I believe you can choose pharmacy management, pharma, or managed care. You go to IPPE once a week for 10 weeks. Each day is an 8-hour shift. They’re on a preset day where there’s no class in session and your whole cohort goes on IPPE’s.

I was absolutely horrified before my first IPPE. I had no pharmacy knowledge whatsoever. Never worked in a pharmacy before. The only experience I had was volunteering in an outpatient pharmacy, but who pays attention as a volunteer… Rest assured, especially during your first year, your preceptor (the person watching over you at your rotation) knows you don’t know anything. They don’t expect anything out of you because you’re a newbie!

My first outpatient IPPE was at an independent pharmacy. All I did was follow the pharmacist around and observe what they did. Cake. My first inpatient IPPE was pretty much the same, just following around the pharmacist. They had me give a couple presentations, but its nothing you couldn’t just google.

What extracurriculars can you join during the first year of pharmacy school?

Here’s where you can really separate yourself from the rest of your class, only if you want. You can join as many or as little extracurriculars as you want. The following are the types of extracurriculars you can partake in (there are plenty more, but these are considered to be the most popular activities):

1. Professional Organizations - These are pretty much “clubs” that you can join, depending on your interests. For example, USC has something called APSA (American Pharmacy Student Alliance). APSA is an umbrella organization that has several smaller “clubs” such as Operation Diabetes, Project Hypertension, Smoking Cessation, Operation Immunization etc. Clubs outside of APSA include SIA (Student Industry Alliance, for people interested in pharma) and AMCP (Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy), among many others. There are TONS of things you can join, and you can compete against fellow students to obtain leadership positions in these “clubs”. I just happened to be interested in diabetes, so I became a “level 1 representative” for Operation Diabetes my first year.

2. Fraternities - Definitely not what you’d think of when you think of undergraduate Greek fraternities. Frats in pharmacy school are definitely more professional nowadays, with practically no hazing. Definitely a cool experience to be a part of, if that’s your vibe. I did end up joining a fraternity (Phi Delta Chi), and have made countless professional and social memories. Time commitments will vary tremendously across fraternities and campuses, so get to know your upperclassmen and ask them questions!

3. Health Fairs - Usually a whole day event where you sign up for shifts at different “stations”. These stations are USUALLY diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, osteoporosis, and immunization. Essentially, people from the public come to the health fair to get screening tests or flu shots done. You need to participate in health fairs to complete your “competencies”. For example, you are required to give 10 shots per semester or check 10 people’s blood sugars per semester (I made these numbers up, they vary across curriculums).

Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of our work for Operation Diabetes 😥

My friends and I at a fraternity networking event!

One of the first health fairs I ever went to, with one of the preceptors (Kevin).

What kind of intern jobs can you get as a first year pharmacy school student?

At USC, getting a job as a pharmacist intern during your first or second year is almost a necessity. The majority of my class (total: 180 students), got jobs during their first year. The most common jobs students get are outpatient and inpatient jobs. It’s really up to you where you want to work. You do want to do at least SOME research into where you’re applying. It may look bad if you get the position, then quit midway through your internship.

Outpatient jobs are offered by all major retail pharmacy stores/grocers (CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Ralphs, etc.) and some hospitals (Kaiser Permanente). The most demanding jobs are Kaiser Permanente outpatient jobs, with some interns working upwards of 24 hours per week, on top of school and extracurriculars. I ended up joining Kaiser Permanente as an outpatient pharmacy intern, and some weeks I was working around 30 hours, even during exam weeks.

Inpatient jobs are offered by hospitals such as Cedars Sinai, Huntington Hospital, Providence, and many, many others. From what I’ve heard from friends, inpatient jobs do not require you to work nearly as many hours as outpatient jobs.

There are TONS and TONS of pharmacist intern jobs available to students. Do not be discouraged if you don’t get a job right away, there’s plenty to go around for everyone. I personally didn’t start applying to jobs until near the end of my first year of pharmacy school. I wanted to get a feel for which setting I wanted to be in (outpatient or inpatient) by first doing my IPPE rotations.

A screenshot of my schedule at Kaiser Permanente as an outpatient pharmacist intern from April 2018! I couldn’t find any screenshots of earlier schedules.

Concluding my first year as a pharmacy school student

After pharmacy school classes are over in the spring, it’s summer time! No classes are in session, but if you have a job, you may be required to work 40 hours/week (depending on the company).

All in all, the first year of pharmacy school is the easiest of all four years. It’s the time to acclimate to your new setting and make as many connections with your classmates as possible.

If you’ve made it this far into the article, thank you, and I hope you’ve learned a bit about what life is like for a P1!

If you have any specific questions, please don’t hesitate to message/email me here!

Click the arrow on the bottom right of this page to check out my life as a P2! 😁