The Job Hunt Experience

This pretty much sums it up really..

The Last of Uni...Again

I returned to uni this weekend for the final presentations of my postgrad course at university. I had one presentation to give on Saturday morning on a patient care plan, while my presentation on Sunday afternoon was on a clinical pharmacy service (I spoke on pharmacists being Quit Card providers). 

I was quite anxious in the lead-up to the weekend, especially regarding my patient care plan as I had only just managed to get access to patient notes a week out after a two week fight with red tape. After reviewing the notes I only realised how much more there was to this case than I first expected! I was a little overwhelmed, and didn't know what to do! 

Fortunately I managed to pull off a couple of over-nighters and come up with a care plan for this patient. I even managed some sleep the night before the presentation!

I was due to present early on the first Saturday morning. I started off a bit nervous, but pulled myself through. We had a time limit of 10 minutes, with a time penalty for every minute we spoke beyond 10 minutes 30 seconds. I had timed myself prior to the morning and my presentation was only nine minutes. I ended up speaking over time though! Yikes!

It was good to get it done early though, so I didn't have to worry for the rest of the day. I have to admit I was a bit tired though, and started dozing off a little! I was sitting at the back with one of my classmates. 

He gave his presentation a little later in the afternoon, and after his presentation he told me he saw me dozing off during his presentation and tried to change the tone of his voice! I felt really bad about that! I bought myself a coffee at the next break to keep me awake for the rest of the afternoon! We didn't finish till 5.30pm, which meant a long nine hour day at uni!

The next day were the clinical pharmacy service presentations which were a bit more interesting to me. My presentation was right at the end of the day though, so I had a long wait. I was hoping to avoid going beyond the time limit this time though.

It was eventually my turn, and I gave my presentation. I ended up speaking for longer than yesterday! Noooo!!

At least it was all finally done. No more presentations, assignments or deadlines! Now the only thing to do is wait for the results to come out in about a month's time!

While I have been telling myself throughout this year that this will be the last time I go back to uni to study, I always find myself thinking about what I should study next! I think this time I should focus on finding a job first before considering any more study. I'm glad I did extra study this year though, as I have learnt quite a bit and it has helped me refresh my memory on quite a few things. I've also met quite a few cool people in my class!

A Second Farewell

Today was the last day of regular work at my pharmacy, which made it slightly sad. I've been working at Apollo doing the afternoon till evening shifts on Thursdays and Fridays for most of this past year, as well as covering for people when needed. That has seen me work a few Saturday and Sunday afternoons as well.

I guess the farewell wasn't as sad as there was a sense of deja vu, since I had farewelled everyone at the end of my internship last year. They also might call me back to do some work when some of the pharmacists go on holiday in the coming months...that's if I haven't found another job before then!

I will miss working there regularly though. Working three days initially then two days a week worked out OK for me. I admit that working Friday nights meant I'd come late to youth group, but I had gotten used to it and adjusted to it. I actually enjoyed working Thursday and Friday nights with Moses, the intern as you get a bit more freedom and can also test yourself since you have to rely on yourself when you're the only pharmacist in charge there.

I'll miss everyone!

As everyone was leaving around 6pm, they were all saying their goodbyes to me and joking that the next time they see me I'll hopefully have muscles! My manager who has been pushing me to get my full license all year, then reminded me that I still hadn't gotten my full license yet! Oops! Well next time they see me, hopefully I'll have a license and muscles! My manager reckons the license may be easier for me to get than the muscles!

Once I finish my postgraduate study in a months' time, I'm not too sure what I'm going to do with myself till my next job comes about! I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the next chapter has in store for me. I have to admit I'm a little apprehensive, seeing as whatever job it may be, it will be the first job I wouldn't hve done my internship at, so it will be a little different. It will be a good challenge for me though, and I guess it will help me grow further as a pharmacist.

Thanks for everything though, Pharmacy@Apollo! I won't forget you guys!

Registered for Another Year..

OK well unless something goes wrong, at least I know I'll be a pharmacist for another year!

Accredited!

I finally got my certificates in the mail! I am now accredited to sell the emergency contraceptive pill and trimethoprim (for urinary tract infections in women)! Yay!

Gotcha!

I was asked to work again at the pharmacy today till late, which meant I would be working sole charge for the last two hours of the evening before closing up. Fortunately I was with one of the technicians, so I had a bit of back-up just in case!

I had one interesting customer. She had prescriptions for her daughter. We got her medicine ready, and I brought them out to her. I was explaining the medicines to her, when she told me that she knew all about them as she was a dentist.

As I was scanning all the items she wanted, she asked me,

"Oh, and do you sell snake skin oil?"

My first thought was hmmmmm...that sounds a bit weird. Maybe it's just some natural product. I turned to the shop girl and asked if we sold it, and as she was about to type it into the computer to look it up, the dentist mother shouted out

"GOTCHA!"

And couldn't stop herself from laughing! She said I had made her day, and couldn't wait to tell her doctor friends! She kept laughing as she walked out with her daughter!

I'm getting better work stories everyday!

Pharmacy's Not Too Bad After All!

The Careers NZ website has appeared in the news a lot tonight regarding its new tool allowing people to compare just how much they could expect to earn after graduating with various degrees.

I thought I'd compare a few with Pharmacy (purely for fun. Some aren't specific degrees, and I don't know how well it reflects the real world). It looks like we don't do too badly...

Bachelor of Pharmacy vs Masters of Accounting

Bachelor of Pharmacy vs Masters of Business and Management

Bachelor of Law vs Bachelor of Law

Bachelor of Pharmacy vs Post-Graduate Certificate in Public Health

Bachelor of Pharmacy vs Graduate Diploma in Teacher Education

Bachelor of Pharmacy vs Bachelor of Medical Studies (OK maybe not as good as this one!)

Ongoing Work

I received my ENHANCE pack today in the mail. Usually I get excited about receiving mail. This time was no different. However, for those of you who don't know what ENHANCE is, it is the continuing education programme for pharmacists. It means we have to continue upskilling to ensure we are on top of our game! For us, it means study, study, study! I suppose it's not such a bad thing, as it keeps me fresh.

I have to fill in this really big booklet by the end of March, describing my workplace and the skills I use at that workplace. There is one big problem though...I don't have a job right now! I emailed the programme co-ordinator just to check what I should do (even though it is still early), and initially she said I would be switched over to the non-practising register, but later emailed me again after she had clarified with someone else. It looks like I've got till next year to find a job!

I better get moving!

Paperwork Galore

It just has to rain on my days off work doesn't it? I guess that's a good thing in a way. It's making me do some work!
I've been spending most of the day doing paperwork as part of my internship...again. I'm looking forward to the day I won't have to do this anymore!
I've been dozing off throughout the day, even while in the middle of a Facebook conversation with someone! (Sorry to that person!)

The Big Exam

Today was probably the most important day of my short-lived pharmacy career so far - my pharmacy registration exam! I woke up in my really nice double bed to the sound of heavy rain outside, WHHYYYYYY!

First things first though. I had to get up, have my shower, then go downstairs and find out if I had to check out of my hotel room. Uh oh..check out time was 10am, in half an hour!

I quickly went back up, packed all my things and left my room. Byebye Room 6! Now I was homeless! The only place I could think of was McDonald's across the road.

I dragged my carry-bag across the road to McDonald's and ordered the Big Kiwi Breakfast, then sat down and slowly ate it while I did my last minute exam preparation.

I think I was there for at least two hours! By then I felt like I had probably outstayed my welcome, so I decided to make my way to the hotel where the exam was to be held.

There were interns doing last minute studying in the foyer already! It was not too long till we were all called to come into this room where we would be debriefed on what to expect in the exam.

I don't think I'm allowed to say much about the exam, except that I had to do six roleplays and one interview at the end. I'm pretty sure I screwed up at the beginning, but as I went along, I started to feel a lot better and more confident. By the end of it I just wanted to keep talking in my interview!

After the exam though all those thoughts started entering my mind, like what if I did this wrong, or what if that was wrong? It was torture!

I dragged all my possessions to the shopping centre nearby where I feasted on Burger King. My pharmacy friend contacted me and I met up with him and told him about the exam. 

After our little catch-up, I headed to the bus and made my way back to Wellington Airport.

By then, it was dark and almost all the shops at the airport were closed. There wasn't much to do there except go on my laptop and try use up all the data on my data stick. 

Finally it was time to board the flight! Once again I had a window seat. I didn't have to worry about studying this time, so instead I just listened to music. I didn't make the same mistake of choosing the chocolate bar. ACTUALLY, they ran out of chocolate bars! I went with the BBQ chips instead. I tried tea this time, but before I even had a chance to drink it, the pilot told us to prepare for landing! Apparently we were 15 minutes early! That's very uncommon!

Despite arriving in Auckland early though, I still had to wait for my parents to pick me up at the airport. Once again everything was closed at Auckland Domestic Airport. I was almost by myself except for the security guards wandering around. 

Eventually my parents came to pick me up.

Tomorrow will be another day at work! At least I'll be able to enjoy my nights without having to worry about study! I'll find out if I pass in three weeks' time...

(http://youtu.be/kJgFmbumrrU)

Locked in my Room

It's exam eve. Tomorrow is the big day and I've been spending most of the day in my hotel room doing last minute study..well most of the time anyway!

I had to arrive at the airport this morning to catch my flight at 8.30am. I did all my packing last night so it was all last minute stuff. I'm only gone for less than two days, so I managed to fit everything into a teeny carry-on bag!

My flight departed ten minutes late, but that was OK. I got a window seat next to a couple. It didn't actually seem too long, but then again I was trying to read my pharmacy stuff while on the flight!

Guess who I saw on my flight though? Labour leader David Shearer and Labour MP David Parker! I only saw them from a distance though.

When they announced that they were ready to hand out snacks, they gave us the option of a Whittakers Chocolate bar, BBQ chips, or an ANZAC biscuit...yeah not such a great selection! I thought the chocolate bar would be one of those longer ones, but it turned out to only be one of those really small ones! At least the coffee kept me going!

I was surprised at how good the weather was when we landed at Wellington though! The weather report said it was going to be raining heavily with thunderstorms! I had dressed accordingly with my thick jacket!

I grabbed my bag and jumped on the airport bus. The trip to Lower Hutt was almost an hour long. When I got off, this other girl got off at the same time and was asking the driver for directions to somewhere. Afterwards she turned to me and asked if I was an intern pharmacist as well, and that's when I realised she was also coming to Lower Hutt to sit her exam! She had booked a room at the hotel we would be sitting our exam at, while the hotel I would be staying at was just down the road.

My hotel room was located above a bar. After finally finding someone who could help me, I was shown to my room and I have to say it wasn't too bad! I got my own table (good for studying!), double bed, TV, shower, toilet and hand basin! The only problem was that water would leak from the pipe below the hand basin. Fortunately this somehow stopped later on in the night!

I spent the next few hours trying to study. I admit I started to doze off closer towards the evening. That's when I realised it was time to go across the road to Westfield Queensgate to buy myself an ENERGY drink!

Luckily for me everything was literally across the road from my hotel - Queensgate on one side, McDonald's on the other, and the exam location just down the road!

I had a quick wander around the shopping mall so I wouldn't feel too guilty for wasting precious cramming time. I carefully selected my drug of choice - Demon (forgive me Lord)! I bought some McDonald's and headed back to my hotel room for more study.

Lun Shen, my pharmacy friend contacted me, asking if I'd like to hang out with him and another one of our pharmacy friends who lives down in Wellington now for dinner. We went to this Thai restaurant and I had some curry chicken on rice as we talked about the exciting changes going on in the pharmacy sector.

It was getting late and so we parted ways. I went back to my hotel room to do some study, and that is where I am now! I probably get some sleep soon too. Even though my exam is at midday tomorrow, I probably should wake up early enough to do some last minute studying.

I also don't know if I'm meant to check out of this hotel room sometime in the morning too...

The Beginning of the End?

It's been a while since I last posted, but in a couple days' time will be a very important exam for me, so I thought I better get back into it! I'll fill in all the gaps up till now a little later on.

The important exam I'm referring to is my pharmacist registration exam, to determine if I become a proper pharmacist. It's taken five and a half years to get to this point, with a few hiccups along the way. Even now I still don't feel 100% ready! Then again, I never really feel confident going into an exam. What makes makes me a little anxious is not exactly knowing what I'll be going into, and ending up looking like a fool!

In the lead-up, my preceptor and the other pharmacist at my work have been helping me, doing role-plays with me and giving me tips which has boosted my confidence a little bit, but it always seems as though there's a whole lot more I haven't covered that I'm afraid they'll test me on!

The exam, or 'Assessment Centre' as the Pharmaceutical Society calls it, consists of five role-plays and an interview. There will be actors/actresses posing as customers/patients that I have to interact with in front of a couple of examiners. I'll have to maintain my composure really well!

Anyway, I fly down to Wellington at 9.30am in the morning, then catch the bus to Lower Hutt where I'll probably be spending all of Monday in my hotel room doing last minute studying before the big exam at midday on Tuesday. I'll then fly back home that evening, ready for work the next day! Talk about a tight schedule!

Oh well I better get some sleep. I will try keep this updated from down in Lower Hutt, wish me the best of luck!

Now Open on Saturdays!

Our pharmacy is going to trial opening on Saturdays now! One of my workmates will work on Saturday along with my preceptor, so he will get a weekday off work. That means I'll have to work slightly later on that day so I can help close up.

Fortunately I don't have to work on Saturday though, as I've got music teaching to do!

Calamari for Calum!

Today the pharmacist at my work gave me a birthday present - Calamari!

That's her nickname for me, and because I told her I had never tried it before, she had bought a box of it for me! When I got to work, she grabbed it out of the freezer to show me!

Thanks so much Aula!

A Good Day

Today turned out to be a pretty good day at the office, for the following reasons:

- My boss not only asked me to once again buy her some miso soup, but she shouted me one too!
- I got told I get tomorrow off work!
- I got to spend the day blister-packing!

- Oh and I ate macaroni out of a jar for lunch...

To finish off this wonderful day, Jenny and I had dinner at Tim and Gabrielle's house to discuss the church camp concert as our youth group is in charge or organising it!

A Difficult Decision

At the beginning of the week my preceptor asked me again if I thought I'd be ready to sit my pharmacist registration exam on the 1st November, which is coming up in a little over a week. I don't think she reckons I'm ready, and that's why she asked me again.

She said I pretty much had two options:
- Sit the exam in a couple weeks, and if I fail then I'd have to continue my internship for another five months and pay ~$2000 to do so
- Don't sit the exam, and just work for another five months and sit the exam in May when I feel more ready, and pay only about $200 to do so.

Originally I had my mind set on finishing my internship by the end of the year and starting something new in 2012, and so having to work for another five months would throw me off my plans. After I talked to my parents and my preceptor though, I started to think that maybe another five months wouldn't be the end of the world. I would still be getting paid I suppose. I think my preceptor and parents want me to do another five months though, so maybe I might once again listen to my parents.

After going to the intern exam revison evening though my friends were telling me that I've spent ten months working as an intern and so I shouldn't waste this opportunity and I should just sit the exam. To be honest though, having to think about this dilemma has thrown me off my study and I don't think I'd be ready to sit the exam anymore.

Therefore I guess I'll be an intern for another five months...

Exam Revision Time

Tonight I had an intern exam revision session in the pharmacy building at the Grafton Campus which brought back many memories of my time at uni up there. 

One of the new buildings is almost finished and looks quite flash! I didn't get a chance to go in and have a look though since it was closed.

We got into three groups and went through some cases and learnt more about what to expect in the exam.

It was good seeing all the interns again, but the revision session has left me feeling a little anxious about the exam!

If Only I knew How to Cook

Tonight I joined Natalie and Kunsala for our weekly study session, this week at Natalie's flat. Natalie and Kunsala were cooking while I was bringing the Diet Coke, chocolate and apple pie! I have to admit I felt a bit bad not being able to help in the kitchen! They were cooking butter chicken and it sure did smell and look good!

We ate the food along with a my very first papadum (I love that word!) before settling down to study while the apple pie sat in the oven to cook.

If only we kept an eye on that apple pie...It got burnt around the crust! That was OK that though, as we just ate the middle part of it and it still tasted good!

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmXyHlb6ROk)

Yawn...

I ended up leaving a lot of my paperwork till the last minute so it looks like I'll be staying up all night to get it done...

As part of my internship I have to submit documents every three months to the intern programme to be filed in my portfolio. This is the last lot I have to submit, so once I've finished it and sent it, I can completely focus on my exam which will be in a couple weeks' time!

Back to work!

Cake Does the Trick

Tomorrow is the pharmacist manager at our pharmacy Aula's birthday, so the rest of us thought we'd surprise her with a birthday cake! Jenny, one of the pharmacy technicians bought a cake and we all shared the cost.

I think it made our pharmacist happy, because she offered to buy me a coffee or hot chocolate in the morning! 

It made for a very easy-going day at work! 

Happy Birthday Aula for tomorrow!