PILLS 5th General Meeting The Competitive Candidate

December 1, 2009

MEMBERSHIP UPDATESRita Chang

VOLUNTEERING UPDATESMarissa Hom

Announcements Individual Volunteering Application due Saturday,

December 19, 2009 -- 11:59 pm Ideas, opportunities, and other information found

on our website Please ask if you’re uncertain about your hours Reminder: American Red Cross Campus Blood Drive -- Tuesday, December 8

-- confirmed volunteers will receive further details next week

CPhA with Dr. YoungMichelle Lew

CPhA: Celebrate Pharmacy Work closely with Dr. William B. Young from Kaiser

Permanente, Pharmacy Operations Management Limited to 15-20 volunteers Requirements

Estimated 3-5 meetings (or conference calls) of 1 hour each

Communicating with various pharmacy schools Seeking corporate sponsors Agenda and activities planning Participation on the day of the event (May 2010)

This event is not a volunteer requirement for PILLS!

CPhA: Celebrate Pharmacy

Application Information: Posted on PILLS website (

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~pills/) Due date: Thursday, December 3rd at 11:59pm Selection notifications by Friday, December 4th

PILLS 3RD SOCIAL

Huy Nguyen

Holiday Movie Night

Friday, December 4th

7:00pm – 8:45pm

209 Dwinelle

Attend at least ONE social to be an active memberLast social of the semester!!!

HOT TOPICAnna Zhou

ACADEMICSCalvin Huynh

Making the GradesSCHOOL MINIMUM GPA AVERAGE GPA

CA Northstate 2.80 3.22 Loma Linda 2.75 3.50 Touro 2.75 3.42 UCSD 3.00 3.60 UCSF 2.80 3.63 UOP 2.70 3.50 USC 3.00 3.60 Western 2.75 3.39

PharmCAS-School Pages: <http://www.pharmcas.org/collegesschools/schoolpages.htm>

EXTRACURRICULARSKatya

Extracurricular / Leadership LEADER

club / organization community center / church

RESEARCH Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (http://research.berkeley.edu/urap/index.php) Summer Undergraduate Research Program (http://mcbusa.berkeley.edu/surp.html,

http://research.berkeley.edu/surf/index.html) Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (http://www.chori.org/index.html) Professors

TUTORING Student Learning Center (http://slc.berkeley.edu/general/index.htm) Oakland Asian Students Educational Services (http://www.oases.org/) Berkeley School District (http://www.bpef-online.org/volunteers.html) Education 97/197: Undergraduate Field Studies (http://ufse.berkeley.edu/index.html) IB 133: Anatomy Enrichment Program (http://ib.berkeley.edu/courses/ib133/index.html)

COMMUNITY SERVICEDiane Suen

Community Service Demonstrates your compassion

for the community Relates to your desire to serve

patients as a pharmacist Life-changing experiences Develop communication/life skills Make a difference! Popular supplemental essay topic

How to Get Involved Volunteering with PILLS Serving Locally (Park clean-ups,

community shelters, hospice visits) www.VolunteerMatch.org Animal Shelter (Berkeley) Tutoring/mentoring disadvantaged students (OASES,

Camp Kesem) Serving long-term/internationally

(Red Cross, Peacecorps, Teach for America)

RESEARCH EXPERIENCELisa Lam

Why undergraduate research? A chance to get to know a professor Berkeley is a research institution—take

advantage of it! Develop critical thinking and communication

skills Network with professors, graduate students,

postdocs

http://research.berkeley.edu

Undergraduate Research Approach a Principal Investigator (PI)

Email, Office hoursResume, Cover letter/Personal statement

Apply to a summer program in academia Apply to a summer internship at

pharmaceutical or biotech companies Start looking now!

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Finding a lab position at Berkeley Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (URAP), Jan 25th

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Supporting your current research project for summer

Amgen Scholars Program Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

Summer outside of Berkeley Internships at Biotech or Pharmaceutical companies QB3-Berkeley Undergraduate Biotech Internships International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition

(iGEM)And many more!

PHARMACY EXPERIENCEMichelle Lew

Pharmacy Experience Possible areas to get involved in include retail,

inpatient, ambulatory, pharmaceutical research, etc. Includes employment, volunteering, and shadowing Why pharmacy experience makes an applicant

more competitive

PHARMACY TECHNICIANHuy Nguyen

Pharmacy Technician Role/Job duties

Work closely with pharmacist to fill prescriptions Work in community or hospital pharmacies

Benefits Show dedication to the pharmacy field Distinguish yourself from other applicants Learn in greater detail about the pharmacy profession Greater chance of employment in a pharmacy (vs. pharmacy clerk)

PTCE (pharmacy technician certification exam)

90 Multiple choice questions in 2 hoursPassing 70%Exam broken into 3 different categories

1. Assisting the Pharmacist in Serving Patients (66%) 2. Maintaining Medication and Inventory Control

Systems (22%) 3. Participating in the Administration and Management

of Pharmacy Practice (12% ) More info on PTCB website.

How: Sign up on PTCB website Price: $129 Test sites throughout state (closest in Oakland) Immediate test results; 70% pass rate License renewal every 2 years

Suggested Study Aids

CURRENT EVENTSMarissa/Rita

Knowledge of Current Events

Pharmacy is dynamic Requires broad knowledge of current events,

health policy, and other topics (i.e. Obama’s healthcare reform)

Anything related to pharmacy could be addressed in interviews, essays, and applications

What you can do…

Read the news and pharmacy magazines

- Drug Topics - Pharmacy Times Take classes

- PH 150D: Health Policy and Management

Be aware and educate yourself

- learn about US healthcare system

Thank you Thank you & &

Good luck with finals!Good luck with finals!