Over the last three weeks, Ivan, Julia and I have shared different ways you can make the most of your time at UBC Pharm Sci. To conclude this series, we have asked several of our students and faculty members to share their responses to the following question:

What one piece of advice would you give students to maximize their learning and professional experience during their Pharmacy studies?

Here’s what they had to say:

“Explore all of your options and find your niche.  Figure out which clubs and associations do what, and take opportunities to really discover what area you would find satisfaction in practicing in the future. Be honest with yourself about what you want and go after it. It’s much easier to make connections and refine the skills you will use in your career if you start specializing yourself early on. No one expects you to be good at everything, but make sure that future employers can see your goals and intentions through the experiences you chose in school.”

 – Andrea Silver, Third year BSc(Pharm) student

“My one piece of advice to students is to leverage your student status as much as possible.  Introduce yourself to influential people in the profession (and other health care stakeholders) and ask their opinions and advice.  People are willing to give students a surprising amount of time in the spirit of supporting someone’s learning process.   This also gives you practice building a network of people and you will be surprised how important your network of people will be in practice.”

– Barbara Gobis, Director, UBC Pharmacists Clinic

“An important piece of advice I would give current and new students is to learn from your mistakes and accept criticism in a healthy way. This may be a cliché, but this is a world-class program and is designed to help you learn and improve your skills. Although it may be hard to accept sometimes, learning from your mistakes leads to improvement and development – a very important trait to have as a future pharmacist.”

– Jason Alessio, Second year BSc(Pharm) student

“I strongly encourage each student to get involved while in the program. There are several clubs, sports teams, student societies, or professional pharmacy associations that students may join, as well as opportunities for students to take part in both clinical and laboratory research with leaders in the field! Getting involved not only provides you with the chance to build relationships with individuals in the Faculty and pharmacy community, but it also provides balance to your life and enriches your learning experience. As well, it allows you to discover your niche in pharmacy and decide where you would like to go with your career.”

– Renée Dagenais, Third year BSc(Pharm) student

I hope this series has equipped you with some ideas on how to enhance your learning, development and experience here at UBC Pharm Sci.

What would you recommend to future students? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

– Raul Scorza, Communications & Marketing Assistant 

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