What you can do now if you are interested in clinical pharmacy:

• Understand the profession:
  • Volunteer as a student assistant in the classroom (such as a therapeutics course) while you are a student to help strengthen your understanding and your ability to work with others.
  • Work or volunteer in a pharmacy at a teaching hospital with pharmacy residents.
  • Volunteer in a community pharmacy with pharmacist-run clinics.
  • Shadow a clinical pharmacist as part of your early practice experience.
  • Talk to your professors who currently work or have worked in a clinical area of interest to you.
  • Talk to your ACCP Student Liaison (a faculty member).
  • Visit the ACCP Web site at www.accp.com.
  • Find a mentor—this person will be able to assist and help guide you along your career path.
• Develop your communication skills:
  • Visit nursing home residents—be a good listener.
  • Participate in your college’s ACCP and ASHP events that increase your interaction with patients and other health care professionals.
  • Present a poster at a national meeting.
  • Become a student leader in a pharmacy organization at your school or at the national level.
• Develop the foundation of your pharmaceutical knowledge:
  • Familiarize yourself with common pharmacy references, journals, and guidelines used in practice.
  • Focus on learning and retaining information for the sake of the future patient, not just for the test.
  • Attend events such as pharmacotherapy group, resident rounds, and journal club.