Taylor Celeste Taylor
Panaca,NV
Biology 
Leadership Track
 
 
Pharmacy Internship
For my edge project, I completed a summer internship in a local pharmacy.  The internship was required to be at least 200 hours of unpaid, supervised work in a functioning pharmacy. I chose to do mine at Walgreen's here in Cedar. I filled prescriptions, restocked inventory, and did whatever else the pharmacist wanted me to do. This project allowed me to have access to a real pharmacy environment. This step was necessary to practice and master skills that are needed as a pharmacy technician. I worked 8 hours a day 6 days a week to complete this internship as quickly as possible. (I was there as often as I was allowed to be.) there was a lot to learn. Business goes a little different for every pharmacy, but learning the basics of how the overall system works, was greatly beneficial in the long run.

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I want to do this for my project as a way to prepare myself to work in a pharmacy. I wanted a taste of what it is actually like to do the job of a pharmacy technician. I had to complete this internship for my online pharmacy technician licensing program. Therefore, I figured I could use it as my EDGE project. The EDGE project is meant to be challenging, and help to achieve a personal or professional goal. It needs to be aver 40 hours, and mine had to be at least 200. I figured that this pharmacy internship would help to do all of that. 

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    This project did not go exactly as planned. I took a math class through SUU in June which hurt my ability to do the internship hours as quickly as I had intended. I also thought that I would be doing more than just filling prescriptions, but that was basically the only thing I did. I was there at 9 AM every day, but the Walgreen's pharmacy only had so much work that I was allowed to do, so by 2 PM I was so bored I could hardly stand it. I didn’t want to leave because I needed the hours, but I also wasn’t learning anything just standing there, so that was a struggle. I didn’t know until I got there that I was not allowed to answer the phone except to put someone on hold, and I wasn’t supposed to talk to customers at all for liability reasons. (Even though I purchased insurance for that reason.) In a pharmacy technician job, most of what you do is interact with customers. I knew this aspect of the internship would hurt me in the long run, but it was the policy of the company so I definitely wasn’t going to say anything about it.
 
This internship was overall very personal and not meant to really influence others. However one unintended development from this project was that halfway through, my sister told me that she was so excited about me doing my internship. She told me that she loved that way I made my project sound, and she has scheduled her own pharmacy internship for the Christmas break and again over the summer at our local pharmacy in Panaca. I did choose the leadership track, but I didn’t really think I would be a leader to anyone. Especially not to family. 

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    This experience help me learn to ask questions, and not be embarrassed about having questions. Being a good leader requires humility and I definitely had to gain some through this internship. I had to realize that I didn’t know anything and the pharmacy employees were here to help me. This taught me how to better deal with different personality types and how to approach situations from different angles. I don’t know if this helped me to change anyone else’s life but mine at the moment, but I gained many aspects of good leadership that I can use throughout my life and career. 

After completing this project, I know that unexpected is okay. Not everyone will do things the way you are used to and you just have to embrace it. This has taught me to be more prepared before starting a project. I hadn’t learned the names of very many drugs or what they do, so my whole first week was full of very avoidable mistakes from lack of effort on my part. Preparation is the key to being a good leader and basically anything else in life. This project set me up for the rest of my foreseeable career. I want to be a pharmacist and this is one of the basic steps to get me started. Because of this project, I became a certified pharmacy technician then got a job as a technician. Through this I will gain real world experience and be more fully prepared for a career in Pharmacy. 

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At the end of June while I was doing my internship, the pharmacist (Del), mentioned to the pharmacist at the Walmart Pharmacy (Richard), that I was doing well and would be done soon. Richard called me later that week to tell me that he had two job openings, and he would save one for me if I could get completely certified before the end of July. Therefore, I had to rush even more than I already was! I had to finish my internship then take my pharmacy tech test both through my online program, and through the state board. (All while still taking my math class.) 
I took my math final on a Friday, my first pharmacy tech test the following Monday, and my second tech test that Thursday. I was so tired by the end of the week, but I passed all of them the first time! I called Richard as soon as I knew I had passed and we scheduled my interview. I started working at the Walmart on August 4th. 

This internship, though unpaid and time consuming, was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. I learned to be detail oriented, take pride in my work, and to ask for help. I will be able to take what I have learned from this experience and use it throughout my life.