Junior Member
Hi all,
I'm a third year student and just got two offers for pre regs and I’m trying to weigh up which would be the best experience.
One is in a big shop, with a busy pharmacy and care homes services. The other is a smaller and quieter pharmacy (by comparison) attached to a G.P. surgery, where the tutor seems nice and flexible. Both are major companies.
Any idea’s or suggestions on which would offer me the best pre reg?
Forum Creator
HiOriginally Posted by moph8rc2
Welcome to the site, and don't forget to tell all your pharmacy mates about our website!
Personally, I'd go for the quieter shop. Having a nice tutor is really important - just look at some of the threads/posts on this site to see some awful stories.
Whichever way you choose, good luck with your placement and keep us all up to date with how you're getting on.
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Junior Member
Thanks for the reply!
To be fair, the tutor at the large store also seemed very nice, but did stress a "hands off" approach which did make me a bit wary.
The other thing is that the large store is a Boots one and the smaller store a Lloyds one. Does anyone know if either pre reg program has a significant advantage over the other? From what I have read, people have both good and bad opinions about each and comes down to each individual experience.
Forum Creator
It's been quite a while since I did my pre-reg and that was with an independent. Why don't you contact both companies and ask what training they provide their pre-reg's with?
As to which company is best is a hard one to be honest. I recently worked at one of those two companies that was totally staffed with two summer students - not a qualified dispenser/trained counter assistant in sight. That was a very busy shop, and you could end up being just used as free labour. Have a search on this site for other posts regarding pre-reg placements - we've had a lot of discussion on this type of thing on here in the past.
"Hands off" seems to me like "leave you alone to work for free, and never bother teaching you anything"!
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King Amongst Members
Without wishing to compare you to a equine beast it is a case of 'horses for courses'. Some people, especially those who are very self-directed, thrive in a busy enviroment, constantly under pressure, where they are left to their own devices and learn by doing, others would crack up in that situation.
What type of person and what type of learner you are will determine which is right for you, the other may be ideal for someone else.
If possible try to speak to someone who has done their pre-reg in the shop. They could give you an insight into what it is 'really' like, something which is hard to judge from a brief visit.
Loyal Member
Hi, this sounds a little bit like my pre reg experience.
Originally I was offered a small pharmacy attached to a health centre in north of Scotland and was planning on relocating for a year, but some funny things went on. I was kept in the dark but it seemed to be that another pharmacy in the area was shut down due to issues of poor management and staffing, and Boots was keen on keeping this a secret. Fat load of good they did, since I did a summer placement there only months ago! So I already knew the store manager was an incompetent ass licker. This left a fellow pre reg who lived in that area without a training place.
Anyhow, a bit of sorting later and my training place was given to that person and I was given a large busy pharmacy similar to the one you described, and this was a lot closer to home. So everyone was happy.
So speaking from experience, a large busy pharmacy with a care home room has its advantages. I found myself confronted with a lot of queries on ailments both small and great, including one very interesting conversation on diabetic neuropathy which I still remember (:
Not sure what you mean by hands off approach but my tutor was very keen on letting me look for information and come up with solutions and answers first and only intervened if I was absolutely clueless! She insisted that I use a bit of initiative, in retrospect this was good. Plus, we had 2 other regular pharmacists who acted as mentors of sorts to me.
Having said that, on some days I found myself swept off my feet by the sheer workload, people coming in non stop to hand in prescriptions and expecting it to be done right away and by right away sometimes this meant just picking it off the shelf and giving it to them without a label or check! Not that we ever did that. Talk about impatient.
Other pharmacists - newly qualified like myself - have commented on how they rarely saw prescriptions for antipyschotic medication. In contrast I saw a good deal of these during my pre reg.
Everyone's pre reg will be different, with benefits and drawbacks. If you're going with Boots, just try and put up with the management and focus on pharmacy. No doubt there'll be line managers (many of them are a waste of space and budget) in the big pharmacy, you'll recognise them by their dark blazers and glowing red eyes.
Last edited by kl06229; 24th, January 2012 at 01:26 PM.
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