Summer placements

[mysteryman]

I'm at London School of Pharmacy and am in my first year. I want to get a summer placement for minimum of two weeks or more. In easter i am working in a local community pharmacy.

I would really like some hospital experience over summer. I have been told its hard to get into on your first year. Also i have heard i can forget about applying to boots and lloyds etc, because they are very competitive even in higher years of the degree.

Can anyone suggest whether i should just stick with a community placement over summer as well. Or is there a chance of me getting into a hospital summer placement somewhere out of london?

[N.T]

Go to http://www.pharmalife.co.uk/ - although the vacation scheme is for West Midlands only if you register for the pre-reg part of the site you will have contact details for a lot of hospitals nationwide. Apply by letter with CV - make sure there's no spelling mistakes and you come accross as keen!

It is generally more tricky to get hosp experience after just your 1st year. If you keep getting rejections and you really want the experience why not just do 2 weeks unpaid experience? Community - especially independents - are easy to get into. It's a bit early to start applying at the moment - leave it until around about February.

My advice : in the first summer it's not essential to get experience. Your second and third year summers will give you enough experience to apply for pre-reg with. Why don't you do something that really inspires you? Building a well in Africa? Volunteering in an Romanian orphanage? Employers love these sorts of things, and later on, when life and responsibilities catch up with you you have less of a chance to do these things....so do it now....

[mm45]

hey there. How are you enjoying the course? Im now in my second year and i managed to get a summer placement with boots. Although ive heard its very competitive but its def worth applying. During your summer working at the pharmacy try and get to know all the staff and they might let you come back.

I also have heard of people spending their summer in hospitals but im not quite sure how you go about applying. If you want any tips on you applications ill be happy to help.