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February 2003 From : University of Arizona Why I decided to pursue pharmacy school? H.N. When I entered college, I realized that I have come a long way from the skinny, little kid who spoke no more than a couple of English words. Growing up in a family with siblings who graduated with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science, it was inevitable that I too attend college. After three years of logical thinking, problem solving, science, and health related classes; I have developed useful cognitive skills and have learned about maturity, responsibility, and determination, which I believe are the ultimate goals of any education. Having attained these characteristics, I feel that it is now time for me to tend to my personal convictions and take the challenge---and that is to study pharmacy. In order to gain experience in the field of pharmacy, I decided to volunteer at the pharmacy in The Arizona State University Health Center and Chandler Regional Hospital. I was intrigued to discover the various work performed and the great knowledge and excellent skills displayed by the pharmacists whom I assisted. I learned the responsibilities of a pharmacist are enormous and include many task from helping patients understand the importance of their medication to writing proposals for the development of new medicine. From my work experience and from my thorough investigation, I realize that the practice of pharmacy would be a most fulfilling profession. What I find appealing about this health career is the opportunity to discover new medicine through research and development. I believe that pharmacy is endlessly demanding and exciting. In addition, I think that there is nothing more satisfying than to be part of a team that explores new horizons and new discoveries in health treatment, and medication that may cure fatal diseases plaguing our society today. As a third year pharmacy student at the University of Arizona, College of Pharmacy, I am astonished at all that I have learned and still learning each day. I believe that I am unique from other candidates because I come from a diverse background and therefore have a good understanding of the cultural obstacles that many students of other ethnic backgrounds must face. Growing up here as an Asian- American, I had to learn to cope with the different or even conflicting values and traditions between the American and Asian cultures. I learned to accept and understand both cultures. In America, for instance, parents often reward their children with money allowances for good grades. In my custom, however, children are expected to strive for the best in whatever they do, whether it is for school or for personal enrichment. A quality that I possess is my eagerness to and excitement about gaining hands- on experience. Hands-on experience, I believe, is the greatest teaching and learning mechanism which a person can employ in life. While schools are probably the most traditional place to seek an education, they are definitely not the only places where a person can learn. A student's educational experience, for instance, may be greatly enriched through outdoor fieldwork and hands-on exposure. Having an opportunity to do summer internships with Albertsons/ Osco Pharmacy for the past two years, I found that my knowledge and perceptive of the type of work that a pharmacist performs are quite different from what I had previously thought. The experiences were a good starting position for me because I am still at the stage of learning and preparing myself for more exposure to the dynamic field of pharmacy. My internships had allowed me to work with retail pharmacists and understand the kind of responsibilities that they have, including learning the operations of a community pharmacy, interacting with customers on a one-on-one basis, and becoming familiar the intricate names of drugs. The experiences have helped me become more knowledgeable about drugs and about the profession of pharmacy that will be crucial to my performance in the "real" world after graduation. Other qualities that I posses are perseverance and willingness to work hard. I have always tried to produce the highest quality of work, and I never allow any obstacle to deter me from achieving my goals. In every class I take, for example, I try to get the most out of that class personally as well as academically. Although I believe that grades are important, I do not think that they are indicative of my ability as a pharmacy student. I believe school is not merely about books and studying, but also about friends, colleagues and learning to interact positively with people. Therefore, in addition to my professional education, I attempt to be involved in many other activities on campus so that I could get the very best out of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Arizona. Taking advantage of attending diabetes or asthma workshops that are offered by the school, for instance, allow me to enrichment my education and gain the experience that may be valuable to my future endeavors. Looking back on my childhood, I know that I would not have successfully achieved what I have accomplished today without the faithfully support of my teachers, friends, and above all, my family. As a first generation American, I am proud of my parents for taking a risk and starting a new life in America. I am proud that they showed me the hardships of life at an early age and guided me through them. It was in those lessons of life and many more like them that changed and shaped me into whom I am today---I am a fighter, a challenger, a searcher, and most importantly, I am a survivor adapting to and utilizing the resources in my environment. My childhood experiences, my immigration to America, and all my failures and successes have allowed me to know the different aspects of myself and of other cultures. As a result, I have been inspired to pursue a career in the health field.
February 2003 From : Drake University Why I decided to pursue pharmacy school? N.G. Throughout my childhood I was fascinated by medicine and the health care field. During my elementary and middle school education my academic strengths were in math and science, but I was particularly interested in the human body as it relates to health and medicine. When I was in high school I enrolled in a four-year health careers program. This program introduces students to various health care professions both through classroom and field experiences. Students spend the first two years in the classroom learning basic health care terminology, history of medicine, and biomedical ethics. During the last two years of the program students get hands-on experience through rotations in a hospital. During my last two years in the health careers program I rotated through various departments in the hospital, which included different types of nursing units (such as maternity, short stay, medical surgical, telemetry, post-op recovery for orthopedic patients), outpatient rehabilitation for patients recovering from heart surgery, as well as inpatient hospital pharmacy. While rotating at the pharmacy I shadowed a hospital staff pharmacist and had the opportunity to observe pharmacist interactions with other healthcare professionals (nurses, physicians). My experiences of shadowing a pharmacist helped me understand the variety of duties of a hospital staff pharmacist, which included making recommendations for drug therapy, preparing IV medications, compounding medications for individual patients, and monitoring patients for undesirable drug related effects. After my rotation at an in-patient hospital pharmacy, I became more interested in the profession of pharmacy. There was so much variety to pharmacy that had motivated me to further explore the profession of pharmacy and the career of a pharmacist. During my senior year in high school I volunteered at a local community pharmacy. I was astonished by the differences in the pharmacist's role in the community pharmacy setting versus a hospital pharmacy setting. Pharmacist duties were more directed toward the patient care by helping patients understand their disease and the medications they are taking to help treat these conditions. I learned that pharmacists also have expertise in over the counter medications, and medical devices (such as blood glucose monitors, blood pressure monitors). After my volunteer experience at the community pharmacy, I was convinced that the career of a pharmacist does not involve "counting pills", but rather is centered on patient education. After volunteering at various pharmacy settings, I was fascinated by pharmacist knowledge of diseases and medications (both prescription and over the counter). However, I was most interested in services pharmacists provide to both health care professionals and patients. I decided to research pharmacy curriculum to find out about classs' students must take in order to become experts in the field. After reading descriptions of various classes I became more interested in pursuing a career in pharmacy. The pathway of becoming a medication specialist was pharmacy school. In summary, a combination of factors including strong academic background in math and science as well as interest in health care, particularly the career of a pharmacist had motivated me to pursue a career in pharmacy. My experiences of shadowing pharmacists in both community and hospital pharmacies have given me the opportunity to explore multiple practice settings and the role of the pharmacist in each practice setting. Additionally, pharmacy school curriculum about medications interested me the most, which had further convinced me to go to pharmacy school.
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