Like most application systems, PharmCAS is divided into 4 sections; personal information, academic history, supporting information and school specific information. Personal, academic and school specific information is quite self explanatory so I specifically want to talk about your supporting information.
While the gist of supporting information is quite simple, an applicant can easily make the mistake of overlooking this section.Yes, there are important categories in supporting information such as evaluations (letters of recommendation) and personal statement, but don’t forget about the other information that also paints a portrait of YOU!
Important factors such as your experiences, achievements and licenses/certifications are equally as important as your letters of recommendation and personal statement.
Experiences:
PharmCAS divides applicants experiences into the following categories:
Pharmacy Experience: Experiences in a pharmacy or pharmacy-related field. As mentioned in prior blogs, I personally had no pharmacy experience prior to applying. However, I did have an awesome shadowing experience where I shadowed A nuclear pharmacist at a large University Hospital System! This was a great conversation piece during my interview.
Healthcare Experience: Both paid and unpaid work in a health or health-related field where you are not directly responsible for a patient's care, but may still have patient interaction; for example, filling prescriptions, performing clerical work, delivering patient food, cleaning patients and/or their rooms, administering food or medication, taking vitals or other record keeping information, working as a scribe, CNA, medical assistant, etc. In this category I added my 15 week internship at a dentist office local to my university.
Employment: Paid or volunteer work done outside of the healthcare field; for example, a retail or restaurant job. In the employment category I added my current job as a Medial Scribe in the Emergency Room, as well as my positions during undergrad as a chemistry laboratory teaching assistant and tutor.
Extracurricular Activities: Related activities you would like your selected programs to review; for example, pre-pharmacy club. Do not include paid work experience in this section. For extracurriculars I mentioned my undergraduate microbiology research experience and also my experience volunteering with an annual youth drug and alcohol program in my University’s county.
Achievements
PharmCAS then prompts you to add achievements, which they divide into the following categories:
Honors: Honors received as a special distinction for work done, including Dean's List and memberships in honor societies. In this section I added the semesters during which I obtained Dean’s & President’s lists at my university! While writing this blog I think about how I also should’ve added my “Fall 2017 Outstanding Tutor Award” and my “Outstanding Public Health Major Award”!
Publications: Any work publicized through media organizations, including newspapers and journals. I personally was not published upon applying but if you are, you should definitely mention it!
Scholarships: Scholarships earned based on academic, athletic, and other achievements. I added my HOPE Scholarship designation as I am one of the many Georgia residents who utilized this Scholarship throughout undergrad!
Fun fact: I was recently awarded a scholarship from the hospital I was born in & currently work in!
Licenses & Certifications
One of the last categories in Supporting Information for applications is the Licenses & Certifications. Enter any current professional licenses or certifications that you have. PharmCAS does not verify this section. Contact your designated programs to determine if they require official documentation of any licensure or certifications listed in this section.
In this section I listed my Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program) certification which I obtained during undergrad. The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program) is dedicated to promoting the public’s trust in the research enterprise by providing high quality, peer-reviewed, web-based educational courses in research, ethics, regulatory oversight, responsible conduct of research, research administration, and other topics pertinent to the interests of member organizations and individual learners. My specific certification satisfied the CITI training requirements for Investigators and staff for Social/Behavioral Research with human subjects. This certification played a LARGE role as I spent 2 consecutive semesters planning, implementing and analyzing a public health initiative on a cohort of local 5th graders. Other certifications & licenses can Include pharmacy technician, medical assistant, CNA, phlebotomy and more!
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