Pharmacy Summer Internship Review

Every day was very different. The first two weeks were mainly induction and completing mandatory training to be allowed in the labs. We were also introduced to everyone and went for a team pub lunch. The project idea is also explained to you at the start and you spend some time writing a literature review around this. The 3-6 week section was mainly deciding on the techniques, methods, equipment and then carrying this out to gain data. The last part of the internship was gathering all data together, presenting in tables and graphs, producing posters and presentation slides and summarising my time.

I had never worked in the pharmaceutical industry before so this was a very new experience and I didn't have that much lab skills. This has improved greatly as I was able to be signed off to work in the lab unsupervised. The support was great and you can never ask too many questions

I was given as much responsibility as i wanted to. it felt a very 'get what you give' situation, where i knew some interns that did the bare minimum and didn't excel in their 10 weeks compared to some interns that made an effort to make the most of the 10 weeks and were given responsibility in their area. Everyone is in charge of their own project / experiment, with help from the supervisors.

My supervisor was great and we formed a good relationship. i think this really made the experience as my supervisor was available at any time for support and advice, which made the whole situation less daunting. We had weekly meetings booked in the calandar but we would usually speak daily to catch up how I am doing and whether i need any more work etc.

The atmosphere is what has pushed me towards industry, the work life balance and general positivity and strive to succeed was really inspiring.

I loved my internship and the 10 weeks flew by! I would recommend to anyone doing pharmacy to apply, even if you aren't sure if it is for you. I had no idea i would like this area but always said 'what if' about industry. I can now confidently say I have no regrets in applying and would be so grateful to work here in the future.

Yes

Do not rush the application, think about the questions and check your answers make sense. For the interview, meet with your uni careers advisors for support and a mock interview to help prepare. Learn their values + an example of each that you have shown. Be yourself and be confident.