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Rx for future: Student’s pharmacy internship
By christine keeling
canfield
A summer internship helped solidify a student’s career plans.
Canfield High School senior Daniel Jenkins shared what he learned as a pharmacy intern with school board members during their October meeting. He was one of 133 Ohio students, chosen from almost 600 applicants, who took part in the Cleveland Clinic Office of Civic Education Initiatives’ summer internship program.
The hands-on work opportunity is something he believes could benefit other students.
Jenkins said he started thinking about becoming a pharmacist when he was in his first years at high school and thought the internship was perfect because it allowed him to earn money while he decided whether the career was right for him.
Pharmacy “is definitely what I want to do,” said Jenkins.
He was amazed to see how a tiny pill could change a person who is out of touch with reality into someone who can communicate with others, he said.
Rosalind Strickland, senior director for the clinic’s education initiative, said the program is designed to help prepare the next generation of health-care professionals. There is a short supply of employees in many medical fields, including pharmacists and physicians, she said.
Students can apply Dec. 1 to Feb. 3 to work full time for nine weeks in the summer with professionals in medical laboratory, nursing, public health, radiology, respiratory therapy, science, creative learning or pharmacy fields. Applicants must have good school attendance, be 16 by June 1 and have a 3.5 grade- point-average or higher.
The application process is very competitive, said Strickland.
Jenkins said he knew 30 classmates who expressed interest, but he was the only one who finished the process.
He had to get recommendation letters from teachers, write seven essays and go through an interview process.
“They surprised me with a five-page test,” he said.
His efforts landed him one of two spots in the pharmacy program where he got to witness a kidney transplant, work in a mail-order pharmacy and make hospital rounds.
“Jenkins is mature beyond his years,” said Michael Wascovich, the clinic’s director of ambulatory and specialty pharmacy services.
“He got a 360-degree whirlwind tour of pharmaceuticals.”
Wascovich said Jenkins had good suggestions in a research project he completed that discussed medication errors in pharmacy and methods used to lessen the rate of error.
“Pharmacists are a guardian; they are the last stop before a medication goes out to the public,” said Jenkins.
He said he was ready to embrace the responsibility and has applied to several universities that offer pharmacy programs.