Pharmacy student Anna Morris reports on the ups and downs of securing a placement
Placement is seen by many as one of the most exciting times in a Pharmacy student’s university career. Finally, a break from lectures, a taste of the working world, and — if you’re lucky — remuneration for your efforts. Yet, the random selection, uncertainty and disappointment of the assignment system quash the magic of starting upon an exciting professional journey. From start to end, the process is full of ups and more downs, making for a roller coaster that no student needs halfway through their degree.
First, each third-year Pharmacy student experiences the Russian roulette of the APPEL (Affiliation for Pharmacy Practice Experiential Learning) placement website. Students must drop a garishly red pin in a location of their choosing — usually somewhere close to home, accommodation, or perhaps a hoped-for placement provider.
One must also choose a sector — Community, Hospital, Industry or Role-Emerging Practice? It may seem pretty easy to decide. The pharmacy, the lab, the hospital, or if not any of those, I suppose one might click on ‘role-emerging practice,’ whatever that means… We’re told it could mean anything, really — a business internship, working in regulatory bodies, etc? Placements options are then assigned randomly based on these preferences of location and field.
Strange lottery
Neither academic merit nor charm will be considered in this strange lottery. You are not allowed to rank your preference of placement provider.
And no matter how much you and your friend might wish for each other’s options, those random options you see are what you get — no swaps allowed.
A wordy yet vague description of each placement is attached to each placement option on the dashboard. The prospect of reimbursement is indicated by each placement provider; ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, though this is far from accurate. I have even heard anecdotally that providers sometimes select ‘Yes’ accidentally. Could there be a worse let-down than finding out a placement is unpaid, while studying in Dublin! It’s only one of the most expensive cities to live in the world, after all. Of the random placements on the dashboard, you are permitted to select eight for which you can be considered, although this by no means guarantees an interview.
And so, we all sit and wait, refreshing the email inbox on our phone, too frequently to admit, hoping for a call to interview. Many receive no email at all and instead sit on their hands waiting and wondering how long it will take them to be offered a placement of any sort.
New can of worms
If you are one of the lucky ones who get an interview, or even a few(!), a whole new can of worms opens up for you to deal with. Missing classes is the norm for daytime interviews, three, four, five lectures to catch up on… forget feeling stressed, how can you say ‘no’ when some peers get no interview at all in the first round?
Although you might wish you turned down that interview after scurrying through rainy, windy Dublin in a suit only to arrive at an office in the style of Edward Scissorhands, massive hair and mascara running… Once the interview begins, however, there is no time to think about hair and make-up. Interview topics range from reciting your entire CV as the interviewers read it in front of you, to ‘Tell us about a time you had to deal with a tricky situation’. Riveting, right?
Crazily, this comprises the best part of the interviews. The worst parts
are interviewers doom-scrolling on
Could there be a worse let-down than finding out a placement is unpaid, while studying in Dublin!
their phones or making mid-sentence interruptions advising you to go for a different placement. How horrible to have to endure this special kind of hell when you did not even really want a placement, but rather needed to fulfil a course requirement. Once the interviews are done and dusted, after what feels like forever, all you need to do is wait for the fateful day you discover if any of them were worth the effort. Despite this pitiful depiction, I would take it all over no offer and the wait for a second, third round, which is all too common if you ask me.
Monday morning comes around soon enough. A few lucky ones have been informally offered their placements long before this date. The students without any interviews or offers in the bag look forward, knowing a Groundhog Day- like repeat of this is ahead of them in Round 2, when they will do it all again. The portal opens; all those offered a placement receive an email to go check the APPEL dashboard.
Stress
Alas, not for those of us whose inbox remains empty. They are left to refresh their dashboard, watching ‘Unavailable’ pop-up in a red beside each option they selected, as placements are snapped up fast as Oasis tickets on Ticketmaster. Some students accept the first offers that come their way, or unsatisfactory back-up options, for fear of going through the same ordeal again. And if this does not exemplify the stress of that process, I don’t know what will.
Finding a placement is a major student struggle for students, and APPEL needs to listen harder to their needs. Compared to innumerable others, I’ve had it easy. I accepted an interesting REP placement where I am paid for my time, working under an enthusiastic expert preceptor, while some wait on an interview so many weeks later. It’s as if the emotional turmoil for those students is never-ending.
Should placement not fill us with excitement and ambition for a bright future, not leave students exhausted before it ever even begins?
