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For those of us interested in residency programs, we are encouraged to do well in school, get involved in pharmacy organizations, work part time, do research, and have a life/interests outside of pharmacy school. I have been working on the art of juggling all of these tasks for the past few years and have found it overwhelming at times, yet meaningful and manageable most of the time. March is election season for leadership positions in student organizations. Many first and second years have been asking me for advice on how many roles they can take on and how to manage it all.

When I started pharmacy school, I was excited and eager to get involved in everything. Whenever there was a chance to do community service or organize an event, I jumped on the opportunity. I learned a lot about different areas of pharmacy and gained a lot of insight from working with pharmacy students of all years outside of classes. As my P1 year came to a close, I began to narrow down my interests and decided to focus on activities that were the most meaningful to me. I ran for our APhA-ASP chapter’s Operation Diabetes Chair because I wanted to spend my time working on activities that would benefit patients and have a chance to practice my patient counseling skills. By my third year I was ready to take on a second role on the executive board of our ASHP-SSHP chapter. Sometimes I do find myself spending hours and hours doing work for student organizations and it feels like the day flies by, leaving me only a little bit of time to study. Most of the time, however, the activities are fun and stimulating and I am more efficient at studying my academics because I have learned effective time management.

I also found a part time job at a hospital at the beginning of my second year. Giving up part of my weekend to work was challenging at first, but after a few weeks, I got used to the time commitment and realized I was learning a lot from my job. I became familiar with medications and enjoyed hearing advice from various pharmacists. During my third year, I also began a research project. On top of my pharmacy related activities, I make time for myself by participating in a Book Club. I enjoy delving into a new book and discussing it with a multitude of young professionals in the area; taking my mind off of pharmacy for a little while.

Each time I added more responsibilities to my plate I was a little overwhelmed, but I quickly adapted. My advice to rising pharmacy students is to take on leadership positions, jobs, and research if it is interesting and meaningful to them. I would encourage them to push themselves to improve on their time management and learn through activities outside of the classroom. However; I would always encourage them to put school first. We owe it to our future patients to learn  the therapeutics that we are taught in class. The best of luck to my fellow jugglers!