Brian Cottingim is the 2025–2026 fellow with the APhA Professional Affairs and Government Affairs Department in Washington, DC.
It’s been more than 6 months since I walked the stage, grabbed my diploma, said my goodbyes, packed up, and moved 600 miles from my college town—a place I called home since I was 18, the place that shaped me for over a quarter of my life. With all my earthly possessions packed up in a U-Haul, I moved from Indianapolis to Washington, DC, to pursue a fellowship at APhA, a dream of mine since I started pharmacy school.
As you wrap up your final year of pharmacy school, you would think that there would be time to thoroughly think through your next steps, but it sneaks up on you. With rotations backing up to your graduation, it’s difficult to think outside of the collegiate framework your life had adjusted to for the past 6 to 8 years.
Although I’m still freshly out of pharmacy school, as the Class of 2026 prepares for their next steps, I thought it might be helpful to offer some friendly advice from a recent graduate who stumbled more than a few times along the way.
Make a life outside of work
You will be busy, possibly 10- to 12-hour workdays if you’re pursuing a fellowship or residency, but in school, your entire life is held together by your institution. Your schedule, academics, extracurriculars, events, meals, and relationships are likely built on the foundation of your school. This isn’t a bad thing, but understanding that some of it may fall away postgraduation is important. It’s even more important that you maintain or create new relationships and find joy outside of your work when settling into your new role.
Accept that your path can and most likely will change
At some point during your final months as a student pharmacist, you will probably get the opportunity to predict the careers of your classmates. Some of your predictions may be correct, but most of them will be wrong. This should be comforting if you don’t have every detail figured out. Additionally, this fact can be motivating if you are on the fence about a potentially risky opportunity, pursuing a new skill, or taking that niche job far from home. Normalize the uncertainty now and make it your superpower.
Keep your professional materials up to date
With your extra time postgraduation, you were able to volunteer, start a side project, or start a new initiative at work: document it! It doesn’t have to be pretty or legible to anyone else, but add every detail: who you worked with, what you did, how long it took, the challenges you faced, how much money you made, whether you hit your goals, and how many people you impacted. Keep performance reviews and positive feedback in a safe place for CV edits or a motivation boost on a rough day. This will make your CV review, application, and interview process much quicker. Spend 2 to 3 minutes every week, rather than hours later trying to recall your project from 9 months ago.
Figure out the logistics
Figure out how much you will be making postgraduation, make a budget, and understand your loans and expenses in their entirety. You may be moving down the block or 1,000 miles away, but have you answered these questions? “Will I be making enough money to live alone, or do I have to find a roommate?” “Are groceries more expensive there, and how much do utilities cost?” “Will I need a car?” “How will I manage loans after graduation?” “Do I need to budget for a phone plan, dental or health insurance, or moving costs?” Some of these questions are obvious, but there are also things you might not think about: security deposits, parking fees, furniture and household supplies, licensure fees, work attire, public transit passes, and internet installation. Planning for these ahead of time will help ease the stress and anxiety so you can focus on your new role and enjoy your next phase of life!
You won’t be lost; you will be learning
Leaving school means stepping into a new world where you will most likely make mistakes, change your mind, outgrow relationships, and discover new passions. It doesn’t mean you're lost, it means you’re learning. It doesn’t stop once you’ve graduated.
Be courageous and kind; you’re more prepared than you think.