Have you ever attended a meeting and kept noticing that almost everyone there had huge smiles on their faces, and when you talked to them, it felt like you had known each other forever, like an instant connection? Well, that is what I experienced when I attended my first Midyear Regional Meeting (MRM) this past fall.

Traveling to the Region 6 MRM in St. Louis, MO, was one of the best decisions I made in 2018. I have made the most amazing friends throughout my time as an APhA–ASP member, and it is a great feeling knowing that you can visit with others who share the same passion.  

First off, congratulations on your interviews and your decision to attend the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exposition. It’s a great way to explore many different postgraduate opportunities all in one place. I too interviewed at Midyear and many residency programs, so I understand wanting to be as prepared as possible. 

Being prepared does mean doing the practice interviews and creating a pristine CV, like you mentioned. I cannot express enough how important it is to make sure that these are well-prepared documents. Proofreading is very important, as these are usually some of the only documents that everyone at your program site will see and evaluate. But I absolutely agree with you about preparing our minds and perceptions as well in this process. 

have never felt so included and excited to provide my clinical knowledge to help expedite the patients’ roads to recovery as I did on my recent internal medicine rotation. This was mostly due to the team I was able to work with, the dream team! Each morning (like in many of my other rotations), I had the opportunity to participate in interdisciplinary rounds with the medical attending, medical residents, and medical students. This time, it was different. This time, the medical students asked me for insights into medication guides and dosing regimens. This time, the medical residents trusted my recommendations without doubt. This time, the attending asked pointed questions so that I may guide his treatment and monitoring approaches. 

While in pharmacy school, a research opportunity focused on cystic fibrosis brought me together with student pharmacists in different stages of our education, and a rotation allowed me to meet another future colleague. Although seemingly serendipitous, some intrinsic factors had clearly driven all of us to pursue similar opportunities in research. Today, we work in a variety of different career and academic settings, and share a goal of providing you with a better understanding about pharmacists working in non-traditional practice settings and the value of conducting clinical research. 

Do you ever feel anchorless in the choppy waves of pharmacy school? I know the statement sounds oddly poetic, but that is how I have felt in the past few months. I am a final-year student pharmacist and in the very near future, my life will transition from a student to a practitioner. 

This past September, I had a conversation with a pharmacy systems director about transitions and priorities. Afterwards, he continued the discussion by asking whether I had written out a pharmacy philosophy statement. I was intrigued by the exercise and so I began an attempt at writing my own. After the process, not only did I have a foundational thesis to guide where I was headed next, but I also felt more grounded in the principles that I laid out. 

In this article, I will share seven steps to help you create your own philosophy statement. My hope is that you too will find the anchor that will keep your focus steady throughout pharmacy school and into your future career.