Personal Statement:Pharmacy 13 - The Student Room

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

Pharmacy has been an interest of mine since I started a part time job as a sales assistant within a local community Pharmacy. I would relish a career in Pharmacy as I find enjoyment working within a community and as part of a team. A career in this sector struck me as interesting as there are new challenges everyday in meeting and working with a large variety of new people, including some very demanding people. I have encountered incidents in the past where patients were unhappy with the services offered, and have carefully listened and acknowledged complaints from them. Throughout the duration of my employment, I have experienced, first hand, the procedures that take place within a Pharmacy and the many services it offers to the community. This has given me an insight to how much Pharmacies help the community in providing support over any health issues.

During the holidays, I organised a work experience placement within a hospital pharmacy alongside my work at the community pharmacy. My time at the hospital pharmacy was interesting and a new challenge for me as situations and working environments were different to what I’m used to. During this time, I accompanied a Pharmacist and a Medical Ward Manager onto various wards of the hospital. I witnessed how they help patients staying on the wards to ensure they have enough medication and are confident in correctly taking it. I was also shown around the cytotoxic section of the Pharmacy and shown how drips that are used in chemotherapy were produced to patient’s specifications. A prescription was produced providing information about the active ingredients and the dosage. Required amounts were then calculated and produced. This is checked by the Pharmacist and then administered to the patient. My experience at the hospital gave me further insight into how Pharmacists help patients, such as ensuring that the correct medication and dosage has been prescribed according to the patient’s medical history and condition.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

Through working in a pharmaceutical environment, I have gained many valuable skills. Communication between members of the team is essential in efficiently running a pharmacy, so these skills and my ability to work within a team have been greatly developed through this. Skills such as organisation and problem solving have been put into practice during many opportunities whilst dispensing prescriptions and dealing with customer enquiries. Skills such as punctuality and reliability (which are expected within any job) have also developed. To carry out any standard activity as a Pharmacist, these skills are essential, otherwise duties will not be completed sufficiently and to a high level of professionalism. My experience within the dispensary have led me to achieve an introductory qualification in dispensary practice. This has taught me many of the skills that I have acquired.

My post within the Pharmacy includes responsibilities such as serving customers and managing/solving queries both in person and on the telephone. I also label and dispense prescriptions.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

I enjoy working within a pharmaceutical environment because I feel that I am playing a positive role within the community and helping to care for people, which has always been very important to me personally, and gives me a great sense of achievement.

During recent months, I have been teaching myself how to play the guitar and the drums. I have got together with a group of friends and have formed a band, with ambitions of playing in school performances. Throughout my education, I took every opportunity to perform in school productions, taking on different roles from chorus roles to dancing and would like to continue this contribution throughout university. I am also a member of an online student forum, of which I like to help students with various queries, both academic and personal.

I am determined to achieve my aspirations of becoming a qualified member of the RPSGB and will work hard to reach this achievement.

How personal statements have changed?

The current personal statement format, with three 'scaffolding' questions, was introduced by Ucas in September 2025. This personal statement was submitted before then, using the old essay-style format. It has been carefully edited into the three-question format, with all of the original wording kept.

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