What I Learnt From a Week in a Pharmacy

During my May half-term I spent a week doing work experience at a pharmacy. I chose this placement because I’m interested in science and healthcare, and I wanted to see what the day-to-day work in a pharmacy actually involves. I had always thought of pharmacists as the people who hand over medicines at the counter, but I quickly discovered that there’s far more happening behind the scenes.

During my time there, I was given a variety of tasks that helped me understand how a pharmacy is run. One of the first things I learned to do was date checking. This involved going through the shelves and checking the expiry dates on medicines to make sure nothing out of date stayed in circulation. It might seem like a small job, but it’s essential for safety and efficiency, and it gave me a good sense of how carefully stock needs to be managed.

I also spent time preparing dosette boxes, which are trays organised by day and time to help elderly patients or those with memory difficulties take the right medicines at the right time. I found this task especially interesting because it showed how pharmacists support patients beyond just handing over prescriptions. It also made me realise how important accuracy is in everything they do.

Another key part of the experience was dispensing. I worked alongside the pharmacist and dispensing technician to pick out the correct medication from the shelves based on prescriptions. I learned how to read prescription labels carefully, check quantities and dosage, and match drugs to patient information. Over the course of the week, I handled a wide range of medicines, and just by seeing the names and uses repeatedly, I began to recognise common ones and understand more about what they’re used for.

Bagging up prescriptions and helping with customer orders also gave me insight into how much coordination is needed to make sure everything is ready on time. There’s a real system in place, and everyone in the team has a role in keeping things running smoothly.

What stood out to me most was how much knowledge pharmacists need to have. From knowing drug interactions to understanding dosage instructions, it’s clear that pharmacy involves much more than just giving people their medicine. I also saw how important it is to be organised, precise, and calm, especially when dealing with people who might be unwell, confused, or worried.

Overall, this week gave me a much better understanding of how pharmacies work and the important role they play in healthcare. It also made me appreciate how scientific knowledge is used every day in real-life situations, and how small tasks like date checking or labelling are all part of a bigger system that keeps people safe and well. I’m glad I chose this placement because it helped me learn not just about pharmacy, but also about responsibility, teamwork, and the importance of paying attention to detail.

During this week, I came across so many fascinating medicines and processes which made me really curious about medicines and pharmacies. I noted down my questions so that I could ask my chemistry teacher and do more research at home. You can read more about what I discovered in Part 2 here: https://curiosityinfocusblog.blogspot.com/2025/07/what-i-learned-from-pharmacy-questions.html