1.​​ Student’s name, academic major, year at Purdue, and email address.

For this interview project I interviewed my RA, Calvin

Lehman(lehman18@purdue.edu). He is in his fourth year of Purdue’s six year PharmD

program. The program consists of two years of pre-pharmacy and four years of

professional pharmacy schooling.

2.​​ Why did you choose this major? Describe the process by which you decided on it.

Calvin originally had an interest in engineering when he was in high school

because he was good at and enjoyed math. While in high school he had the option to

be involved in an internship style program where he had the opportunity to work

alongside engineers at a company in his local town. He discovered that he did not

enjoy the “sitting around” atmosphere to the problem solving situations. This lead him

to the realization that he desired to do something that allowed him to be “on his feet”

and offered more social interaction.

3.​​ What are typical major classes like in terms of content, format, and instructor’s style

of teaching? For example, discuss emphasis on labs/lecture/discussion, small vs. large

class sizes, etc.

Calvin described his first couple years as a time where he was occupied with

getting general classes out of the way such as history. These classes were generally

offered in a large lecture setting for him with typical smaller recitation groups that

offered more discussions and hands on activities. Once in the professional program, he

noted that classes were still primarily lecture based but with much smaller class sizes.
He enjoyed the smaller class settings because it gave him the chance to get to know a

larger volume of people in a more individualized manner.

He also stated that instead of one professor teaching a class, it would be a collaboration

of professors each teaching in their own specialty area of expertise. Some of his other

professional program classes are labs in which individuals work as a group to learn

practical skills such as patient counseling and taking blood pressure.

Instead of a sixteen week semester, pharmacy students have twelve week

semester. Each semester of the professional program excluding the first year, the

excluded four week period is then set aside for a month long “rotation”. This rotation

gives the individuals the opportunity to work onsite in a variety of pharmaceutical fields.

The fourth year of the professional program consists solely of monthly rotations.

3 ½.(9)​​ What is the workload like?

According to Calvin, pharmacy is an intensive and busy program. An average

semester typically consists of sixteen to twenty credit hours between five to seven

classes. There is a lot of work to be done but not in the sense of homework or projects.

A majority of Clavin’s workload is studying. There are a variety of topics that require

memorization. One class in particular “therapeutics” is a six credit hour course that

meets eight hours a week and holds with it the expectation that it is “to be treated like a

full time job, studying for forty hours a week”.

4.​​ What has been your favorite class? What did you learn, and why was it your favorite?

Calvin responded to this by telling me about his experience with his nuclear

pharmacy course that he took as an elective.

This class granted him a nuclear pharmacy certification. Nuclear pharmacy is a

specialized category of pharmacy meaning he had a fractional class size of about 25

students. He enjoyed the hands on aspects of the class that came with lab work.

5.​​ Which classes have been the toughest? What made them tough?

Therapeutics has proven to be the most challenging class for Calvin. It is rich in

content. Therapeutics is the study of different disease states and what types of

treatments are available as well as when certain treatments are or are not an option

relative to the patient. There is a lot of memorization involved. Tests are often

casebased “It's not like ‘what can valspartin be used for’ its more like ‘this patient is

experiencing this… their history is this… what kind of drug should they be on’, its more

of a practical application than a regurgitation of information”.

6.​​ What skills and abilities do students need in order to be successful in this major?

Why?

Calvin stated that at first it might seem like the most important aspect may be

memorization skills, or academic acuity, but contrarily, the most important skills are

social skills. It is important to be able to communicate well, especially to patients who

may initially be confused or nervous. A large part of the job is being able to make

people comfortable ant helping them understand their health.

6 ½.(9)​​ How can one grow and develop these skills?

Being involved in different activities is essential to growing these skills. During

the application to pharmacy school, they want to see that you are involved in other

activities other than academics.

This shows that you can handle responsibilities other than the ones professionally

delegated to you. This is relevant because in the work environment, your job is not your

only responsibility. You are also responsible for being a self sufficient individual who

can balance work and civilian life. Being involved extracurricularly is also a way to show

that you have sufficient social skills.

7.​​ What are you planning to do after graduation? What types of careers do students with

this major typically go into?

According to Calvin, about forty percent of pharmacy graduates from Purdue go

community pharmacies. Another forty percent complete a residency at a hospital to do

pharmaceutical work there, this number is quite high compared to other universities.

About twenty percent work in industrial pharmacy or work with companies like the FDA.

Lastly, a fraction of graduates specialize in fields such as nuclear pharmacy, or receive

a PhD for research or teaching. It is a degree with a range of flexibility.

Calvin personally is considering a career in nuclear pharmacy. In this role he

would be manufacturing, handling, and preparing radioactive tracer drugs that helps

doctors with patient diagnosis. He is also interested in industry pharmacy. He is

fascinated with the prospect that drug research could lead to improved or new treatment

for patients.
8.​​ What extra-curricular opportunities related to the major have you experienced or can

you recommend? (Examples could include campus activities and organizations,

internships, research, or study abroad opportunities.)

Calvin feels that being an RA has helped him greatly with his communication

skills as well as time management. These skills are definitely those that would need to

be exhibited by a pharmacist. Calvin is also a pharmacy ambassador, in this role he

engages prospective pharmacy students and educates them about the field. National

Residence Hall Honorary is another way in which Calvin has the opportunity to

communicate with others as he attends conferences at other residence meeting at other

universities.

9.​​ Ask one additional thoughtful question of your own in response to the student’s

previous answers. Write the question here; then answer it!

See ​3 ½​​ & ​6 ½​​.