Build your career in hospital pharmacy Diana Sandulache, Chair SHPA Vic Branch

Hospital internships in regional VictoriaSusan Trevillian, Deputy Director of Pharmacy, Northeast Health, Wangaratta

Information from current interns

Hazel Erol, Box Hill Hospital

Ransi Tellambura Vithanage & Avanthy Paalendra, Ballarat Health Service

Information on applying for hospital internships in Victoria

Kylee Hayward, Head of Workforce Advancement

Questions

Build your career in hospital pharmacyDiana Sandulache

Chair – Victorian Branch, SHPA

Hospital Pharmacy in 2021

• Hospital pharmacy is booming

• Australians are ageing and taking more medicines for more chronic and complex conditions than ever before

• New and emerging roles in range of non-traditional settings

• Diverse and exciting opportunities to impact patient care

• SHPA is advocating for the growing role of pharmacists in healthcare

• Supportive team environment and collaboration with other health professionals

• Opportunities to develop clinical specialties (e.g. surgery, clinical trials, paediatrics, emergency medicine and many more)

Pharmacy students in Australia

• Over 5,700 pharmacy students enrolled in Australia

• 46% want to work in hospital pharmacy in 5 years’ time

• Hospital pharmacy is competitive, but early experience in the hospital environment can give you an edge:

• Student placements• Hospital internships• SHPA Residency Program• Pharmacy technician experience• Networking through SHPA’s events and Specialty Practice streams

Your professional partner

• SHPA is your community of Australia’s leading pharmacists, technicians and pharmacy assistants working across the health system

• SHPA members head the pharmacy departments in all of Australia’s principal referral hospitals

• 75% of all hospitals, public and private, have their pharmacy department led by SHPA members

Practitioner development pathway

Why hospital?

• Exposure to acute health conditions and patience

• Exposure to diverse Pharmacist role

• Supportive team environment

• Working in a multi-disciplinary team

• Education opportunities, tutorials

• Research opportunities

What are hospital pharmacy departments looking for?

• Metropolitan, rural, regional

• Public, private

• Large/multi-site, small/single-site, pharmacy team size

• Acute/Subacute

• Principal referral hospital

• Teaching, non-teaching

• Research

• Patient cohort

Hospitals have different recruitment processes• Short-list based on cover letter, CV and Vidcruiter responses

• Screening via other/additional methods

• Online interviews

• Telephone screening

• Face to face interview

• Interview panel members

• Director/Deputy Director of Pharmacy

• Clinical Educator/Intern Preceptor

• Human Resources

Ref: Guidone D, Bortoletto D. What are hospitals looking for when recruiting intern pharmacists? A national survey of decision makers.

Proceedings of the 43rd National Conference of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia; 2017 Nov 16-19; Sydney, New South

Wales. Sydney: The Society; 2018.

Ref: Guidone D, Bortoletto D. What are hospitals looking for when recruiting intern pharmacists? A national survey of decision makers.

Proceedings of the 43rd National Conference of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia; 2017 Nov 16-19; Sydney, New South

Wales. Sydney: The Society; 2018.

Skills that hospitals want in interns

Technical skills Personal skills

ProfessionalismAdult Learning

Principles

Interns

Technical skills

• Job specific skills and knowledge gained

through education, training programs,

placements / on-the-job learning

Technical SkillsPersonal

Skills

ProfessionalismAdult Learning

Principles

Interns

Technical skills

• Insight into the hospital’s health service, network and pharmacy department

• Managing, organising and transferring clinical information

• Self-check safety systems

• Role-specific skills

Personal skills

• Personal attributes that enable effective

and harmonious interaction with others

Much more difficult to ‘learn’!

Technical skills Personal skills

ProfessionalismAdult Learning

Principles

Interns

Personal skills

• Resilience (physical and emotional), work-life balance, mindfulness

• Attitude, initiative, motivation, positivity, respect

• Work ethic and commitment to hospital pharmacy

• Communication

• Teamwork – experience working in large, dynamic and diverse groups

• Decision making, critical thinking, problem solving

• Time management, organisational skills, prioritisation

• Flexibility, adaptability

• Conflict resolution

Personal skills and organisational values

• Each hospital organisation will have it’s own set of values or guiding principles

• How do your own personal skills and values align with the hospital organisation you are applying to?

Professionalism

• How you conduct yourself at work as

a paid employee

Technical Skills Personal Skills

ProfessionalismAdult Learning

Principles

Interns

Professionalism

• Presentation

• Demeanour

• Reliability/punctuality

• Competence and capability

• Code of ethics

• Maintaining poise

• Accountability

• Members – connected to the profession

Adult learning principles

• Understanding how you learn bestTechnical Skills Personal Skills

ProfessionalismAdult Learning

Principles

Interns

Adult learning principles

• As an intern, training and learning is more self-directed

• Know how to:

• Set goals and learning objectives for yourself

• Evaluate your learning

• Reflect on your practice and experience

How do you demonstrate you have these skills?• Preparation

• Research the hospital(s) you are applying to• Ask them what they are looking for: pre-interview visit, placements,

during interview

• Cover letter and CV

• Application• Key selection criteria

• Interview• Situational judgement scenarios• Behavioural interview questions – prepare examples• STAR interview approach – Situation, Task, Actions and Results

Hazel Erol

Intern Pharmacist

Eastern Health - Box Hill Hospital

Why a Hospital Internship?

Supportive network

Collaborative learning

Other interns

Exposure to a wide range of common

and complex conditions/areas

Research opportunities

Multidisciplinary team

Hospital Pharmacy

Advice for Internship Applications

Start early and don’t be disheartened if you don’t get an interview or don’t end up getting the role.

Get pharmacists and family members to read

over your application, they will provide a different

perspective.

Take any rejection as a learning opportunity.

Know your stuff for the interviews.

Apply widely.

Stay positive, you’ll get a lot to out of your

internship no matter where you work as long as

you have the right attitude.

Intern Year Hurdles

Intern year is the year of learning make the most of it!

Intern Pharmacist

Hours

Oral Exam

Intern Foundation

Program

Intern Training Program

Written Exam

Tips for Prospective Interns

Take every opportunity

you get

Ask lots of questions

Routine Study smart

Make sure to make time for other things

ENJOY the year!

Regional Victorian InternsAvanthy Paalendra & Ransi Tellamabura Vithanage

Ballarat Health Service

Working at a regional hospital setting • Broad exposure to a range of different

clinical areas

• Often liaise with smaller hospitals

• Opportunity to work in a multi-disciplinary team

• Provides a good foundation for a future career in a hospital setting

• Sense of community Ballarat Health Services

• Over 45 full time pharmacists employed • Speciality areas include; paediatrics/special care nursery,

oncology, cardiology, neurology, surgery, palliative care, rehabilitation, respiratory

• Regional hub for PPMC and COVID vaccination distribution in the Grampians region

• Opportunities; leadership, career progression and residency program

• Dynamic team with a range of different clinical backgrounds and experiences

Being an intern at Ballarat Health Services

The challenges of working full time and studying

• Time management

• Being an independent learner

• Adjusting to full time work on top of additional study

What you like most about this year

• Applying knowledge into practice

• Opportunity to challenge yourself and develop skills

• Playing an active role in the pharmacy department

Any particular tips for prospective interns.

• Consider including at least one regional hospital when ranking hospitals

• Attend the SHPA information evenings and information sessions run by hospitals that you are interested in applying for

• Consider completing extracurricular activities

Applying for hospital internshipsKylee Hayward

Head of Workforce Advancement

SHPA

SHPA Victorian intern program webpage

https://www.shpa.org.au/interns/vic

Hospital intern positions in 2022

• 109 hospital intern positions available• 100 DHHS funded positions

• 9 hospital self-funded positions

• 32 hospital sites across Victoria• Public and private hospitals

• Metropolitan and regional Victoria

• Centralised application process

Student eligibilityGroup: Definition: Can apply for:

1 Australian & NZ Citizens and

permanent residents who are also

graduates of Victorian pharmacy

programs

All positions (DHHS and

hospital self-funded) from

Round 1

2 Australian & NZ Citizens and

permanent residents who are

graduates from all other programs

Hospital self-funded

positions from Round 1

DHHS positions from

Round 3

3 All other applicants Self-funded positions from

Round 1

Not eligible for DHHS

positions

Key datesKey dates Description

Wednesday 30 June 2021 Hospital information evening (7.00 – 8.30pm)

9:00am - Monday 19 July 2021 Online applications open

11.59pm – Monday 2 August 2021 Applications close

3 – 10 August 2021 Applications processed by SHPA

• Students receive Vidcruiter link for hospitals they have applied for

• Upload CV and cover letter

• Record answers to screening questions

11 August 2021 Applications (contact details, cover letter, CV and Vidcruiter links)

forwarded to hospital pharmacy departments

12 August – 9 September 2021 Hospitals screen and select candidates

By Friday 10 September 2021 Hospital preference lists returned to SHPA

Students submit final ranked list of hospitals to SHPA

11 - 21 September 2021 Matching process

Thursday 23 September 2021 Students notified of matching outcome

Where to get information on hospitals?

• SHPA website - written information on all hospitals taking part

• Virtual hospital information evening – Wednesday 30th June 7.00 – 8.30pm

• Vfairs platform

Your application

• Link to online portal on SHPA website• Register using your university email address

• You choose TWO hospitals at which to apply

• Potential third application:• Students can rank all other hospitals

• If hospitals do not have sufficient applications, SHPA will send them additional applicants who ranked them highly

• Hospitals will not know where you have ranked them

9:00am - Monday 19 July 2021 Online applications open

Tips for your application choices

• You will definitely have your application sent to two hospitals• Think about the experiences you are looking for to enhance your

pharmacy career?

• Think about where you think you will be able to secure a position

• Decide what suits you best

• Note your eligibility

• You may get your application sent to one or more further hospitals

• If you want a third application, broaden your overall selection and rank a mix of metropolitan, rural and regional hospitals highly

VidCruiter

• Online program used to screen applicants

• Students receive a Vidcruiter link for hospitals they have applied for

• Individual link (DO NOT share it)

• MUST upload CV and cover letter

• Record pre-interview questions

3 – 10 August 2021 Applications processed by SHPA

• Students receive Vidcruiter link for hospitals they have applied

for

• Upload CV and cover letter

• Record answers to screening questions

Preparing your CV

• Highlight your experience and skills from within and outside pharmacy

• Make sure to include details of all your placements and work experience

• Include any seminars or courses you have attended to show interest

• Include current referees

• Are you an SHPA student member? If so add it to your CV

Hospital selection of candidates

• SHPA will send hospitals the Vidcruiter links for their applicants

• Hospitals will contact you regarding next step. They may:• Review CV and cover letters

• Conduct video interviews

• Have group activities

• Conduct phone interviews

• Send email questions

• Invite you in for an interview

11 August 2021 Applications (contact details, cover letter, CV and Vidcruiter links) forwarded to hospital pharmacy departments

12 August – 9 September 2021 Hospitals screen and select candidates

Final ranked hospital list

• Log back in to the online portal by Friday 10th September

• Submit a final ranked hospital preference list

• You can rank all the hospitals in your preferred order

• There is no strategy here that can increase your chances

“If everybody offered me a job, in what order would I accept?”

By Friday 10 September 2021 Hospital preference lists returned to SHPA

Students submit final ranked list of hospitals to SHPA

The matching process

• SHPA compares and matches:• Students’ list of preferred hospitals• Hospitals’ list of preferred students

• Standard published algorithm:• To ensure a fair and transparent process for all students

• Student preference takes priority• If a student is ranked by >1 hospital, they will receive their 1st ranked

preference

Preference lists are the only thing considered by SHPA during the match

11 - 21 September 2021 Matching process

Why have a matching process?

• Enables positions to be filled efficiently, transparently and fairly

• Preference lists are the only thing considered during the matching process

• Provides greater equity

• Prevents students receiving multiple offers at different times and put in a position of refusing multiple jobs

• Gives greater certainty quicker

• In the instance that you are not offered a position, there is still time for you to consider positions in other areas of practice

Key program rules

SHPA reserves the right to remove any applicant who violates any of these rules from the matching process:

1. One application per candidate only

2. Do not apply directly to hospitals

3. Do not share your Vidcruiter link

4. Do not reveal where you ranked hospitals• If asked, say this communication is not allowed and you risk removal

from the process if you answer

• Please report to SHPA

Summary

1. Register online

2. Fill out form with your 2 choices + rank other hospitals.

3. SHPA will notify you which 2 or 3 hospitals you will have your application sent to and send you a Vidcruiter link.

4. Upload 2 letters of application, your CV and answer the pre-interview questions

5. Hospitals will then contact you for additional information, interviews etc.

6. SHPA will ask you to log back into the website to rank your final preferences

7. SHPA will let you know your final outcome

Questions?