Blog 2: Work Readiness Skills

My internship is a unique internship in that I only go once a week for a total of four hours. Due to liability, I don't do anything but observe (still very educational nonetheless). I started on Wednesday (July 1st) and can comment on what skills were useful for my first day and what will be useful as time progresses.

Good skills to have:

Tolerance and Respect:
In this internship, all the pharmacists, technicians, and even pharmacy students around me know a great deal more than me, and by being respectful I am able to understand that and listen to them. When they explain to me what they are doing, this skill becomes useful as to listening attentively in order to learn as much and get as much out of the internship as possible.

Dedication to improve (two skills in one??):
I've already shown the staff in the pharmacy of Novato Community Hospital that I am dedicated to pharmacy and wish to learn more about the field. I believe by showing improvement, and the want to improve, even intellectually with knowledge, is enough to prove to the supervisors that I want to be there and I want to understand.

Need to improve:

Literacy (in terms of a pharmaceutical internship):
I guess it is to be expected, but one skill I need to develop for this internship is literacy so that when everyone I'm working with is explaining to me I can have a clearer idea of what the drug actually is (etc.). I can achieve this by taking extra time outside of my internship reading books, and searching up information to see more about different aspects of pharmacy and drug brands and names. I've already shown such a little bit but scrutinizing into my mind for recollection of the mentioned drug, those that I am familiar with like Albuterol (for asthma and allergies), ibuprofen (you all should know what that does), and others that I'm just starting to be shown.

Communication:
This skill will most likely improve with more visits to the pharmacy, but communicating effectively is always hard for me in anything I do because I'm quite a shy/nervous person. I've seen such friendliness already in the pharmacy, and it would help me achieve my purpose of being there if I really make myself and my questions be heard. I've gotten scared that the question will come out silly and dumbstruck the person I ask, though, that's something I really shouldn't fear because again, I've only seen friendliness there and it's only been one day.