Profile Link: https://acceptedtogether.com/consultants/Rehan-b5t4j
Q1:What is your position and at which school?
Second year Pharmacy Student at the University of Toronto
Q2: Tell us a bit about yourself!
Before Pharmacy School, I worked full-time in the Pharmaceutical Industry for two different companies. As such, while Pharmacy School is giving me significant clinical pharmacy experience, I am fortunate to already have industrial pharmacy experience. This allowed me to understand the thought process and decision-making that goes into the development of several kinds of medications, and I now get to see first-hand the patient population it benefits.
Outside of academics, I enjoy sports, going to the gym, strategy games and trying out new restaurants with my friends!
Q3: What’s one thing that others may not know about you?
I have been a youth soccer coach for about 7 years, and before Covid-19 struck, I was in the process of getting an official coaching license.
Q4: If you didn’t go into the field you are in right now, what field would you have gone into?
If I did not go to Pharmacy school, I would have stayed within the pharmaceutical industry as it was an exceptional place to learn and apply many of the scientific learnings I had developed across undergrad and my masters.
Q5: What is the most difficult interview question in your opinion?
It certainly has to be “What is your greatest weakness”. We so often work on improving ourselves and making ourselves the best version we could be, that we so often try to remove any perceived “weaknesses”.
Add in the fact that any discussed weakness in the interview may warp the interviewer’s perception of you, and it becomes a tricky question to navigate correctly.
Q6: What do you think contributed the most to your success?
Resiliency and confidence. I believe both attributes feed into each other as well. The more confident you are in yourself and your abilities, the higher your resiliency to challenges can be; and the more resiliency you demonstrate, the higher your confidence will be for similar challenges in the future.
There will always be set backs of various natures in your journey, but finding ways to overcome them will develop you and your abilities more than lesson in class will.
Q7: What was your application journey like?
My application journey was rather smooth — the University of Toronto’s Pharmacy program was the only place I applied to, and fortunately, I was accepted on the first try.
Q8: What services do you offer?
I’m happy to offer application support for Pharmacy School, in addition to CASPer preparation. I also offer interview preparation and resume reviews, for both school and job applications.
Q9: What’s your biggest tip for students applying to your field?
My biggest tip for students applying to Pharmacy is to come with an open mind. The scope of Pharmacy is expanding, as such by the time we graduate, many new opportunities may become available to you beyond just being a Pharmacist. Coming into Pharmacy with an open mind allows students to explore all the areas a PharmD can take them, without closing any doors too soon.
You may arrive, aspiring to become a Pharmacist to give back to your community, but you may end up falling in love with clinical pharmacy and pursuing a hospital residency instead!
Q10: Why should students choose you as their consultant?
Outside of my love for teaching and working with students, I believe having both professional work experience and direct experience with the pharmacy program allows me to understand student goals and help them think beyond just a pharmacy school acceptance.
Experience with the corporate world and pharmaceutical industry provides me with a unique skillset in which I can share development strategies that will set up applicants for success not only for Pharmacy School but for job recruitment beyond as well!