It finally came. The end of the internships. The end of Boulder. The end of two full-time paychecks.
Bummer.
Because we’re sure you’re just so anxious to know what we did besides eat this summer, we’ll do a quick overview of our jobs.
ZACH - WALGREENS PHARMACY INTERN
For all those dying to know what goes on behind the pharmacy counter... well, if I told you, you probably would die because your head would explode from pure awesomeness. ;)
But I'll give you a taste.
First, we take prescriptions, we fill them, and get them out to the customer.
That said, I spent a lot of time learning about drug and medical privacy laws. Did you know that a single medical privacy violation carries between $10,000-50,000 dollar fine and federal prison time?
A pharmacist deals with hundreds of dangerous, even potentially lethal medication every day. As such, every medication is checked by the pharmacist twice: once to make sure that the prescription was entered properly, and again to make sure the right stuff went into the right bottle.
Also, a pharmacist gets to answer lots of questions. The most common question was "what is this and how do I get rid of it?" The answer is typically Benadryl. There were also the occasional odd question, such as "I forgot to pick up toilet bowel cleaner, what can I use around the house to replace it?" and "What exactly is a suppository?"
In short, I spent most of my summer wandering around in a daze. Information overload. But, I learned a ton, found out this is a great profession, and it's one I could easily do over the course of a lifetime, provided being bit by a radioactive spider and becoming a superhero doesn't work out for me.
But I'll give you a taste.
First, we take prescriptions, we fill them, and get them out to the customer.
That said, I spent a lot of time learning about drug and medical privacy laws. Did you know that a single medical privacy violation carries between $10,000-50,000 dollar fine and federal prison time?
A pharmacist deals with hundreds of dangerous, even potentially lethal medication every day. As such, every medication is checked by the pharmacist twice: once to make sure that the prescription was entered properly, and again to make sure the right stuff went into the right bottle.
Also, a pharmacist gets to answer lots of questions. The most common question was "what is this and how do I get rid of it?" The answer is typically Benadryl. There were also the occasional odd question, such as "I forgot to pick up toilet bowel cleaner, what can I use around the house to replace it?" and "What exactly is a suppository?"
In short, I spent most of my summer wandering around in a daze. Information overload. But, I learned a ton, found out this is a great profession, and it's one I could easily do over the course of a lifetime, provided being bit by a radioactive spider and becoming a superhero doesn't work out for me.
CLARISSA - UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER FACILITIES MANAGEMENT INTERN
It’s hard to describe what I did this summer in an interesting way to anyone who doesn’t feel passionate about the state of heavy duty equipment. But I’ll try.
You know all those awesomely massive heating and air conditioning units? The enormous pumps that regulate water pressure and allow you to flush your toilets? Well, my job was to develop a process to make sure that those things stay alive and kickin' by ensuring there’s an accurate record of each piece of equipment, its location, manufacturer, work history, preventative maintenance schedule, and who to call when it’s not functioning correctly. For 130 buildings.
Basically I got to…
attend lots of meetings
conduct a lot of interviews
create a lot of flow charts
modify some software
write a few work process manuals
run some training
write a magazine article
and hang out with some of the coolest people in Colorado:
and hang out with some of the coolest people in Colorado:
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| My boss, my supervisor, and my "lunch aunties" all took me out to lunch on my last day. Pretty much the best co workers ever. |
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| Figures I'm the only one with my eyes closed in this otherwise awesome picture. |
As much as we will miss the cash flow, we’ll miss the fantastic people we met this summer . . . um, too.
While I was busy finishing up my internship, Zach took our little brother Isaac to hike Long's Peak. Pictures of great manly feats pending. Stay tuned.
