The Food and Drug Administration is one of the nation's oldest and most
respected consumer protection agencies. FDA's mission is to
promote and protect the public health by helping safe and effective
products reach the market in a timely way, and monitoring products for
continued safety after marketing.
Goals and Objectives
The FDA Pharmacy Student Experiential
Program provides an opportunity to learn about the FDA’s multidisciplinary
processes for addressing public health issues involving drugs, biologics,
and medical devices. Pharmacy students who participate in the FDA
Pharmacy Student Experiential Program acquire knowledge, skills, and
abilities beneficial to their professional career.
Each FDA rotation site has its own list of objectives which will be
provided on the first day of the rotation. An FDA rotation allows pharmacy students to become familiar with:
Program
Activities
The FDA Pharmacy Student Experiential Program includes opportunities to
attend FDA advisory
committee hearings, congressional
hearings, and a monthly lecture series.
In addition to learning about FDA operations, students
interact with other pharmacy students from schools across the country and
learn about pharmacist career opportunities available in government.
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Compensation
The FDA Pharmacy Student Experiential Program is part of the FDA
Volunteer Program for Students. 
The positions are unpaid. However, the program provides academic credit
hours required for the Pharm.D. Degree.
Housing, transportation, and parking are not provided by the program. It is the responsibility of the student to make arrangements prior to the rotation. |
Housing
The following document provides questions to help students find safe, affordable, and convenient housing while visiting the FDA. Housing Options
Temporary housing web sites:
Parking and Transportation
The FDA has office buildings located in several sites in the
Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Most of the FDA Pharmacy Student
Experiential Program opportunities are available in Rockville, MD. Free
parking is limited, and paid parking can cost up to $7 per day. There are
shuttles between some of the buildings and others are accessible by Metro
rail and bus systems. However, depending on the location of the rotation site, private transportation would be a definite advantage.
Legal Requirements
Students are prohibited from releasing, publishing, or disclosing
non-public information, specifically any confidential commercial or trade
secret information obtained while serving as an FDA student. Students will
be subject to a background check in order to obtain security clearance
before their rotation.
All students must complete the following
forms and mail them together to their preceptor one month prior to their
rotation:
- E-QIP Initiation Form
- Form 306 :
Declaration for Federal Employment. Students
must bring two forms of government issued
identification (drivers license, passport,
social security card, etc) to the rotation.
- FD-258:
Fingerprinting. Students must obtain this
form from their preceptor, and then take it
to the Police Station to get fingerprinted.
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How to Apply
Rotations are
offered only in the last year of pharmacy
school. Students are encouraged to apply in
the year preceding their last year of pharmacy
school. Rotations are available throughout the
entire year, and may last anywhere from 4-6
weeks, depending upon the school’s
experiential program. If you are interested in
an experiential rotation at FDA, please submit
an application containing the following:
1. Resume or
curriculum vitae
2. One-page
paper focusing on how a rotation at FDA would
facilitate achievement of your career goals
3. Three
potential time slots for your rotation,
keeping in mind that flexible rotation slots
will expand placement opportunities
4. Rank order
of top three preferred rotation sites.
Rotations are available in the Office of
Special Health Issues, and in various
divisions within the Center for Drug
Evaluation and Research. We have provided you with a list of offices and divisions that participate in the FDA Pharmacy Student Experiential Program. However, this list is not comprehensive and it is possible that a student may be selected by a division/preceptor who does not appear on this list. You may pick
rotations in any of the Offices or Divisions
listed below:
Applications are to be submitted
electronically by each school's experiential coordinator to Pharmacy.Student@fda.hhs.gov
Upon receipt of the application, we will
email a confirmation to verify receipt of the application. Please contact
us again if you do not receive a receipt confirmation. Applications must be received by December 31, 2008. Students who are selected will be notified directly by their preceptor. Those that are not selected will receive notification via email by
February 29, 2009. We wish to emphasize that the application process is highly competitive and not all applicants will be placed.
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