Pharmacy Residency Search: Finding Programs & Narrowing Down Your List | GDPharmD

Searching for Pharmacy Residencies can be overwhelming! There are over 2,000 pharmacy practice residencies and each one is different in its own regard, so when looking at the portal with all those residencies it can be hard to put a list together. When I first started this process, it seemed like all the programs were the same at face value and the list can get long. But, when you look a bit deeper into the program and consider your goals and desires, that will quickly change. Keep reading for tips on how to narrow down your list!

Look for the ⚡️ symbol for PRO-TIPS and helpful blog posts.

Looking for ideas on how to organize your program list? Get your residency spreadsheet HERE!

DIFFERENT PHASES OF YOUR LIST

I will say though that there are different phases of your residency search process and it’s good to think of it in this way. As you go through the process and learn more about what you like and don’t, your list will evolve: 

• Your initial list: This is likely when you’re first looking at residencies and will probably be your longest one as it may seem hard to distinguish between programs
• Your list pre-ASHP Midyear: this one will be shorter than the one above as you’ve narrowed down programs and also because you’ve probably been to a few information sessions before ASHP Midyear.
• Your list post-ASHP Midyear: this one may be shorter or longer than the one above. People may quickly tease out programs they no longer want to apply to and they may also find new programs they never were aware of 
• Your final list of places you’re applying to: The list of places you’re committed enough to send in an application
• Your rank list: The list you have after your interviews that you”ll be ranking for the match process

The list WILL evolve with time and that’s okay – you’ll learn more about what your specific needs are throughout the process and that will change your priorities.

⚡️ This blog will mostly focus on the first two phases above.

WHY NARROWING DOWN YOUR LIST IS IMPORTANT

Focus: You want to be focused during your search and not feel like you are scattered between a ton of programs. You will need to know WHY you’re applying to specific programs vs. casting a wide net and seeing what takes. It’ll show during your interview.

Time: It takes time to write letters of intent, visit booths, showcases, and apply on top of all of your responsibilities during P4 year.

Money: It costs money to apply, it costs money to get to the interview,…etc, etc. P4 is by far the year where we dish out money left and right.

LOGISTICS: HOW TO FIND RESIDENCIES

So, primarily the resource that people use for searching for residencies is the ASHP Directory. ASHP’s website has a lot of great resources as well for pharmacy residency so check it out!

To look for residencies, go to ASHP’s website and navigate yourself to their residency information page and then select Residency Directory or click here for the direct link.

You should see the Residency Directory Tool shown below

It has various filters that allow you to narrow programs down – such as if you’re geographically restricted to Texas, then you are able to only search for programs in Texas. If you’re only looking for PGY-1 residencies, then you would filter to PGY-1. If you know exactly which program you want to search for, you can do that too.

There is also the ‘Show Advanced Search Options’ towards the bottom that allows for more specific narrowing depending on your needs.

⚡️ PRO TIP: Try to be judicious in the filters you use to search, you want to be somewhat broad and not too narrow so as to not exclude programs you may be interested in. For example in the ‘Select an Organization Type’ field, it’s hard for me even to distinguish the difference between Hospital vs Health System, so I wouldn’t want to select one or the other and possibly exclude a place I didn’t mean to.

Let’s go through an example

Let’s go through an example of a hospital in Texas for a PGY-1 (why am I choosing Texas??  I have no clue LOL but let’s just go with it).

Once you search, you will see there are a number of programs that come up and the initial page has a basic overview of the program

Once you click on a specific program’s page, they will have more information. Some pages are bare, some pages have a lot and I wouldn’t use that distinction to measure the quality of the programs at all! Let’s click on one of the pages and talk about the different components that a page may have. 

📝 A link to their website – I loved when residencies had their own website. Why? It has the most up-to-date information and will give you more information on the program. Sometimes, programs may not update the ASHP directory as often as their own personal site.

• You can also learn more about the preceptors and current residents which is always helpful if they have that on their site 

📝Basic program information such as an address, program codes, program leadership, etc. 

📝 Key information: App deadline, number of positions (i.e. the # of co-residents you’ll have), and what you need to submit to apply, special features, types of rotations, etc.  

⚡️ Don’t turn away a program because you don’t see a feature you want on the page. The descriptions may just be very basic HR-related information that may not encompass all that the program does, that’s why it’s great to visit the website.

HOW TO NARROW DOWN YOUR LIST: ASKING YOURSELF PERSONAL QUESTIONS 

Picking programs to apply to is a VERY VERY personal decision. There are questions that you need to ask yourself and you need to decide how much weight you put on each factor (i.e. how much do you value that aspect). These are just SOME of the things you ask yourself – remember this post is focused on the initial phases of your list.

Location 

💬  Do you need to stay around a certain geographic area due to personal reasons? Are you willing to go anywhere? Do you only want to be in a city area? Do you prefer rural areas? Are there other hospitals in the area? Does it matter to me if I am in an AMC (academic medical center) or Community Hospital?

• Geographic location is a sure way to narrow your list quickly!!
• There are variances between people when it comes to geographic restrictions. Some are restricted to a certain state, while others decide to stay in a certain region, such as Northeast, DMV, southeast, etc., and then some people have no restrictions at all!
• Not having geographic restrictions has its positives and drawbacks. On one hand, you’re flexible and open to going to whatever program, on the other hand, it makes it so so hard to narrow down your list. I know it sounds silly, but look at a map of the United States and ask yourself, realistically, what states/areas would I be willing to move to?
• Having other hospitals in the area is not necessary but something to consider. Likely there are tight networks amongst programs that are close to one another and you too can build your network among them which will be helpful for unique opportunities, off-site rotations, and even jobs post residency
• Both AMC’s and Community hospitals have positives and drawbacks. Definitely decide what differences are important to you and if it is important enough for you not to apply to one vs. the other. I personally applied to a mix of both

Number of co-residents

💬  Do I want a large or small program? 

• Small and large mean different things for different people. There are positives and drawbacks to each. If the number of residents is important to you, have a range that you’re comfortable with.
• ⚡️ I wrote a BLOG POST about this, check it out for more details and things to consider! 

Staffing requirements 

💬 How often do I staff? Will I ever be on-call? Do I staff during the weekdays, weekends, or both?

• Many people may not be thinking about this from the start, but as someone who completed her residency, this is VERY important. At the beginning of my pharmacy residency journey, I didn’t pay much attention to it, but a friend of mine and a couple of other current residents I talked to while I was applying nudged me to pay attention to this part, and wow am I glad I did!

• ⚡️ I wrote a BLOG POST about this as well (I got your back yall LOL), check it out!

Future career (PGY-2, job) plans

💬  Do I want to do a PGY-2? Do I want to early commit to a PGY-2? Have they hired past residents? 

• I won’t go too much into this, but some hospitals that have both PGY1s and PGY2s have something called early commit where essentially instead of going through the whole application process to secure a PGY-2 spot at their current hospital they go through an internal application process instead. Each program does it differently, so definitely ask if that’s something that interests you. It IS NOT the only way to get a PGY-2, just a more streamlined way though so you may put a different amount of value on this factor.
• If you’re looking for a PGY-2, does the hospital have opportunities for you to become as much of an expert in your field as you can be during that time (research projects in a certain area, staffing in a certain part of the hospital, multiple rotations in that field, strong preceptors, etc).
• Where have their past residents landed? Some googling and possibly LinkedIn searching can help with this.

Rotations/Learning Experiences 

💬  Do they have rotations that match my interest? 💬  How long are the rotations? 5 weeks? 8 weeks? A mix of both short and longitudinal rotations? 💬  Am I interested in a teaching certificate? 💬  Do they have ‘away’ rotations (meaning that there is an opportunity to do a rotation at another site)?

• If you have a strong desire to be a transplant pharmacist and the hospital has no opportunity to do a transplant rotation it probably is not a good fit for you. If you’re interested in infectious diseases and the program has three different rotations in infectious disease-related activities, that place may be a good fit for you. 
• If you would like to do a rotation in a certain area for a long amount of time to gain more exposure is that possible? Such as an extended amount of time in the ICU or multiple ICU options, for example.

Pay/Compensation

💬  How much will I be getting paid? 💬 Are there benefits that are covered (such as midyear travel, membership to ASHP, or other pharmacy organizations)? 💬 PTO (paid time off) days? 💬 Meal stipend?

• Let’s talk about it because I don’t think many people do. 
• So, I will say, the salary posted on the residency directory may not be the most up-to-date. It may be less, or it may be more. The salary posted is pre-tax (I don’t know if there are some programs that do a flat-out stipend or grant) but something to keep in mind when calculating the cost of living vs. your take-home pay (post-tax). Some programs do offer significantly more than others.
• I personally never asked if the pay on the site was accurate and I didn’t choose a program solely based on pay ESPECIALLY at the beginning of the process. I just decided I would be okay if it was a few thousand dollars less. From what I understand, you cannot negotiate a pharmacy resident salary as it is pre-determined.

Considering these things, I think it is something you should consider, but the value you place on this factor (like other factors) is personal. Pharmacy resident salaries aren’t crazy high. You’re probably making ⅓ to ½ of a full-fledged pharmacist regardless of where you go. I think it is important to consider the ballpark pay and the location of where you are. For example, a certain amount of money in Manhattan, NY is very different from that same salary in rural Arizona or even in a state with no income taxes. 

I will NOT say that pay isn’t important for those 1-2 years. I think that totally disregards people who may be in hard financial situations and/or have mouths to feed. While it is an upgrade from P4 salary, it is still something that some people, because of their situation need to think of critically, so I don’t want to dismiss this topic.

Other Factors

💬  How diverse is the pharmacy staff, preceptors, leadership, etc? Are they unique opportunities like international medical trips? Is it only an in-patient (hospital) setting? Is it only an outpatient/clinic setting or a mix?

ORGANIZING YOUR LIST:

There are many ways to organize the programs: Excel-type spreadsheets, making charts in Microsoft Word, etc etc. 

It doesn’t matter which system you use, just have a system.

To Organize programs, I used excel in the beginning, but, as I got more focused on programs post-midyear I used Word more and I think it was because I could write free text easier.

Click here to download this Microsoft excel sheet I Used

As you get more involved in the process, you will also want to have a dedicated folder on your computer or in the cloud (like Google Drive or One Drive, etc) with sub-folders for this process, and eventually, the programs you’re applying to should have their own folder where you can keep important documents. 

⚡️ PRO-TIP: If you look into a program and decide against it for a reason that may not be obvious, write down WHY! The reason I say this is because you may fall upon that program again and think to yourself ‘why didn’t I want this one again?’ and you’re wasting time trying to search through the program again. But if you have a separate sheet that says why you didn’t choose them, you can refer back to it, remind yourself, and determine if that’s still a prohibiting factor.

FINDING OUT MORE INFO ABOUT PROGRAMS TO NARROW DOWN YOUR LIST

• Attend information sessions besides ASHP midyear: check program websites and social media pages (a lot of them have Instagrams, Twitter pages, and even youtube videos)
• Talk to anyone that is a current or past pharmacy resident (the easy way is via your APPE rotations or even your pharmacy tech job)
• Talk to current pharmacists including preceptors
• Ask residents of the programs you’re applying to – what was important to them when they were going through their process
• ⚡️ A really cool spreadsheet going around that was started by a pharmacy residency program – Link is HERE

That’s all I have for now. I hope it was helpful! I wish you ALL the best! For more Residency content, check out the rest of my residency blog posts on here and on Instagram. I have created guides and have an Instagram highlight called ‘Rx Resi Help.’

‘The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.’ Psalms 32:8

Things to Do: Residency Application Process

The Number of Co-residents in a PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency: Why it’s Important and How to Decide

Staffing During Pharmacy Residency: Should it Factor into Your Decision?

Mid-Year Tips (Virtual Edition)

Top Tips for Pharmacy Residency Interviews #InterviewSZN

Guide to Letters of Recommendation

I Came Back from ASHP Midyear, Now What?

Tips for APPE/IPPE Pharmacy Rotations

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