Record Number Of Pharmacy Graduates To Enter Pharmacy Residencies

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 02 Apr 2008 - 13:00 PDT

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A record number of pharmacy graduates will enter pharmacy residency programs this year, according to the results of the 2008 ASHP Resident Matching Program. More than 2,300 applicants sought the approximately 2,000 available positions, with nearly 1,700 individuals matching with residencies across the United States, adding to more than a decade of double-digit growth in postgraduate pharmacy residency training.

The majority of residency positions are categorized as postgraduate year one (PGY1) programs. Almost 1,500 applicants were matched with nearly 1, 800 available PGY1 pharmacy residency positions. This is an 11 percent increase in applicants and 10 percent increase in number of positions over 2007. In these programs, pharmacy residents obtain practical experience with supervision by exemplary practitioners to build the residents' competence, self-confidence, and skill in clinical judgment and problem solving. The majority of PGY1 programs are based in hospitals but also take place in community pharmacies, clinics, home care, and managed care facilities.

Upon completion of a PGY1 residency, a pharmacist can chose to continue training in a postgraduate year two (PGY2) pharmacy residency. Nearly 270 individuals were matched to approximately 340 available PGY2 residencies. This was a 27 percent jump in PGY2 candidates and over a 17 percent increase in positions over 2007. PGY2 residents focus on specific areas of practice; this year internal medicine, critical care, infectious diseases, oncology, and cardiology had the highest percent fill rates of their open PGY2 positions.

In 2007, the ASHP House of Delegates approved a policy that supports the goal of requiring by the year 2020 all new college of pharmacy graduates who will be providing direct patient care to have completed an ASHP-accredited postgraduate-year-one residency.

"The continued growth in interest by applicants and positions bodes well for meeting this goal for health system pharmacies," said ASHP President Janet A. Silvester, M.B.A. "The unique, 'hands-on' learning offered to residents will prepare these practitioners for leadership roles in health-system practice."

National Matching Services, Inc., administers the matching process and also conducts the matching service for medical and dental residencies. The service pairs residency applicants with positions by linking the highest preference of both the applicant and training site. For a match to occur, both parties must have listed each other. After the match, unmatched applicants are considered free agents and may contact a residency program directly to obtain one of the remaining open available positions.

ASHP has accredited pharmacy residency programs since 1962 and has developed standards for PGY1 and PGY2 pharmacy residencies through its Commission on Credentialing (COC). The COC develops pharmacy accreditation standards, conducts accreditation surveys using the standards, and is the ASHP oversight body for the accreditation process for both pharmacy residency programs and pharmacy technician training programs. Its members are experts in pharmacy residency and pharmacy technician training programs. The Society also has partnered with the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, and the American Pharmacists Association in accrediting residencies.

About ASHP

For more than 60 years, ASHP has helped pharmacists who practice in hospitals and health systems improve medication use and enhance patient safety. The Society's 30,000 members include pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who practice in inpatient, outpatient, home-care, and long-term-care settings, as well as pharmacy students. For more information about the wide array of ASHP activities and the many ways in which pharmacists help people make the best use of medicines, visit ASHP's Web site, http://www.ashp.org, or its consumer Web site, http://www.SafeMedication.

http://www.ashp.org