Pharmacy Residency Programs - What Is a Residency and Why Is It Important?

A residency provides postgraduates—individuals who have completed their pharmacy education and have graduated—advanced clinical training that is more focused and rigorous than the traditional 4th-year rotations also known as advanced pharmacy practice experiences or APPEs. Post-graduate year one (PGY-1) residencies provide training in more general areas such as internal medicine, infectious diseases, cardiology, drug information, emergency medicine, critical care, oncology, ambulatory care, administration and other areas. Most programs require residents to complete a research project as a component of the residency year. Residents can present their research results either as a poster at a national professional meeting or a platform presentation at a regional conference.

Samuel John, PharmD, BCPS, former associate professor of pharmacy practice at PCOM School of Pharmacy, completed a PGY-1 general residency program after working as a hospital pharmacist.

“I do feel that this training prepared me for teaching, research and clinical practice,” John said. “I currently serve as the clinical pharmacist with an internal medicine teaching service and have modeled my practice similar to the training I received as a resident.”

According to John, the answer to that question depends upon where you choose to work.

“Most community (retail chain or independent) pharmacies (think CVS, Walgreens, Target, Publix, Kroger, etc.) don’t require advanced clinical training offered through PGY-1 programs in order to practice,” John explained. “In fact, most students can secure community jobs fairly easily especially if they have worked as interns or technicians while still in school.”

Most hospitals, however, will require at least one year of residency training for either staff or clinical positions. Certain institutions, John added, will require one or even two years of residency training (PGY-2) in order to be considered a clinical pharmacy specialist (i.e., critical care, infectious diseases, cardiology, emergency medicine, ambulatory care, solid organ transplant, etc.)

John’s recommendations for his students regarding whether they should pursue a residency is dependent upon their proposed career path.

“If they want to pursue a career in hospital pharmacy and provide consultative pharmacotherapeutic services on patients with an interdisciplinary team, then yes,” he said. “If they want to pursue a career in academia and work as a faculty member then I would say yes! Faculty who work in the Department of Pharmacy Practice are required to develop a clinical practice site in which to provide pharmacy services to patients and to train students in their experiential year. Most sites require advanced clinical training by their faculty members in order to do so. If the student wanted to own their own store (independent pharmacy) or work in a retail pharmacy environment, then a residency would not be required.”

Once the decision is made to pursue a residency, the student must then consider accredited versus non-accredited programs.

“Accredited residency programs have undergone external evaluation/appraisal by an organization, in this case, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and have developed their programs in accordance with the standards which includes goals and objectives that residents must perform and achieve during the residency year,” John explained. “Most PGY-2 programs (more focused areas of specialized practice) require that candidates complete an accredited PGY-1 program in order to be considered. Non-accredited programs choose to have their own set of goals of objectives and have more flexibility in designing/structuring their learning experiences for their residents.”

Some employers may require accredited PGY-1 or PGY-2 training for eligible candidates applying for clinical positions, he added.

While a residency is not required for board certification, it can reduce the amount of time it takes to become eligible to take the examination. Board certification is a comprehensive examination in a particular field that eligible individuals may sit for and take after a certain period of training or practice.

“One of the requirements for eligibility to take the board certification exam is at least one year of residency training or 3+ years of practice experience,” John explained.

Board certification indicates the practitioner has met the standards for care in a particular clinical area beyond what is required for licensure. The exam is offered through the Board of Pharmacy Specialties and currently covers a wide variety of specialty areas including ambulatory care, cardiology, compounded sterile preparations, critical care, emergency medicine, geriatrics, infectious diseases, nuclear medicine, nutrition support, oncology, pediatrics, pharmacotherapy, psychiatry and solid organ transplant. Candidates who achieve a passing score on this rigorous examination are recognized as specialists in their respective area of pharmacy practice. In fact, some employers may require these advanced qualifications in specialized areas of pharmacy practice for candidates applying for clinical positions.