Survey of pharmacy schools to determine methods of preparation and promotion of postgraduate residency training

ObjectiveTo identify the means in which pharmacy schools promote postgraduate residency training and prepare their students to be competitive candidates for such programs.MethodsAn electronic survey was e-mailed to administrators of pharmacy schools who were fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) as of January 2014. The pre-tested survey included a possible 28 questions and employed skip logic to guide respondents. Formal activities available to students regarding promotion of and preparation for postgraduate residency opportunities as well as the extent to which pharmacy schools assist unmatched students in obtaining pharmacy residency positions was summarized via descriptive statistics of frequencies and averages.ResultsOverall, 63 pharmacy schools were represented of all 114 ACPE-accredited pharmacy schools surveyed in January 2014 (55.3% response rate). In all, 36 schools (57.1%) offered an elective course and 26 schools (41.3%) offered 40 curricular tracks whose purposes were to prepare students to be competitive candidates for postgraduate residency training or advanced direct patient care roles (beyond what is required of all students). The three most commonly used methods to promote and prepare students for postgraduate residency training were lectures, residency showcases, and programming via student organizations. More than 75% of schools offered at least some type of advising on and after residency Match Day.ConclusionA variety of methods to promote and prepare students for residency training was reported. General academic advising and advising for unmatched residency candidates was found to not be standardized. Pharmacy schools need to develop systematic methods for preparing students.