Reapplying for residency after unmatching last year

[clutzyshell]

So last year, I didn't match; Since then I graduated, got licensed and immediately was offered a hybrid staffing/clinical position (more so on the staffing side) at a top-10 teaching hospital I interned for; and have been working since then.

A-MAZING job and opportunity (e.g.: high involvement in antimicrobial kinetics, patient education/discharge counseling, etc etc) But honestly, I pictured myself being happier with my job. Sure, I can be happy with this job for the next 5 years and I'm super grateful that I'm not unemployed like a lot of the people in my graduating class... But I can't say that for the next 10 years or, worse, 20 years.

Anyone else in the same boat of reapply or anyone successfully reapplied?

Any frequent posters who can shed a light on what my chances are if I reapply this year?

I just kind of want some feedback before I call up my old professors for letter of recommendations. Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[bacillus1]

I'm now scheduling PPS interviews. Most of the jobs available for PGY-1s on there are clinical/staff hybrids such as you described. In addition, I got lots of interviews from new pharmacy schools, so I'll see how that goes.

IMO keep your job, especially since that tends to be what most people currently get after PGY-1.

 

[mustang sally]

I'm now scheduling PPS interviews. Most of the jobs available for PGY-1s on there are clinical/staff hybrids such as you described. In addition, I got lots of interviews from new pharmacy schools, so I'll see how that goes.

IMO keep your job, especially since that tends to be what most people currently get after PGY-1.

Interesting. Other pharmacists around me are telling me that I'm already obsolete since I don't have a residency (though all of us manage to be gainfully employed without it so...)

On the other hand, it would be discouraging to go through residency and end up in the same place, albeit more knowledgeable. Guess at this point, I'm still uncertain about my plans for the future but it feels like I just started this job, so I don't think I'm going to try again for residency at this point.

 

[clutzyshell]

Overall, yes, I agree that residency doesn't really seem necessary at this point in time since hospital jobs are still opened for people who do not have PGY1s or 2s under their belt. Recently, a clinical manager told me the market has been so hard that people with PGY1s cannot find a job and ended applied for the overnight position at my hospital.

But I think there's this knowledge gap between me and the clinical pharmacists in my hospital. Yes maybe it's because most of them came from top residency's in the country and I just graduated NOT top of my class. But I guess it really hit me when someone was coding on one of my units and I didn't know what to do; the clinical pharmacist was there to guide me and she was calm and said she saw this particular case almost weekly during her residency (she completed a PGY2 early this year).

So with that said, after that, little clinical things kept getting thrown my way where I didn't have the time to look it up nor was there a truly distinctive answer and all in all, I would call my clinical manager who knew the answer because "it's just what they do in practice". Because of little things here and there, I'm really thinking....residency may be the way to go...

 

[joetrisman]

So with that said, after that, little clinical things kept getting thrown my way where I didn't have the time to look it up nor was there a truly distinctive answer and all in all, I would call my clinical manager who knew the answer because "it's just what they do in practice". Because of little things here and there, I'm really thinking....residency may be the way to go...

I've never worked inpatient hospital, and now is my first rotation there. I run into what you described above daily and it drives me insane to the point where I feel ineffective at making recommendations. Therefore, I tend to agree that residency would be the way to go.

 

[clutzyshell]

For the people involved with residency candidate picking:

1- Is it pathetic to reapply to the programs I really really wanted last year and interviewed for? (was told by the preceptor that I was ranked highly but I just didn't make the cut)

2- How would I be viewed, out of school since May 2012, haven't done anything really big except working at my hybrid clinical/staffing job?


I really think I'm gonna go through the whole residency application thingamabob again.

Although, realistically, I only run into a troubling clinical question that I can only answer with clinical experience about once a week... I feel like I'm not as effective as I can be had I done a residency. I feel like I need something "more" before I'm actually on the floors, recommending therapy. And if I don't do it now, it's just gonna weigh me down in the years to come...

Thanks for the advice ya'll.

 

[MatCauthon]

At this point it would be a complete waste of your life to do a residency. Unless you want to be a specialist, which would entail a PGY2, you are going to have to backtrack a lot to get to where you already are. If you like where you are living and you like your job there is no reason to do residency. Practice for 3 years, get some experience, get BCPS certified, and you will be on the same playing ground as a resident.

Many residents I know have gotten desperate and applied for part-time, on-call, and night positions and they have had to travel to get those jobs.

Realize that your mind is your enemy right now. I think most of know this scenario well: our mind always looks for greener pastures elsewhere. Sometimes we forget that we already are sitting on a wonderful green pasture. Enjoy the moment, and forget about your regrets for residency.

 

[joetrisman]

I have mixed feelings about the concept of people going back. I think it would definitely increase your marketability, especially in light of many of the larger institutions seem to be focused on the 2020 initiative. However, I tend to agree with the above poster in that a bird in a hand is worth two in the bush