Which school will help me get a better residency?

[rifampin1984]

I was hoping for some advice from current pharmacists/pharmacy residents.

I found out last month I got accepted to a private school out of state (Shenandoah). I paid my deposit and I am excited to start.

But, I just found out today that I got accepted to my state school too.

I want to do a first-year pharmacy residency, possibly a second year in critical care. On the one hand, the state school is pretty well known and I think with the right GPA/extracurriculars/etc. I could probably get into a residency program. The state school also costs less. No, I'm not worried about paying back the loans when I'm done, I'm worried about getting the loans in the first place because I tried everything and couldn't get them this year and pay $400/month tuition. Needless to say, I don't want to have to do that in pharm school. However, I heard that this school is super competitive, clique-y and people who have attended say "it feels like they just push you through".

The private school on the other hand, costs more (but less than a lot of other private schools), sends its students on good clerkships (Hopkins, Walter Reed), and seems like a really inviting, personal environment. But it is farther away and while a change of scenery might be nice, starting a new school in a new state, not knowing anyone might be difficult.

I guess I'm still leaning more towards the private school for now, but I'm wondering if it will hurt my chances of getting into a residency program?

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[ffpickle]

I was hoping for some advice from current pharmacists/pharmacy residents.

I found out last month I got accepted to a private school out of state (Shenandoah). I paid my deposit and I am excited to start.

But, I just found out today that I got accepted to my state school too.

I want to do a first-year pharmacy residency, possibly a second year in critical care. On the one hand, the state school is pretty well known and I think with the right GPA/extracurriculars/etc. I could probably get into a residency program. The state school also costs less. No, I'm not worried about paying back the loans when I'm done, I'm worried about getting the loans in the first place because I tried everything and couldn't get them this year and pay $400/month tuition. Needless to say, I don't want to have to do that in pharm school. However, I heard that this school is super competitive, clique-y and people who have attended say "it feels like they just push you through".

The private school on the other hand, costs more (but less than a lot of other private schools), sends its students on good clerkships (Hopkins, Walter Reed), and seems like a really inviting, personal environment. But it is farther away and while a change of scenery might be nice, starting a new school in a new state, not knowing anyone might be difficult.

I guess I'm still leaning more towards the private school for now, but I'm wondering if it will hurt my chances of getting into a residency program?

State schools are usually better than private schools. Go to the state school.

e.g. UGA>Mercer
SUNY Buffalo>Touro
Florida>Nova Southeastern

etc.

One of the most costly mistakes of my life: not applying to Purdue (good out of state tuition rate).

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Go to the state school.

 

[MustLoveDrugs]

I would talk to the schools themselves. They're obviously going to be biased, but you might learn a thing or two by asking some pointed questions...

Do they keep stats on % of students who do residencies? What programs did those residents get into? (A history of good residents from your school can help just as much as - if not more than - the name of the school.)

How many of the faculty members have completed residencies? In what? If you're interested in critical care, you may want to reconsider if Shenandoah has yet to hire someone who has actually spent time in the ICU.

How do they determine rotation sites? Are your preferences plugged into a computer, or do you have someone scheduling rotations by hand? Can you go out of state for rotations, or are you limited to the nearby area?

Do they offer support in terms of time off for Midyear and interviews during your last year of pharmacy school?

Congrats on getting in to both places... Sounds like it's a win-win situation

P.S. I'm a private school grad.

 

[Glycerin]

I would talk to the schools themselves. They're obviously going to be biased, but you might learn a thing or two by asking some pointed questions...

Do they keep stats on % of students who do residencies? What programs did those residents get into? (A history of good residents from your school can help just as much as - if not more than - the name of the school.)

I graduated from Shenandoah. I did not feel that I was at a disadvantage when applying for residencies, because I felt I was as strong of a candidate as anyone else. Traditionally, ~10-15% of Shenandoah students do residencies. Our class last year had ~40% attend Midyear, roughly that same amount applied for residencies, and about 30% of us are doing one this year. I personally interviewed at good programs out West, one of my former classmates is doing a residency at MUSC, and another is doing a fellowship at UNC. Several are doing residencies at VA hospitals. I think the trend will be that more and more students will be applying for a residency.

How many of the faculty members have completed residencies? In what? If you're interested in critical care, you may want to reconsider if Shenandoah has yet to hire someone who has actually spent time in the ICU.

I'm not sure of the percentage of professors who've done residencies there, but I'm willing to guess almost all of the pharmacy practice professors (either in amcare, retail, or acute care). The two professors that taught our cardiology therapeutics... One was not in practice (but he taught pharmacology and is a super brain) and the other does have acute care practice in the units and telemetry floors at the nearby hospital.

How do they determine rotation sites? Are your preferences plugged into a computer, or do you have someone scheduling rotations by hand? Can you go out of state for rotations, or are you limited to the nearby area?

Computerized rotation selection, with some manual tweaking. Out-of-state rotations are very difficult to obtain, since Shenandoah has local regional clusters to which you will be assigned for your rotations. If your cluster lacks a certain rotation you want (i.e., IHS out West or something or MBA rotations at a managed care facility), then it is possible to arrange a rotation for that in those areas.

Do they offer support in terms of time off for Midyear and interviews during your last year of pharmacy school?

I went to Midyear in both my P3 and P4 years. For P3s, I've heard now that they will allow you to miss 2 days (which, really, is all you need for Midyear...Monday and Tuesday of the showcase and fly back Tuesday night) of exams (to be made up on a Saturday), since Midyear tends to fall during exam week. For P4s, it's strictly up to whomever your preceptor is for that rotation during December. You do get to request a rotation off, so if you're planning to do a residency, you'd want to request the rotation in February off so that you can go to interviews.

Hope this helps.