Are residencies required for these?

[PharmLife4Me]

Hello! I was looking at some pharmacy career options that are presentable after graduation and I have determined that retail is definitely not for me since I have been working in retail and independent for about 5 years now. The pharmacy school that I am applying to listed careers like oncology pharmacist, operating room pharmacist, pediatric pharmacist, veterinary pharmacist, critical care pharmacist, and infectious disease pharmacist... I would prefer to do something like OR pharmacist or even veterinary pharmacist, just SOMETHING besides retail. I am one of those type of people who prefer consultations outside of retail. Now, I know that clinical pharmacy requires residencies, but do those listed above require one as well? Thanks!

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[GoldfishPharmD]

Hello! I was looking at some pharmacy career options that are presentable after graduation and I have determined that retail is definitely not for me since I have been working in retail and independent for about 5 years now. The pharmacy school that I am applying to listed careers like oncology pharmacist, operating room pharmacist, pediatric pharmacist, veterinary pharmacist, critical care pharmacist, and infectious disease pharmacist... I would prefer to do something like OR pharmacist or even veterinary pharmacist, just SOMETHING besides retail. I am one of those type of people who prefer consultations outside of retail. Now, I know that clinical pharmacy requires residencies, but do those listed above require one as well? Thanks!

Yes, a residency is pretty much required for all those positions. Those positions fall under the "clinical pharmacy" umbrella.

 

[pearljam5a1]

There are different levels of "clinical". You can be a staff pharmacist in a pediatric hospital and be considered a pediatric pharmacist. You can be a staff pharmacist at a hospital and work in the OR/ICU/Oncology/Pediatric satellites and consider yourself an OR/ICU/OncologyPediatric pharmacist.

If you are looking for something where you participate on rounds, have more hands on patient care and little to no dispensing role then you will most likely need a residency. That being said, I know of two people from my school that graduated and went straight into a clinical role at St Jude Children's Research Hospital. They both worked there through school as interns and were pretty lucky that a job opened up when it did.

If you don't want to work as a community pharmacist then get a job as an intern in a hospital and start making connections. Consider it a four year job interview. That's what I did and now even though I matched at a residency site elsewhere I have set it up so I can do prn work there for some extra cash. A lot of it is all about networking.

 

[PharmLife4Me]

So basically, the staff pharmacist role in pediatric and OR/ICU/Oncology does not require a residency and it practically just dispensing medications and making IVs in a hospital that is department specific?

Do you get to choose where you intern? Also, I am assuming that interning regardless of location is something that is non-compensation unless you get lucky.

 

[GoldfishPharmD]

"Staffing" can vary by institution. Some places, you do very little hands on things and it's mainly dispensing/IV. Some places, you do a lot of pharmacokinetics, dosing, monitoring patient's renal function, etc. Like pearljam5a1 stated, the more hands on jobs/less dispensing jobs are pretty much going to require a residency.

However, even finding a hospital staffing job is getting tough. Everything I looked up highly recommended doing at least 1 year of residency. When he says intern, he means working for the hospital while you're in pharmacy school. You're called a "pharmacy intern" and you get paid (unless you volunteer). It's like trying to get any other job; you pick where you want to work and they interview you, etc.

 

[Farcus]

Hey,

Very simple, if you want to do anything clinical wise you'll need at least a PGY1. TBH, the PGY1 graduates that I am doing a rotation at right now pretty much just staff in central. If you want a critical care or emergency room pharmacist, you will need to do a PGY2. This will be more true by the time you graduate.

 

[Pharmakid]

Many larger hospitals are trending towards requiring PGY1 residencies even for their staffing positions. If you are just now entering pharmacy school then by the time you graduate I expect the culture to be residency required.
I am sure many will say, "my hospital doesn't require residency for staffing positions" and they would be right. But if you are smart and read the writing on the wall then you will do everything you can to make yourself the best applicant you can be.