For those re-applying or did re-apply to a residency

[Blondie18]

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Hello,
This thread is for those pharmacists re-applying and for others that have tips for us, whether you are a current resident now and you took a couple tries to get there or you went back years after working. I am re-applying this year as I did not match last year. I am only applying to two places since I am location locked. I would like to hear what you did while waiting to apply again. I have just been working but would like other ideas to "sell" myself with. Or about the different questions you were asked in the second round of interviews.
Thanks!

 

[inverness2012]

The biggest question that you will have to answer is "How are you a better candidate this year?". I applied after not matching before. The things that I did to improve were research, certificate programs, teaching, and being involved in professional committees. It is hard to do these things at this late date. Please feel free to pm me with any questions.

 

[Blondie18]

The biggest question that you will have to answer is "How are you a better candidate this year?". I applied after not matching before. The things that I did to improve were research, certificate programs, teaching, and being involved in professional committees. It is hard to do these things at this late date. Please feel free to pm me with any questions.

Thanks for posting! I looked into those things you mentioned and unfortunately there are no opportunities here in Reno. There are no pharmacy schools to teach at, all of the certificate programs I've seen require hours with that certain patient population, etc. What certificate programs did you do?

 

[Blondie18]

This thread is also for those who were in retail and are trying to get back into a clinical position!!

 

[RPHforChange]

I graduated with my PharmD in 2007 and only have retail work experience (tech, intern, staff pharmacist x2.5 years, and pharmacist-in-charge x5 years). I am unsatisfied with what retail has become over the years and am highly interested in changing my career path, so I would like to do a PGY1/PGY2 combined pharmacy administration residency with MS degree.

The problem is that I have a 2.7 GPA from my PharmD program, I am not published/did not do any research during my PharmD, haven't presented "posters" (whatever that means LOL) at any point, and only have retail experience aside from IPPE and APPE rotations in school. What I do bring to the table, however, is a great work ethic (have stuck with the same company for 14 years, since 2001) and have fantastic performance evaluations. I drum up extra business for my store through community events (usually volunteer) and offsites for immunizations and health screenings. During school, I was class secretary for one year and belonged to ASP/APHA for all 4 years. I also served on the PharmD committee for 1 year, which helped analyze things such as curriculum appropriateness/feedback, dealt with academic misconduct, etc. I like managing but would prefer to do so in a non-retail setting where the focus is on the patient and not seeing them as dollar signs.

I know my work and management experience has to count for something, but I'm wondering just how important that old GPA is, and my lack of hospital and research experience is, when I've been out of school for 7 years? At this point there is clearly nothing that can be done to change the GPA or what I did during my PharmD years, so for someone looking into residency at this point in my career, what is the recommended path? I am finding it terribly difficult to find a hospital job, as I live in a large city where we have an over saturation of pharmacists. It seems hospitals would prefer someone with hospital experience over a retail pharmacy manager, so I'm at a cross roads if I'm serious about changing my career path. I know it's possible to make the transition, as I have watched colleagues do it (even in my city, recently), but I think I would really put myself ahead of the pack by getting a PGY2 with MS (which could also lead to BCPS). Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[RxConfused]

The biggest question that you will have to answer is "How are you a better candidate this year?". I applied after not matching before. The things that I did to improve were research, certificate programs, teaching, and being involved in professional committees. It is hard to do these things at this late date. Please feel free to pm me with any questions.

How do you go about getting research experience once you're out of school? Did you just contact faculty at your pharmacy school or did you do research where you worked, such as at a hospital?

 

[inverness2012]

I wrote up posters that I worked on in school into papers. I also worked on a project at my hospital where I worked. You don't have to do research, just things to improve your application from the previous year.