How to grow as a non-residency trained Pharmacist?

[Chem Blade]

I tried to google this question to read past threads about it, but the entire front page of google are just links about residency and how to get one. I personally dislike how ASHP/Hospitals are shoving residency so hard down everyone's throats, as if you can't grow without it and belong in retail, but I digress.

For those who have decided that they do not want to pursue a residency, what things can they do to professionally grow and be attractable candidates for challenging positions in the world of clinical pharmacy. I am aware of being board certified (which a friend of mines was telling me that he heard that ASHP is pushing to make it so only residency trained pharmacists can take it??), is there anything else that is less known and worth considering?

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[nLua]

I too am very curious about this.

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[gwarm01]

It's going to be hard to grow clinically without getting that first hospital job. You could always self-study, but nothing will compare to being in the middle of it all. If you work retail or are a new grad, do whatever it takes to get your first hospital job. Per-diem or move to the boonies, whatever it takes. Maybe you'll get lucky and land a nice job in a desirable city right of us school like some of us did, but that's not as common as it used to be.

Once you are working in a hospital, don't just be a pharmacist that blindly verifies orders. Try to understand the therapy beyond "yup, right dose." What are you treating? Goals of therapy? Read progress notes for relevant details, follow up on labs, etc. Become familiar with the hospital protocols and make sure you understand why they are designed how they are. Try to find a mentor in a more experienced pharmacist if you can, having that guidance can work wonders.

With any luck you will become competent fairly quickly. Once your management has confidence in you, start asking for more advanced training to cover speciality shifts or however it is set up at your hospital.

Every institution is going to be different. Some may not have the flexibility to let you work in different shifts, I can't say for sure. This is how I spent my first few years out of pharmacy school. I started out doing central staffing and working evenings in the ICU satellite and eventually was trained to cover PICU, NICU, and peds onc (children's hospital obviously). I was given about 1 month of one-on-one training for each area before they let me run it solo.

 

[confettiflyer]

I advised my non-residency trained colleagues and former students to, first and foremost, get a job in hospital pharmacy (which is no easy feat in California -- why should a hospital hire a new grad when there's new resident grads available and licensed on day 1, and have had their "first year bugs" mostly shaken out during PGY-1?)

Once you're in though, it's like any other job. Make yourself as indispensable as possible, dive deep in your practice, stay up to date on clinical practice (get the ACCP PSAP modules from your board very friends and have a good read).

A lot of it is site dependent, find your way into a hospital that does a lot of advanced stuff. It's harder to learn critical care, cardiology, or transplant mgmt when your hospital keeps transferring them to higher levels of care.

Basically, tl;dr hustle and flow with a good attitude and get board certified in 3-4 years. Your first step into hospital is critical, but once you're in, it's all you.


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[Chem Blade]

• Develop superior communication skills. To put it bluntly, it seems like English isn't your first language, or at the very least, your written communication skills could use some improvement. If you still can, take advantage of any resources your school has for ESL students.

English is not my second language so that's kind of sad haha.

My CV format is top notch. I can also write letters of intent (wrote one for a special APPE program I applied to and got). I'm just lazy online. No need to treat the internet like an English class.

 

[Abby Atwood]

I "decided" not to pursue residency. (Just kidding, no one wanted me)

Some of the less desirable places mentioned above are really nice. They are only less desirable because they are a little out of the way. It may just be my impression based on my particular APPE rotations, but it seems like small community hospitals offer more opportunities for staff pharmacists. Large hospitals seem to separate staffing and clinical jobs without a lot of overlap.

While working full time between end of rotations and graduation, I have come to realize that 40 hours a week is hardly any time at all. If I'm not salaried, which is likely, I'll be capped at 40 hours or less per week. I think I might pursue a masters degree while I'm waiting for eligibility to sit board certification exams. (The programs I'm looking at don't require a thesis and are entirely or mostly online, so the phrase masters degree should come with a lot of implied quotation marks). I'm interested in the topic, and I think it would be beneficial even if it's not at a fancy program. Are there any topics from your PharmD curriculum that you wish you knew more about? (Pharmacoeconomics, public health, toxicology, etc...)

Edit: Also, I need to learn French so that I can be more useful overseas with MSF.

 

[BidingMyTime]

I "decided" not to pursue residency. (Just kidding, no one wanted me)
Are there any topics from your PharmD curriculum that you wish you knew more about? (Pharmacoeconomics, public health, toxicology, etc...)
Edit: Also, I need to learn French so that I can be more useful overseas with MSF.

You must be single, and a renter. Once you own a home and/or get a SO and/or kids, you will find you have no free time left after your 40 hours/week. So yeah, if you've got the time now, now is the time to get a masters.

 

[confettiflyer]

You must be single, and a renter. Once you own a home and/or get a SO and/or kids, you will find you have no free time left after your 40 hours/week. So yeah, if you've got the time now, now is the time to get a masters.

Depends on the time management of the person...I've seen highly functional couples with house/young kids get additional degrees, certifications, or run companies on top of 40hr/week jobs with modest outside help (child care, other employees or partners, preschool, etc...), AND take vacations on a regular basis.


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[Dalteparin]

Once you're in though, it's like any other job. Make yourself as indispensable as possible, dive deep in your practice, stay up to date on clinical practice (get the ACCP PSAP modules from your board very friends and have a good read).

You actually don't need to be board certified to get the PSAPs from ACCP. They're happy to take your money regardless. And you can still get CE to renew your license from a PSAP, so it might be worthwhile to join ACCP and get a discount on them.

 

[confettiflyer]

You actually don't need to be board certified to get the PSAPs from ACCP. They're happy to take your money regardless. And you can still get CE to renew your license from a PSAP, so it might be worthwhile to join ACCP and get a discount on them.

Yeah, and holy typo on my end, I meant get the PSAP modules from your board certified friends to read.

I dunno, some of those are torture...if I weren't board certified and just wanted them for light reading, I'd read and take some bang up free online CE's that I can blow through in 10mins for crediting purposes.


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[spacecowgirl]

Do PI work - see a process that is dysfunctional - volunteer to fix it! Volunteer to precept students. Not just letting them sit there and watch you but have develop activities. Find an area you like and become the dept expert. Volunteer for committees - clinical and otherwise. Find something your hospital isn't doing so well on - transitions of care, med rec at admission/discharge, HCAPS medication scores, pain scores - make it better.