- Joined
- Apr 5, 2011
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 3
Hi all,
I don't know where to begin. I know what I want to do with my Pharm.D degree. Academia and/or industry is what I want. Ideally, I like to do both clinical work and teach at the same time. Here is the hard part. I graduated in Dec 2007. Due to various beyond-my-control circumstances (70%) and some personal choices (30%), I could not immediately pursue a residency. Since then, the only full-time job I had was a four months stint at an anticoag clinic.
As many of you know, residency is pretty competitive these days. I tried once last year but applied only to one place. I was verbally promised that I would get the spot but that did not materialized. I did not apply this year as I had thought it will be difficult to get a spot. I thought post-match would be easier. I've been trying the post-match for the past two weeks. So far, things don't look too promising.
My thinking at this point is to get whatever job I can, including P/D and community pharmacy and then slowly transition into clinical work. It's catch 22 getting a clinical job. Ultimately, I still like to do a residency 4 or 5 years down the road. Suppose that I will have some community and clinical experience by then, is it a bit lame to pursue a residency at that point? I can already imagine interviewers asking a question like, "Why residency when you already have these experiences?"
I would like to hear your thoughts especially those who went through a similar path as I am. Many thanks.
I don't know where to begin. I know what I want to do with my Pharm.D degree. Academia and/or industry is what I want. Ideally, I like to do both clinical work and teach at the same time. Here is the hard part. I graduated in Dec 2007. Due to various beyond-my-control circumstances (70%) and some personal choices (30%), I could not immediately pursue a residency. Since then, the only full-time job I had was a four months stint at an anticoag clinic.
As many of you know, residency is pretty competitive these days. I tried once last year but applied only to one place. I was verbally promised that I would get the spot but that did not materialized. I did not apply this year as I had thought it will be difficult to get a spot. I thought post-match would be easier. I've been trying the post-match for the past two weeks. So far, things don't look too promising.
My thinking at this point is to get whatever job I can, including P/D and community pharmacy and then slowly transition into clinical work. It's catch 22 getting a clinical job. Ultimately, I still like to do a residency 4 or 5 years down the road. Suppose that I will have some community and clinical experience by then, is it a bit lame to pursue a residency at that point? I can already imagine interviewers asking a question like, "Why residency when you already have these experiences?"
I would like to hear your thoughts especially those who went through a similar path as I am. Many thanks.
