Hey! Im not a resident but I hopefully plan to be one so Ive researched the topic a bit. The hours seem to vary greatly from program to program but you will probably do 40-80 hours a week, with 60 seeming to be the average and 40 being nonexistent. A good portion of those hours will be spent doing research and preparing projects so its not all work in the typical sense. The residency programs WILL pay you and it is possible to defer school debt payments until after the completion of the residency. The salary ranges from upper 20's to lower 40's depending on where you are.
One thing to keep in mind is that PGY1 programs arent what they used to be 10 years ago in terms of what kind of positions they set you up to obtain. A one year residency used to be enough to obtain a clinical position but now that is usually not that case. Depending on where you are in the country a PGY1 might allow you to be a pure clinician, have a hybrid clinical/staff role, or, in the worst scenario, just be needed to obtain a hospital job. I am starting to see job offerings for purely staff pharmacists state that a residency is recommended. This is of course all due to the economy and the fact that the the so-called pharmacist shortage is no longer the reality. A decently large portion of people who applied for residencies were not able to match to a program this past year and who knows what will happen in the future.
My suggestion? If you know you want a residency try to get a job at a hospital now. Preferably a hospital that offers residencies. That way you get to know the management and get to show them that you are a valuable asset that they will want to keep around when the time to review your application comes around. If you cant get a job at a hospital I would recommend volunteering and showing them that you are commited to the job. And if you are looking towards having a clinical job maybe you should start thinking about doing two years of residency instead of one. Of course this will all depend on what happens during your first year.
Dont mean to paint a bleak picture but I just want you to be prepared for whats ahead. And hopefully if you decide to pursue the residency path you will start preparing for it well ahead of time. If you know what you need to get a good residency and you start working for it ahead of time, I dont see any reason why you wouldnt get one. Especially if you get to know the people you might be working with as a resident ahead of time.
Refer to this website regarding much much more information about residencies:
http://www.ashp.org/Import/ACCREDITATION/ResidentInfo.aspx
I would also recommend the residency forum on this website.
Best of luck to you!
