in addition to a good working knowledge of pharmacy practice, by the end of PGY1 (vs when you apply 6 months in, and interview 7-8 months in- also, I'm assuming 1 of those months was orientation so I don't even count that to be honest), you should have skills necessary to apply professional judgement and critical thinking to hit the ground running once PGY2 starts and be a somewhat more independent and self-motivated learner
Every so often, one of my residents say they want to practice a few years after PGY1 then go back to do a PGY2... which I don't think is realistic. I did my PGY1 after being a staff pharmacist, and THAT transition was hard
Ask yourself what your end goal is. When my residents say "work in a hospital"- at this point during your residency, this isn't specific enough. In what capacity? As a distributive vs decentralized unit-based generalist pharmacist? In a specialty area? (peds, oncology, critical care, transplant?). Specialist with rounding/administrative/ teaching responsibility but less distributive tasks? Management?
Do a PGY2 if:
- you know you want that specialty (and are ok with not touching other areas of practice) and you want to jumpstart/springboard yourself into that specialty, vs going the PGY1+ # of years of experience route.
- you want to go into academia (right after PGY2 or even in the future)
- you have the physical endurance/ stamina to do another year
- you can swing it, financially
