Pharmacy Informatics Questions

[2PiRad]

Hello fellow pharmacists and future pharmacists!

I'm currently a 4PD debating whether to pursue a PGY1 and ultimately a PGY2 residency in Pharmacy Informatics. I was hoping to get some feedback/opinions on some burning questions I have regarding the field of Pharmacy Informatics. Your input to these questions is highly appreciated and will assist me greatly.

My questions are as follows:

Do you think a 2 years of residency worth it, or is it better to work as a staff pharmacist and gun for an informatics position?
I read multiple threads in SDN dating back to 2009 where several pharmacists mentioned it wasn't really worth it, stating that most informaticists were previous staff pharmacists without residency who were trained on the job. Does this remain true still? Or has the push for residencies changed the recruitment patterns of employers for this specialty?

Assuming that a residency is worth it, what do you think are some of the better programs/sites for a Pharmacy Informatics residency?
Most programs are relatively new and there's not a lot of info out there on them. I realize this is subjective, but any input is helpful.

What are the prospects/growth outlook of this field? Do you see the demand for pharmacy informaticists increasing, decreasing or remaining stable in the future?


Thank you very much for your time and feedback.

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[PharmDCandidate2014]

Hello fellow pharmacists and future pharmacists!

I'm currently a 4PD debating whether to pursue a PGY1 and ultimately a PGY2 residency in Pharmacy Informatics. I was hoping to get some feedback/opinions on some burning questions I have regarding the field of Pharmacy Informatics. Your input to these questions is highly appreciated and will assist me greatly.

My questions are as follows:

Do you think a 2 years of residency worth it, or is it better to work as a staff pharmacist and gun for an informatics position?
I read multiple threads in SDN dating back to 2009 where several pharmacists mentioned it wasn't really worth it, stating that most informaticists were previous staff pharmacists without residency who were trained on the job. Does this remain true still? Or has the push for residencies changed the recruitment patterns of employers for this specialty?

Assuming that a residency is worth it, what do you think are some of the better programs/sites for a Pharmacy Informatics residency?
Most programs are relatively new and there's not a lot of info out there on them. I realize this is subjective, but any input is helpful.

What are the prospects/growth outlook of this field? Do you see the demand for pharmacy informaticists increasing, decreasing or remaining stable in the future?


Thank you very much for your time and feedback.

Browse this thread, it provides info that may or may not satisfy your queries.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/any-informatics-pharmacists-out-there.914524/

Getting this position is somewhat akin to obtaining a super competitive residency after medical school. The sensible opinion is that this field is here to stay - but the problem is only a handful of residents per hospital are hired for this particular "specialty" per year. Of course, this specialty will be advertised like it's the new "cool" gig to pursue - the problem of getting this "dream" career becomes rather evident when you take a look at the screening for this process: a PGY-1 (arguably more competitive than obtaining a FM/IM residency in medicine) requirement, then a PGY-2 (even more competitive than PGY-1) requirement. Just try to get in to a program before PGY-3 is required.

I don't know of any accounts firsthand, but if you have some experience in the hospital/clinical settings during rotations - you may be able to ask your supervisor how to get your feet wet in this field - without going through the troubles of going through residency (and two years of lost potential income). You may send the pharmacy boards and regulators a very good thank you letter for adding unnecessary hoops to the quest of obtaining a decent career.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

I had an informatics rotation this past year for a large medical system, so here's my 2 cents:

All of the pharmacists I worked with were previously staff/hybrid pharmacists before they joined the IT team full-time (no residency/Informatics trainign outside this institution). They worked in an office setting with consultants for the EMR we were implementing (i.e. Epic, Cerner, etc.) While this is probably the most common way informatics pharmacists obtain their positions currently, there are some downsides. One is that your contract may not keep you on past EMR implementation, so you may have to go back to whatever clinical role you had before (or apply for a new one). The other is the possible pay cut. However if you consult for someone like Epic there's money to be made, but you'll travel a lot.

The reason most informatics programs are two years is because you're pretty worthless as an IT pharmacist if you have no idea about best practices or the workflow of your institution, which is why you basically do a general PGY1 your first year with clinical rotations. One upside I can see to a residency is that you gain a faster learning curve to implement or assume a pharmacy IT practice in other healthcare institutions. You'll spend more years without a residency to achieve the same level of competence/autonomy.