Pharmacy Residency vs On-the-Job training

[berrylicious]

I am currently a P4 and want to go into clinical pharmacy. Given the current economy, I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on whether its more worthwhile to pursue a one-year residency or to look for a job as a hospital staff pharmacist. I heard that it is almost impossible to find a hospital job in the East coast when you are fresh out of school (unless you have mad connections)...but is this really the case everywhere else? If you dont have geographical restrictions, is it possible to find a job at a non-metropolis hospital, get 3 years of clinical experience + BCPS certification, then relocate to where you want to live? Would that be looked upon less favorably to future employers than if you had completed an accredited residency?

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[PumpkinSmasher]

I am currently a P4 and want to go into clinical pharmacy. Given the current economy, I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on whether its more worthwhile to pursue a one-year residency or to look for a job as a hospital staff pharmacist. I heard that it is almost impossible to find a hospital job in the East coast when you are fresh out of school (unless you have mad connections)...but is this really the case everywhere else? If you dont have geographical restrictions, is it possible to find a job at a non-metropolis hospital, get 3 years of clinical experience + BCPS certification, then relocate to where you want to live? Would that be looked upon less favorably to future employers than if you had completed an accredited residency?

Why not just do the 1 year residency and get BCPS?

 

[berrylicious]

Why not just do the 1 year residency and get BCPS?

Truthfully, I dont think my profile is competitive enough to get matched. I know of many qualified candidates who were not matched last year, so I wanted to know if this is a reasonable backup plan. I guess a better way of putting it would be, if I dont end up matching then would I still get the same long term benefits of a residency if I got 3 years of clinical experience instead? And would a hospital even hire an entry level PharmD nowadays in order for them to get that experience?

 

[Praziquantel86]

While it is possible to get on-the-job training, a lot of the benefit of doing a residency comes from being able to say "I did a residency". That alone opens some doors that experience cannot.

It's also getting more and more difficult to secure staff positions at the institutions that would be able to provide onsite training equivalent to a residency without having actually done one, so you'll find yourself in a bit of a Catch-22. If you don't have other options for one reason or another, it's definitely reasonable to try as long as you understand the downsides of that path.

 

[confettiflyer]

While it is possible to get on-the-job training, a lot of the benefit of doing a residency comes from being able to say "I did a residency". That alone opens some doors that experience cannot.

It's also getting more and more difficult to secure staff positions at the institutions that would be able to provide onsite training equivalent to a residency without having actually done one, so you'll find yourself in a bit of a Catch-22. If you don't have other options for one reason or another, it's definitely reasonable to try as long as you understand the downsides of that path.

My mind's in the same boat as the OP, while I'm applying for a residency at the end of the year, the odds are simply not in my favor seeing the size of this graduating class and the # of residencies available. I'm kind of curious what doors remain open/slam shut for those that are unmatched.

Even with a residency, the picture I'm getting from current/recent residents is that the job market is tight even post-PGY1. Another wrench thrown in is...what's a more stable bet, a hospital position straight out of school or residency? If I'm going to be thrown into a competitive job market post-PGY1 the same way I went through a competitive match process, why subject myself to that twice when I can do it once after school and get it over with? At least I'll have multiyear job security.

While I realize residency is more about changing your future job description than augmenting ones salary and/or job security, lots of us have more pragmatic life issues to deal with.

Rhetorical Q's, but kind of the weirdness some of us are facing going into match 2012.

 

[Praziquantel86]

My mind's in the same boat as the OP, while I'm applying for a residency at the end of the year, the odds are simply not in my favor seeing the size of this graduating class and the # of residencies available. I'm kind of curious what doors remain open/slam shut for those that are unmatched.

Even with a residency, the picture I'm getting from current/recent residents is that the job market is tight even post-PGY1. Another wrench thrown in is...what's a more stable bet, a hospital position straight out of school or residency? If I'm going to be thrown into a competitive job market post-PGY1 the same way I went through a competitive match process, why subject myself to that twice when I can do it once after school and get it over with? At least I'll have multiyear job security.

While I realize residency is more about changing your future job description than augmenting ones salary and/or job security, lots of us have more pragmatic life issues to deal with.

Rhetorical Q's, but kind of the weirdness some of us are facing going into match 2012.

I don't disagree with anything you said, a lot of very satisfying careers don't require a residency. I know that in order to do what I wanted to do with my career I needed to complete a residency and/or fellowship. No way around it, so I did what I wanted to do.

If your career path does not now or ever require a residency, it's a lot of hassle to put yourself through for not too much benefit. Certainly worth thinking about and truly trying to imagine what you want to be doing 20 years down the road. I think residency is one of those gut calls, where if you keep thinking you should do one, then you probably should.

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

Truthfully, I dont think my profile is competitive enough to get matched. I know of many qualified candidates who were not matched last year, so I wanted to know if this is a reasonable backup plan. I guess a better way of putting it would be, if I dont end up matching then would I still get the same long term benefits of a residency if I got 3 years of clinical experience instead? And would a hospital even hire an entry level PharmD nowadays in order for them to get that experience?

Staff positions that do not require a residency exist but as years go on there will be more and more folks with residency training applying for these positions. Also, seeing that these positions are very competitive, I would not think those without a strong CV and hospital experience would be the folks getting these positions.

 

[xiphoid2010]

Also even if you secure a staffing position, you may still be stuck with only staffing for the rest of your career. The clinical work is likely handed over the clinical pharmacists, especially in areas such as critical care/oncology/ID/psych... so you might never have be able to learn those on the job. And you will be competing with residents, increasingly PGY-2 trained, every time you try to apply.

Not trying to pour cold water. But you need to do a cold calculated scenario analysis. And when it comes to a major decision like this, you need to know the outcome of the pessimistic scenario. If that's not something you can live with, then you need to redraw the plan until you find a route that the worse case outcome is one that you can live with.

 

[Dalteparin]

I agree with xiphoid and PumpkinSmasher. The other thing to remember about staffing is that as more and more hospitals make the switch to computerized provider order entry, the need for staffing will decrease. Hospitals will hire fewer staff pharmacists and may eliminate some of the staffing positions they do have.

 

[confettiflyer]

I don't disagree with anything you said, a lot of very satisfying careers don't require a residency. I know that in order to do what I wanted to do with my career I needed to complete a residency and/or fellowship. No way around it, so I did what I wanted to do.

If your career path does not now or ever require a residency, it's a lot of hassle to put yourself through for not too much benefit. Certainly worth thinking about and truly trying to imagine what you want to be doing 20 years down the road. I think residency is one of those gut calls, where if you keep thinking you should do one, then you probably should.

Agreed, thanks for the insight. I've been talking to a lot of pharmacists at my rotation site who are 15-25 years into their careers and many of them said they didn't know they'd be doing what they're doing at the start of their careers.

So it's a bit of a catch-22 in that you try to plan for the long-haul but really you can't predict anything. Better to think of it as "this is my next move, we'll see what comes after that."

Either way it doesn't change my position, I'm going to apply because it interests me...but some of us are itching to put down roots, settle down in one place, pop out some kids, etc. residency & its associated relocation, salary, workload, and specter of unemployment/relocation again afterwards may be anathema to that (i know many on the board would disagree...depends on your family situation).