Am I doing the right things for a path to residency?

[Cyanisland]

Hello all,

I'm about to start my P3 year this fall, and we've finished most of our therapeutic modules during P2 year (glad its over), and I've had some time to breath. Lately, I've been thinking about my future in pharmacy and I am 100% certain of doing hospital pharmacy, in which case I plan on pursuing residency after graduation. However, I'm not exactly sure if my activities/experiences are adequate in applying, so i'd like to ask you all for advice. Now is a good time, because I still have 2 more years to "beef up" my CV with volunteering and other things.

My pharmacy GPA currently is 3.27, I know it could improve but I think its sufficient as long as i can maintain or do better. (I noticed some people here have super high standards for GPA, but I honestly don't think its fair to compare each of our programs together, because the professors and classes are set up all different, so direct comparison is difficult)

• 2 years clinical pharmacy experience (1 year full time, 1 year part time student)
• Research assistant in the medicinal & natural products chemistry division (1 year down, still here)
• ^ ( I also work for the associate dean of the graduate research program for Medicinal Chem)
• Volunteered in the emergency room as a pharmacy intern doing med recs and whatever else the staffed pharmacist needs (tertiary teaching hospital/level 1 trauma center)
• Volunteered for interview team for incoming pharmacy student classes
• Expecting at least 1-3 publications in med chem and some other research projects with the year
• I've taken several PhD courses in toxicology and drug metabolism outside of the PharmD curriculum (nobody else in my class has done this)

I suppose the above are my pearls at the moment, not everything from my CV, but the ones I care the most about.

This year I plan on trying to get more involved with more pharmacy organizations (SNPHA, APHA, ASHP, groups like these).
The reason I haven't been too involved in groups thus far is, because research and extra coursework hindered my time immensely, but I'm at a good point where I can transition my time into other areas now.

I personally haven't found any interest to pursue any pharmacy organization "leadership" position, because the people I know that do them don't really do anything except bombard the college with emails about their group's event coming up. I felt my time was better spent on getting publications and research locked down. I'm not trying to say that those traditional leadership roles are bad, but rather just not my cup of tea. I think my initiative has been shown in other ways.



Please let me know what you think, it would be much appreciated

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[Papichulooo_92]

I think so far you have a ton of great things that will be taken into consideration. I secured a PGY1 myself and will be starting this summer, but here are some things that I learned along the way.

1. Quality over quantity: Its not length or how many things you accomplished, its how much effort you put into something and YOUR impact that you had.
2. Leadership: you do not need an executive postion (i.e. President/Vice President), again, its the IMPACT you made while in that position and YOUR contribution.
3. Pursuing a hospital residency: this is my personal opinion, but i think your CV screams "fellowship" right now. It is research heavy, which is quality stuff, but you need to shift gears into more clinical and application of skills.
4. CV: I assume you have created one already, CONSTANTLY have people review it. Atleast once every 3-4 months.
5. Networking: getting your foot in the door and making your face known. The organizations is the EASIEST way to do this. Make business cards, start saving the ones you receive, and reach out to places/people.
6. APPEs: start planning your APPE's as best/much as you can. Starting with places you think you would like to do your residency, then places just have areas of your interest. Applying to a place you had an APPE is a HUGE bonus.
7. Other ways to 'beef' up the CV: Community service, volunteering, scholarships/awards.

Best of luck!

 

[Rockinacoustic]

So far so good- do you have any leadership examples while at work or in research? You don't need to hold an elected position if you can demonstrate leadership elsewhere.

 

[Seriously Serious]

Hello all,

I'm about to start my P3 year this fall, and we've finished most of our therapeutic modules during P2 year (glad its over), and I've had some time to breath. Lately, I've been thinking about my future in pharmacy and I am 100% certain of doing hospital pharmacy, in which case I plan on pursuing residency after graduation. However, I'm not exactly sure if my activities/experiences are adequate in applying, so i'd like to ask you all for advice. Now is a good time, because I still have 2 more years to "beef up" my CV with volunteering and other things.

My pharmacy GPA currently is 3.27, I know it could improve but I think its sufficient as long as i can maintain or do better. (I noticed some people here have super high standards for GPA, but I honestly don't think its fair to compare each of our programs together, because the professors and classes are set up all different, so direct comparison is difficult)

• 2 years clinical pharmacy experience (1 year full time, 1 year part time student)
• Research assistant in the medicinal & natural products chemistry division (1 year down, still here)
• ^ ( I also work for the associate dean of the graduate research program for Medicinal Chem)
• Volunteered in the emergency room as a pharmacy intern doing med recs and whatever else the staffed pharmacist needs (tertiary teaching hospital/level 1 trauma center)
• Volunteered for interview team for incoming pharmacy student classes
• Expecting at least 1-3 publications in med chem and some other research projects with the year
• I've taken several PhD courses in toxicology and drug metabolism outside of the PharmD curriculum (nobody else in my class has done this)

I suppose the above are my pearls at the moment, not everything from my CV, but the ones I care the most about.

This year I plan on trying to get more involved with more pharmacy organizations (SNPHA, APHA, ASHP, groups like these).
The reason I haven't been too involved in groups thus far is, because research and extra coursework hindered my time immensely, but I'm at a good point where I can transition my time into other areas now.

I personally haven't found any interest to pursue any pharmacy organization "leadership" position, because the people I know that do them don't really do anything except bombard the college with emails about their group's event coming up. I felt my time was better spent on getting publications and research locked down. I'm not trying to say that those traditional leadership roles are bad, but rather just not my cup of tea. I think my initiative has been shown in other ways.



Please let me know what you think, it would be much appreciated

I'd say your pharmacy intern experiences are superior to your typical student. However, I would like to share that I've been told to calculate your therapeutic class GPA separate from your cGPA as competitive programs like a student with a strong foundation in therapeutics. If it's significantly lower than your cGPA, perhaps you should dedicate your energy to improving it this final year of didactics. Also, as others have stated, search for a way to showcase your leadership skills. If you are researching/interning with other younger students, perhaps you can assume a 'team leader' role? Another way to showcase leadership would be to present your research as a poster at ASHP Midyear.

 

[Sincerely Sapphire]

Thank you for the thread. You and I are pretty much in the same boat down to the same cGPA lol. I have started doing clinical research which my preceptors plan to submit publications for and present at conferences. And currently in organizations, i've joined the ones that do a lot of community service and outreach. That could help you feel that your time is being put to good use while helping you make an 'impact' in the organization. I hope everything pans out for you

 

[Cyanisland]

The GPA i listed is not my cumulative GPA including undergrad. it is strictly what I earned within the college of pharmacy, so thats pretty much all the therapeutics and then some. My cumulative is actually lower than my pharmacy GPA. Chemistry wasn't the best choice in terms of keeping high grades alongside pre-pharmacy health science classes, being involved in student organizations, and working.

I think as long as I keep my grades up, I should be okay in that area.

i do plan on being more involved in the clinical outreach type of student orgs, more volunteering, and things of that nature. P2 year was really time consuming so I wasn't as involved in those things, but now since I'll have slightly more time I will sign up for much more.

Thank you for the replies everybody Appreciate the advice and feedback!

 

[medst09]

7. Other ways to 'beef' up the CV: Community service, volunteering, scholarships/awards.

Best of luck!

What is community service examples?