Residency after 1 year of hospital work?

[meowmeowmix]

Hi guys,

I'm wanting to pursue a residency this year. It was something I had considered prior to graduation this past May, but my life was pretty different last year, and I had a lot of things holding me back from pursuing a residency. I feel like I'm in a position now where I am hungry for it and feel that I would be able to put my best foot forward. Do you guys have any experiences or stories of people who pursued residency the year after graduating? I understand the pay cut etc will stink, but I really feel it is worth it. I feel I have more to offer than just order entry and verification, and on my many interviews, it seems nobody wants to give me a chance to do more than that.

I have a lot of experience in the hospital setting, being that I worked as a technician during school and am now working at the same hospital as a staff pharmacist. The clinical pharmacist we have is super supportive of me wanting to pursue a residency and is going to be letting me work under her to get some clinical experiences in, but I'm afraid that going this route without residency (as originally planned) is not going to get me far enough. It seems that places are really unwilling to trust your skills without having the residency to back it up.

What are some things I should do? I am pretty out of the loop and not sure where to start... I know I am looking for programs with the ability to spend a bit of time in ambulatory care settings, as that is where I believe want to wind up. I also want to be exposed to many aspects of pharmacy and not be tied down to just a lot of ambulatory care, in case my preferences change. I have a CV ready to go, I have asked old preceptors, school faculty, and my boss and clinical pharmacist to write me letters of recommendation. I am currently booking my trip to Midyear. Any tips/stories/etc? Thanks!

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[gwarm01]

It seems that places are really unwilling to trust your skills without having the residency to back it up.

You're the only person who can decide if this is right for you, but you nailed this one point. On the flip side of this coin, I see administrators put way too much faith in a PGY1 and place them in clinical areas they do not have the experience to handle yet, with disastrous results. I suppose, if you can afford it, you would do well to be in the second camp.

 

[Pharmacyjoedotcom]

We've had three pharmacists go through our residency program in the last 4 years that had 1 year experience as a pharmacist first. Things worked out great for all of them. Be prepared to give a great explanation of why you are doing this on your interviews.

 

[pharmdpharmd]

I went back after 2 years in hospital .. Just be aware at some point in ur life, u will care more about kids, wife, and a mortgage than "Clinical" role.. At this point, u will realize how much an extra 50k would have made ur life much easier. I actually prefer to staff now, since it saves a lot of mental energy that can be spent on things I enjoy more (spending time w/ family, going out with some old friends, etc.)

It did open a lot of doors for sure and allowed to move out of expensive NYC easier. The jury is still out of whether the 50k is worth or not though.

 

[meowmeowmix]

We've had three pharmacists go through our residency program in the last 4 years that had 1 year experience as a pharmacist first. Things worked out great for all of them. Be prepared to give a great explanation of why you are doing this on your interviews.

I was figuring this would be a big question I'm going to get on interviews. I'm not sure that I know quite how to articulate the fact that I feel I can be doing work that makes more of an impact on the patient, i.e. direct contact and discussion with patients that can hopefully help them in some way, and also that I feel like I have so much to offer and feel that I would be a great asset to any medical team. I'm quick thinking, have great skills communicating with both physicians and patients (I also worked in the office of an MD for 10 years), and am good at problem solving. I've got to work on an appropriate answer, clearly.

I went back after 2 years in hospital .. Just be aware at some point in ur life, u will care more about kids, wife, and a mortgage than "Clinical" role.. At this point, u will realize how much an extra 50k would have made ur life much easier. I actually prefer to staff now, since it saves a lot of mental energy that can be spent on things I enjoy more (spending time w/ family, going out with some old friends, etc.)

It did open a lot of doors for sure and allowed to move out of expensive NYC easier. The jury is still out of whether the 50k is worth or not though.

This was something that was holding me back previously... I truly thought that marriage and a family was going to be in my near future (married in the next 2-3 years with kids following shortly after), and family is something I rank higher than my career. Now that is no longer the case, so I feel that since I am not tied down to anybody or the idea of my future family and how 50K would have helped me financially in that respect, it wouldn't feel as bad. I don't really see that happening for now, or any time soon. That truly was one of the biggest factors in not pursuing a residency last year.