First-Year Residency Candidates' Experience in Various Areas of Pharmacy Practice

American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education,  2008  by Garris, Kristen,  Wellein, Marlea G,  Wessell, Andrea,  Ragucci, Dominic,  Blair, Melissa M

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Although many needed improvements have been made as a result of the survey results, shortcomings must be recognized. Most importantly, although candidates were informed that the results of this survey had no bearing upon ranking for residency, reporting bias may have still occurred if candidates felt the need to embellish their experience in an effort to appear more competitive. Also, selection bias may have occurred as only applicants from one residency program were surveyed. It should also be recognized that this survey only examined the amount of exposure candidates had in various areas rather than the overall quality of their experiences.

Based on the results of this study, it could be hypothesized that pharmacy schools may not be able to keep pace with the growing responsibilities afforded to pharmacists today. The typical pharmacy curriculum requires close to 20 credit hours of graduate-level courses each semester. This does not leave much time for incorporating new courses in order to increase exposure to medical emergencies, parenteral nutrition, and IV admixture techniques. As a result, students may only be exposed to these areas of pharmacy practice during experiential rotations and to varying degrees depending on preceptor and site availability. In areas where didactic exposure is minimal, improved preceptor and rotation site development are essential to ensure quality experiences. Given the challenges of identifying and developing quality experiences for a growing number of students, perhaps it is not the duty of pharmacy schools to improve education in these areas of deficiency, but rather that of residency programs. Acute care PGY1 residency programs should recognize these current deficits in pharmacy education and take measures to increase residents' exposure to these areas.

CONCLUSIONS

Pharmacy school curricula may not provide sufficient exposure to several areas of hospital pharmacy practice. Acute care PGY 1 residency programs should increase resident exposure to and ensure competency in medical emergencies, parenteral nutrition, and IV admixture.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to acknowledge Elinor Chumney, PhD, and theMUSCMedical Center and South Carolina College of Pharmacy Residency Committee for their assistance with this project.

The results of this study were presented at the 2005 American College of Clinical Pharmacy Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Calif, and documented in Pharmaco-therapy 2005;25:1525 (Abstract 416).

REFERENCES

1. American Council on Pharmaceutical Education. Accreditation standards and guidelines. Available from http://www.acpe-accredit. org/pdf/ACPE_Revised_PharmD_Standards_Adopted_Jan152006.pdf Accessed May 23, 2006.

2. Miller WA. Changing the structure of pharmaceutical education to require doctor of pharmacy and postgraduate residency education and training. Pharmacotherapy. 2006;26:587-93.

3. American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. Center for the Advancement of Pharmaceutical Education Educational Outcomes 2004. Available from http://www.aacp.org/Docs/MainNavigation/Resources/6075_CAPE2004.pdf Accessed June 21, 2006.