The Post-Graduate Pharmacist

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This week we are joined by Bobby Helmer, who is a clinical pharmacist and faculty member with experience interviewing and screening post-graduate candidates, as we discuss items you should and should not be include on your curriculum vitae (CV).  

CV Review Services/Tool-kits:

*ACCP On-Demand CV Review (for ACCP members)

*ASHP CV Review Program (for ASHP members)

Follow us on twitter @PGPharmacist or on Facebook @ThePostGraduatePharmacist and leave us your comments or questions that we did not answer.

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This week we are joined by Bobby Helmer, who is a clinical pharmacist and faculty member with experience interviewing and screening post-graduate candidates, as we discuss questions you should and should not be asking during interviews and showcases. 

Follow us on twitter @PGPharmacist or on Facebook @ThePostGraduatePharmacist and leave us your comments or questions that we did not answer.

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Securing post-graduate residency positions has become increasingly difficult over the last few years. This week, we take a deep dive into the odds of match, statistically speaking and characteristics and things you can do to increase your chances. In the episode we discuss the following items:

ASHP Match Statistics

*https://natmatch.com/ashprmp/stats.html

Characteristics of Residents Desired by Program Directors

*Gohlke AL, et al. J Pharm Pract. 2014;27(1):84-88.

*Jellinek-Collins SP, et al. Hosp Pharm. 2015;50(10):876-883.

Predictors of Matching

*Morton J, et al. Am J Pharm Educ. 2013;77(10): Article 212.

*Whittaker A, et al. Am J Pharm Educ. 2017;81(10): Article 6109.

*Lyons K, et al. Am J Pharm Educ. 2018;82(2): Article 6220.

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@ThePostGraduatePharmacist and leave us your comments or questions that we did

not answer.

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• Mention the timing in June for APPE students.
• Six months away from most deadlines for residencies, fellowships, and graduate programs.
• Previous episode discussed setting aside protected time for postgraduate training.
• Today's deep dive: Program Evaluation.

• Importance of self-reflection before diving into program evaluation.
• Questions candidates should ask themselves.
• Decisions to make early: geographic limitations, program structure preferences, class size preferences, mentor expectations, and specialization preferences.

• Where to find programs: ASHP Residency Directory, ACCP Residency, Fellowship, and Graduate Program Directory.
• Specialty residencies may have their own directories.
• Filters and parameters for narrowing down the search.

• Use geographic filters and program type filters.
• Consider preferences for program structure and class size.
• Example of a combined PGY1, PGY2 program.

• Transition from basics to self-reflection.
• Importance of program evaluation as an ongoing process.
• Program directories as a starting point.
• Moving to program websites for more in-depth information.
• Importance of looking beyond program descriptions.
• Program websites often provide detailed information about rotations, staffing, mentors, and more.
• Checking for updated information on program websites.
• Exploring teaching certificates, research opportunities, and other unique features.
• Utilizing information about current and past residents.

• Investigating preceptor qualifications.
• Checking for teaching certificates and research opportunities.
• Consideration of the potential for a residency to lead to a job opportunity.

• Discussion of the stepwise process.
• Sweet spot for self-reflection, initial program search, and in-depth website evaluation.
• Emphasis on feeling comfortable with each step.

• Importance of tracking information during the program evaluation process.
• Utilizing Word documents, Excel sheets, notepads, or specialized tools.
• Announcement of an upcoming program evaluation tool from the hosts.

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Want to learn more about handling situational questions during interviews? It’s never too early to start preparing. This week we discuss resources to help prepare and strategies to handle situational interview questions, including the STAR method. We also discuss steps you can take now to make it easier and more authentic to answer these questions in the future.

STAR Stands for:

Situation: Describe the situation you were in or task you need to accomplish

Task: The goal you are working towards

Action: Describe the actions you took to address the situation. Keep the focus on YOU. What did YOU do, what steps did YOU take. Use "I" and not "we" if possible

Result/Resolution: Describe the outcome of your actions and take credit if credit is due.

Can also do START with the last T meaning Take-away: What did you get form the situation and how to apply it to future situations.

TIP: Keep a journal of these situations during rotations.

Also, check out this useful resource from ASHP that includes these examples of these types of questions as well as a worksheet for using the STAR method: Interview Skills Packet for Residency Candidates

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Are you struggling with the idea of attending ASHP midyear to go to the residency showcase due to cost, benefit, or other reasons? Have you considered regional showcases as an alternative or in addition to attending the ASHP annual conference in December? This week we discuss regional showcases and compare them to the ASHP midyear showcase.  We discuss what a regional showcase is and why it can benefit you to attend. We also discuss ways to prepare for regional showcases and get the most out of the experience. 

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What does it mean to get experience in research as a pharmacy student? This week we break down the relationship between research and scholarship and how it helps candidates get post-graduate training positions. 

Research and scholarship are often used interchangeably. Research means to investigate and seek answers to questions, while scholarship is simply staying up-to-date and knowledgeable in your field of practice. There are many forms of research and scholarship that students can do throughout their training to help stand-out and secure post-graduate positions. 

Having one experience in research and scholarship has become a norm with post-graduate training due to the increased competitiveness. The sooner you can get involved, and the more well-rounded experiences you can have in research and scholarship will make you a more desirable candidate. 

First and foremost, schedule some time with your mentor a faculty member you are close with to discuss strategies to participating in research and scholarship. Determine how much time you have weekly to dedicate to research and scholarship and for how long you want to do this (i.e., just the summer, once a week, once a month, multiple nights per week) without interfering with your other studies. Some examples of research and scholarship include background search to define a research question, IRB approval process, data collection, data analysis, manuscript preparation, quality improvement projects, review articles or topics, and case report creation. This is not an all-inclusive list, and each one of these can have a different range of involvement. 

Even if you have waited until your last year's rotations to get involved with research, it is not too late. Email your preceptors early, even months ahead of time, and open a dialogue about completing research or some form of scholarship with them. 

Having these experiences not only checks a box for post-graduate training application it also prepares you for interviews with programs and what you will experience in post-graduate training. 

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This week we are joined by a panel of experts: Dr. Lee Skrupky, Dr. Eliza Dy-Boarman, and Dr. Mate Soric to discuss all things related to letters of reference for residency programs. Notably, we focus on how reference writers should approach their letters and what candidates should expect. We also discuss a few articles recently published by members of our panel which are linked below.

Letters of reference for PGY1 pharmacy residency candidates: A survey of residency program directors and opinion statement: https://accpjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jac5.1Lost in translation: What residency program directors really want from references: https://accpjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jac5.1414

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Your hosts, Sean and Taylor, discuss their top 10 things you can do during summer APPE's to prepare for post-graduate training application.

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Link to ASHP residency directory