Cons PGY2 pharmacy residency

[Llalalalalala]

What would you say are the cons of pgy2 ?

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[Topcat15]

- Lost income during PGY2 year
- Less money to pay off debt/invest - debt continues to accrue interest while your investments don't accrue as much
- Starting salaries are continuing to drop for new hires, so there's the possibility that you'll get hired at an initial rate lower than you would if you got a job this year (dependent on geographic location, of course)
- Continuing saturation means fewer jobs available next year when you finish a PGY2 than are available this year
- Low probability of finding a job in your specialty area
- Employers may look at you as overqualified for some jobs

 

[Mehul]

- Lost income during PGY2 year
- Less money to pay off debt/invest - debt continues to accrue interest while your investments don't accrue as much
- Starting salaries are continuing to drop for new hires, so there's the possibility that you'll get hired at an initial rate lower than you would if you got a job this year (dependent on geographic location, of course)
- Continuing saturation means fewer jobs available next year when you finish a PGY2 than are available this year
- Low probability of finding a job in your specialty area
- Employers may look at you as overqualified for some jobs

What is current job outlook?

 

[gwarm01]

What is current job outlook?

Poor.

 

[njac]

Poor.

Depends on the specialty.


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[njac]

If you truly want to specialize, do it. I've never regretted my PGY-2.


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[GoldfishPharmD]

Same as njac. No regrets here. I was told countless times how I'd have trouble finding a job in my specialty when I got done and have received a total of 4 job offers since I've finished with good salaries.

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

Just remember certain specialties may limit where you work. Transplant pharmacists are always going to be in major metro areas. If you want to live in rural areas, may not be best choice for you, just something to consider. All depends on what you want to do. If you want to specialize, then do it!

My wife is physician subspecialist and her role is only ever going to be supported in large urban medical setting, so no off the grid living for us...

 

[inverness2012]

There are tons of jobs in my specialty (ID). In general, there are less specialist jobs than general jobs. If that is what you want to do, do the second year. I haven't regretted doing mine. Tons of doors were opened for me.

 

[rl123]

making a plug for critical care: given the perfect combination of the DOP/ clinical director who interviews you; supply/demand in your desired location; the hospital's urgency to fill a position... a critical care-trained PGY2 grad could fit the bill for an emergency med, cardio/CCU/CICU, peds ICU, ID, internal medicine specialist position, and of course any adult ICU position (med, surg, trauma, neuro, transplant (maybe) ICU).

I was one of those PGY1's who were interested in just about everything and could not sufficiently decide on a specialty by Midyear. What appealed to me abt critical care was that there's SOME degree (some say a lot) of versatility to it, meaning given the right situation, a CC-trained grad could work an ID position (for example), but not vice versa. After CC PGY2, I applied broadly and was invited to interview for jobs in pretty much every specialty I listed above and received offers for 75% of them. But anecdotally, I will say that I do personally know a clinical director who was trained in emergency medicine, and felt very opinionated that a CC-trained pharmacist could not fill an ER position (debatable...)

one could argue that if you did a PGY2 in ANY specialty and ultimately ended up in an IM specialist position or decentralized hybrid position, you "wasted" a year bc you're ultimately not practicing in your area of specialty. But just keep in mind, depending on your geographic area, it might not have been possible (or at least very difficult) to land a pure clinical specialist position without that PGY2 under your belt. Also, that first "ok" job could just be a stepping stone until something in your specialty opens up, at which point you make the move and go for it

 

[Dred Pirate]

Same as njac. No regrets here. I was told countless times how I'd have trouble finding a job in my specialty when I got done and have received a total of 4 job offers since I've finished with good salaries.

we just hired a PGY2 to do the same job we hired a new grad for - obviously down the road there may be more opportunities for the pgy2 - but it is interesting

 

[GoldfishPharmD]

we just hired a PGY2 to do the same job we hired a new grad for - obviously down the road there may be more opportunities for the pgy2 - but it is interesting

Wow? What position is it? I'm always kind of curious how someone would feel in those types of situations.

 

[njac]

Wow? What position is it? I'm always kind of curious how someone would feel in those types of situations.

I assume they're limited geographically.


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[njac]

Our last couple hiring rounds we've hired pgy1 grads and new grads in to the same positions.

It's not ideal, but our management is a little backwards at the moment.


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[Dred Pirate]

Wow? What position is it? I'm always kind of curious how someone would feel in those types of situations.

general blended model staffing

 

[pharmrx33]

general blended model staffing

Do you mind sharing what the PGY-2 was in?

 

[Dextrose5%]

What are the Cons for doing a PGY-2 in Psych?

 

[Buffalo_CC_Pharmacist]

You have to keep in mind that not all residencies are created equal. Doing a critical care residency at a small hospital isn't the same as doing one at a large academic medical center. If you work hard to get into a good program you shouldn't have a problem finding a job in the end. I did my residencies at two larger academic medical centers, and all my co-residents who did a PGY2 had a job lined up before the end of the year in their specialty. I also know a few people who took jobs in areas they might not have liked as much (ex: ED after a CC residency) but they waited a year and finally got their dream job. I feel like a lot of people post about the negatives and about situations when things didn't work out on here, but there are certainly a lot of people who are successful in getting into a good program and landing a job in their specialty. All you can do is work hard, learn as much as you can, and network like crazy! So what if it takes an extra year to land your dream job? I'd rather take the risk than accept a life I'll never be happy with

Also, everyone I know who did residencies doesn't care about the money. If all I cared about was the money, I would have gone into retail. We do them because we enjoy a particular specialty, want to enjoy going to work each day, and want a better work-life-balance. No one can put a price tag on having a job you love.