Residents: Hows the job market post residency?...and was it worth it?

[Me_Gusta_Drugs]

• What residency did you complete (am care vs acute) and hows the job market post residency?
• Are you finding the job you desired? And do you feel your residency significantly helped you get that job? Or could you have gotten the job w/o the residency?
• Was the residency worth it now that your out and can see the jobs you can get…or still cant get?

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[Priapism321]

• What residency did you complete (am care vs acute) and hows the job market post residency?
• Are you finding the job you desired? And do you feel your residency significantly helped you get that job? Or could you have gotten the job w/o the residency?
• Was the residency worth it now that your out and can see the jobs you can get…or still cant get?

1. Hematology/Oncology

2. Job market is fine to excellent.

3. All jobs I considered required 2 years of residency

4. Well worth it to me

 

[KARM12]

• What residency did you complete (am care vs acute) and hows the job market post residency?
• Are you finding the job you desired? And do you feel your residency significantly helped you get that job? Or could you have gotten the job w/o the residency?
• Was the residency worth it now that your out and can see the jobs you can get…or still cant get?

1. PGY1 - mostly acute care focused with the opportunity to do a few amb care rotations
2. Doing a PGY2 - so yes I needed my PGY1. I am looking to go the faculty route so I will need the PGY2.
4. Residency is a tough year, but I learned a lot and became very independent. The job market is still good for PGY2 trained pharmacists in my specialty area.

 

[bigpharmD]

• What residency did you complete (am care vs acute) and hows the job market post residency?
• Are you finding the job you desired? And do you feel your residency significantly helped you get that job? Or could you have gotten the job w/o the residency?
• Was the residency worth it now that your out and can see the jobs you can get…or still cant get?

1. Organ transplant
2. The job market is very good, had 4 interviews all over the country (could have had more but thought I would get 1 of them). I could not have got my job without 2 years. With that being said some hospitals do hire 1 year residency trained pharmacist for this type of position but I have heard they do not last long due to the complexity. They do this because of the lack of 2 year trained pharmds in this area.
3. It was worth it to me because it expanded my opportunities in the future and gave me a good job

 

[PharmaTope]

in my area there arent any pharmacist jobs (clinical, staffing, retail). by doing a residency i ended up trying to find work where there aren't jobs.

i regret that i am in this market i can tell you that. i'm losing a lot of money bc of this.

 

[bigpharmD]

I am not sure where you live but even our 1 year residency people all found jobs easily and we live in a state with more pharmacy schools than most...i have said this many times, if you only do one year you will 99% of the time not get a "clinical" job. There are too many 2 year people out there now.

 

[gsinccom]

I am not sure where you live but even our 1 year residency people all found jobs easily and we live in a state with more pharmacy schools than most...i have said this many times, if you only do one year you will 99% of the time not get a "clinical" job. There are too many 2 year people out there now.

what is your thought on this as it relates to the PGY-1 Ambulatory Care Residencies? Is a PGY-1 enough since it is already more specialty focused?

 

[lazydazy]

I am not sure where you live but even our 1 year residency people all found jobs easily and we live in a state with more pharmacy schools than most...i have said this many times, if you only do one year you will 99% of the time not get a "clinical" job. There are too many 2 year people out there now.

So what are the PGY1 job prospects then? Is the only reason to do a PGY1 to just get you closer to doing a PGY2? Are you just staffing and not doing any clinical work at all after finding a job with a PGY1 under your belt? That really stinks if that's the case.

 

[Trancelucent1]

So what are the PGY1 job prospects then? Is the only reason to do a PGY1 to just get you closer to doing a PGY2? Are you just staffing and not doing any clinical work at all after finding a job with a PGY1 under your belt? That really stinks if that's the case.

This will vary depending on the health-system. At our system, staff pharmacists have a hybrid role with many clinical responsibilities including pharmacokinetics (vanco and aminoglycoside monitoring) as well as various other antimicrobial monitoring and consults. Because of this many of the clinical-staff pharmacists have completed PGY-1 residencies. The reality is very few people will be able to obtain a specialist position without a PGY-2 specialty residency. My fellow PGY-1 co-residents both landed clinical-staff positions and I will be pursuing a PGY-2 residency.

The challenge for those trying to obtain specialist positions after a PGY-1 is that you're competing with candidates who've completed PGY-2 residencies. The reality is that it's getting competitive enough that in most markets a PGY-2 is required to do purely "clinical" work. However, smaller or more rural hospitals are probably more likely to hire PGY-1 graduates for more clinical positions without requiring a PGY-2.

 

[bigpharmD]

This will vary depending on the health-system. At our system, staff pharmacists have a hybrid role with many clinical responsibilities including pharmacokinetics (vanco and aminoglycoside monitoring) as well as various other antimicrobial monitoring and consults. Because of this many of the clinical-staff pharmacists have completed PGY-1 residencies. The reality is very few people will be able to obtain a specialist position without a PGY-2 specialty residency. My fellow PGY-1 co-residents both landed clinical-staff positions and I will be pursuing a PGY-2 residency.

The challenge for those trying to obtain specialist positions after a PGY-1 is that you're competing with candidates who've completed PGY-2 residencies. The reality is that it's getting competitive enough that in most markets a PGY-2 is required to do purely "clinical" work. However, smaller or more rural hospitals are probably more likely to hire PGY-1 graduates for more clinical positions without requiring a PGY-2.

That pretty much sums it up...great answer

 

[gsinccom]

This will vary depending on the health-system. At our system, staff pharmacists have a hybrid role with many clinical responsibilities including pharmacokinetics (vanco and aminoglycoside monitoring) as well as various other antimicrobial monitoring and consults. Because of this many of the clinical-staff pharmacists have completed PGY-1 residencies. The reality is very few people will be able to obtain a specialist position without a PGY-2 specialty residency. My fellow PGY-1 co-residents both landed clinical-staff positions and I will be pursuing a PGY-2 residency.

The challenge for those trying to obtain specialist positions after a PGY-1 is that you're competing with candidates who've completed PGY-2 residencies. The reality is that it's getting competitive enough that in most markets a PGY-2 is required to do purely "clinical" work. However, smaller or more rural hospitals are probably more likely to hire PGY-1 graduates for more clinical positions without requiring a PGY-2.

great info - any thoughts on this one: Some PGY-1s have an Am care focus (i.e., IHS, VA, etc.) Is a PGY-1 Am care enough to land a good job since it is already more specialty focused and not a general PGY-1?

 

[KARM12]

great info - any thoughts on this one: Some PGY-1s have an Am care focus (i.e., IHS, VA, etc.) Is a PGY-1 Am care enough to land a good job since it is already more specialty focused and not a general PGY-1?

Well, do you want to work in Amb care? If you do, then yes, an Amb care focused residency will help you better land an amb care job than a non-amb care one.

 

[njac]

great info - any thoughts on this one: Some PGY-1s have an Am care focus (i.e., IHS, VA, etc.) Is a PGY-1 Am care enough to land a good job since it is already more specialty focused and not a general PGY-1?

none of the current posters completed an amb-care PGY1, everyone that I know of has done acute care. So they may not know the answer to these questions.

With AmCare as a ACCP specialty I would assume they would want to see PGY2s.

 

[atticus27]

What's the earning potential for these specialized positions?

 

[izzie516]

interesting topic... I'm currently doing a PGY1 residency, and most staff pharmacists at my hospital have a PGY1 residency background. Even though they're called "staff pharmacists", they are responsible for many clinical aspects of pharmacy.

Since we're on this topic, I have always wondered how competitive it is to get a PGY2 residency (compared to a PGY1 residency). Any thoughts on this?

 

[pharmd72]

interesting topic... I'm currently doing a PGY1 residency, and most staff pharmacists at my hospital have a PGY1 residency background. Even though they're called "staff pharmacists", they are responsible for many clinical aspects of pharmacy.

Since we're on this topic, I have always wondered how competitive it is to get a PGY2 residency (compared to a PGY1 residency). Any thoughts on this?

My opinion is that applying for PGY-2 is similar to applying for PGY-1 in terms of competitiveness. Yes, the more prestigious/well-established PGY-2 programs do seem pretty competitive (similar to the more prestigious/well-established PGY-1 programs). The numbers are smaller and there are fewer spots, so it feels more competitive; however, I think you are a good applicant, you should be able to get a PGY-2 position somewhere.

 

[KARM12]

My opinion is that applying for PGY-2 is similar to applying for PGY-1 in terms of competitiveness. Yes, the more prestigious/well-established PGY-2 programs do seem pretty competitive (similar to the more prestigious/well-established PGY-1 programs). The numbers are smaller and there are fewer spots, so it feels more competitive; however, I think you are a good applicant, you should be able to get a PGY-2 position somewhere.

To add: It also depends on the specialty...some programs like critical care and oncology have many postions...where other specialties like psych or transplant have very few spots.

 

[janeno]

How hard is it to find a job with PGY-2? Are you pretty much forced to move to another state or is there a chance of landing a job within the desired state?

 

[wes011]

If all goes to plan I will be starting a 3-year pharmacy school program next year. I am a 30 year old non-tradional student career changer and I am interested in keeping my options open. I know for certain I'd like to complete a PGY1 residency and most likely a PGY2 residency. If I decide to complete a PGY2 residency in say oncology and there are zero oncology jobs where I want to live, would I be passed over for jobs that I apply to because my PGY2 specialty is in a different field??

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[janeno]

If all goes to plan I will be starting a 3-year pharmacy school program next year. I am a 30 year old non-tradional student career changer and I am interested in keeping my options open. I know for certain I'd like to complete a PGY1 residency and most likely a PGY2 residency. If I decide to complete a PGY2 residency in say oncology and there are zero oncology jobs where I want to live, would I be passed over for jobs that wouldn't not require a PGY2 because my PGY2 specialty is in a different field??

Any advice is appreciated.

Good question - I am wondering about the same. Does anyone know?

 

[wes011]

If all goes to plan I will be starting a 3-year pharmacy school program next year. I am a 30 year old non-tradional student career changer and I am interested in keeping my options open. I know for certain I'd like to complete a PGY1 residency and most likely a PGY2 residency. If I decide to complete a PGY2 residency in say oncology and there are zero oncology jobs where I want to live, would I be passed over for jobs that I apply to because my PGY2 specialty is in a different field??

Any advice is appreciated.

Any thoughts at all?

 

[janeno]

bump. It would be interesting to see how the job market has treated residents this year.

 

[rrr10]

I have worked in oncology for almost 4 years now and you will be fine. Oncology is a growing field and I don't see it as shrinking anytime soon.