Waiting to do a residency

[indoflip]

There is all this talk about doing a residency immediately after graduating, but has anyone heard of anyone doing a residency after taking a year off to work community/hospital?

Does that place you at a disadvantage somehow just because you hold off one year? Yes, I realize the knowledge is more fresh straight out of school and going from salary to stipend may be hard on some, but other than that, is that a bad thing or an undesirable thing for most residency programs?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[kwakster928]

There is all this talk about doing a residency immediately after graduating, but has anyone heard of anyone doing a residency after taking a year off to work community/hospital?

Does that place you at a disadvantage somehow just because you hold off one year? Yes, I realize the knowledge is more fresh straight out of school and going from salary to stipend may be hard on some, but other than that, is that a bad thing or an undesirable thing for most residency programs?

i dont think you will be at disadvantage, but i think that is still doable. however, it is very hard for someone to make close to $90,000 and than go down 1/3 on your salary. but i think residency is essential these days. think about it, everyone gets out of here with PharmD what are you going to differenciate from others? residency is one route to take.

 

[Lexian]

It is difficult to go from a full salary to basically a third of that, but some people just want to work and take their minds of things for a year or two before jumping back into residency. We had a graduate come out and talk to us about how he graduated, worked for one year at a hospital pharmacy as a pharmacist, and then decided to pursue his PhD. It's not that he didn't enjoy working at the hospital, but he just needed a year to clear his head and really figure out if he wanted to do a residency or go for the PhD, and working gave him time to make his decision.

 

[lord999]

That is, if you think the profession is going in that direction....

i dont think you will be at disadvantage, but i think that is still doable. however, it is very hard for someone to make close to $90,000 and than go down 1/3 on your salary. but i think residency is essential these days. think about it, everyone gets out of here with PharmD what are you going to differenciate from others? residency is one route to take.

 

[Lexian]

That is, if you think the profession is going in that direction....

Yeah, it's all a matter of opinion where the profession is headed and so you should skew your training and experience towards that direction. I, for one, agree with Kwakster though that a residency is becoming a much more lucrative option for many PharmD grads and I am also heavily considering it. Though I am very attracted to working in the hospital pharmacy environment and the residency is an obvious plus for that direction.

 

[Mags]

I too am considering a residency

As one of our ASHP events we just had a residency roundtable, where we had local residents come and answer students questions.

One of the residents had taken a couple years off, then decided to do a residency. It actually worked out great for her, b/c she got to know everyone at the hospital she was working at, and then was a shoe in for the residency spot when it became available...

As more ppl do residencies (this is personally where i think things are going), I think there will be more ppl deciding, after working, that they want to do a residency.

For me, the motivation to do it right after graduation is that everything (hopefully) will still be "fresh in my head" from the licensing exam, and I wont have gotten used to a "flush" salary. (ie i'll still be used to living like a poor grad student so the salary wont matter) plus i know i'm getting tired of school and exhausted and want to "push on through" rather than go back later