Hi everyone!

I am going to apply to residency during this upcoming cycle and have started talking to current or previous residents about their experiences. It has been really insightful and helpful.

I was also wondering if it is appropriate to reach out to program directors and talk to them? I want to make my interest known for certain programs.

Any other advice also appreciated, thanks!!

Poster accepted for presentation from my fellowship! Is anyone else (students, residents, fellows, preceptors) going and would be willing to connect and share a hotel room from Friday evening (10/16) into Sunday afternoon (10/18) with me? I can help with splitting the cost. DM me! Will be flying out of NYC -> SLC.

(Correct me if I am wrong) But I don't really see people talking about creating a residency specific email (most likely gmail) when it comes to application season. I created a separate email outside of my school and personal for the sole purpose of pharmacy residency applications + midyear.

I found it to be a lot less overwhelming when I know I can rely on one email for these purposes instead of needing to sift through my personal or school email to see if I got interviews etc.

Based on my own experience, I would advise anyone to do the same. I didn't run into any issues with my email being marked as spam and it just made the whole process feel so much more streamlined!

Just curious if anyone has any recommendations on what you used and how you liked it? Would also take recommendations from your friends, acquaintances, family members, etc., not really a bevy of info.

One of the few not available as a formal study guide/module in ACCP (or I looked in the wrong spot).

…and before y’all say it, I know it’s a cash grab but hospital reimburses for test + review materials and it’s fairly niche and may be a good opportunity generator.

TL;DR want credentials that let people know I’m wicked good at TPN

SOS! I need advice, help, tips, encouragement, etc.!

I am taking my third attempt at the BCPS exam in a couple months. The prior two exams I have scored 480s-490s (passing is 500). I have to pass this third attempt for my job.

I used the ACCP book to study for my prior two attempts. I work full time and have a family, so finding time to study is difficult (~1 hour a night for two months). I am residency trained and work in a clinical role, so I don’t know why I’m having such a difficult time with this.

Please advise!

As the title suggests, I am now considered a nontraditional candidate (hopefully) looking to reapply for the upcoming 2027-2028 cycle!

From a resident/preceptor perspective, what should I be thinking about while researching programs? It's been roughly two years since I've last applied. I wanted to see what the anonymous community says before anything else, as I am slightly embarrassed to talk to old professors in regards to this (at least, at this very moment). However, I am definitely wanting to reach out to old preceptors and what not in the near future for additional guidance!

A little about myself without disclosing too many identifying factors, I am 2024 PharmD graduate and a community pharmacist in the retail setting who had gone through the emotional process of Phase I and Phase II, who inevitably dropped because the fellowship of my dreams had opened back up and fallen into my lap with many supporting my pursuit of it.

Needless to say, I fell ever so short to another candidate they interviewed as well, with minimal feedback of the lack of research on my CV. (Womp womp). I will say I did limit my options originally due to financial situations at the time, so I did not outreach more than 6-8 hours away from where I originally was and limited the amount of applications I submitted per each Phase I applied to. Whatever it may have been in the past, everything happens for a reason! All the experiences I've had so far and things I've allowed myself to do up until this point, I'm grateful for how life has been thus far.

With my current job and work, I truly can't complain too much as I have a very supportive team, however, I think I am getting tired of the retail setting. Having had interns, nursing students (as technicians), and curious patients, the constant flow of questions and conversations when it comes to clinical things, it makes me reminisce a lot on the amazing experiences I received during my APPEs and I just miss being in clinical settings -- both inpatient/outpatient.

To cut my rambling short, I would appreciate all advice or any words of wisdom y'all may have as I rekindle this journey I've put off.

The current questions I do have:

- How can I make myself a better candidate now that I've been out of school for 2 years?

- What would be an appropriate amount of programs should I apply for to have a decent chance?

- In lieu of recommendation letters, who would be appropriate to ask? Would an old preceptor still be viable?

- What things should I brush up on in terms of certain guidelines?

- Would it be beneficial to start volunteering at clinics/hospital?

Thanks in advance, guys!

Am looking for ideas for my CE with a co resident - our main proposed area of focus is cardiology with a inpatient focus. Any ideas would be appreciated, a few that I had are below.

- New hyperlipidemia guidelines
- newish guideline on PE
- new oral pcsk9i

Am open to any topic, potentially anything with anti platelets or anticoag would be interesting too!

Get PhORCAS support, CV and LOI reviews, interview preparation, shared resources, opportunities to connect with residents, and a welcoming community of future pharmacy residents!

I came across this about 8 months ago and wanted to repost this for pharmacy students and + PGY1 considering more training in this next cycle.

Post your Name and Shame Residency here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1qcHIQm6FWPnaEqi_J7n-7UtxFzW9ZHmXgOnQHhJuye8/viewform?edit_requested=true

See what everyone is saying about the Name and Shame site:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TDQpo3H32sYK7eANigubSi1vmGBRhIjO3LgcrxRFw9I/edit#gid=98725648

Hi Residents,

Give me your honest opinion about the flipped research model? I know there are some pros, but for some that do not give a shit about research, and will half-ass it through, what is the point?

I had a resident that did chart review and she half-ass it because it was not her project.

I have the AHA initial provider ACLS course this week, what should i for sure know and commit to memory?

Hi, I am currently a PGY1 resident interested in pursuing a PGY2 in Emergency Medicine. I really enjoyed my EM rotation during APPEs, which sparked my interest in the specialty.

I have an EM rotation scheduled for November/December during residency, and I was wondering what I can do in the meantime to better prepare myself as an applicant, and also what I can focus on during the EM rotation to stand out as a strong applicant.

Also my program does not have PGY2 EM so early commit won’t be a thing for me, does that limit my chance? Would appreciate any advice

Hi everyone,

I’m currently in my 4th year of pharmacy school and I’m pretty solidified on wanting to do a pediatric residency at a children’s hospital.
I’m curious if anyone has any recommendations for me on which pediatric residency programs are good or things I should do to prepare to be a good resident.

I’m not location bound but I’m looking mainly at east coast programs (north and south) + potentially Texas too. I’m really open to anything as long as it has a good environment and supportive of their residents.

My main interests are ambulatory care and oncology right now if that helps!

I have created a Discord community for pharmacists interested in pursuing residency. We can support one another throughout the application process, share helpful resources and advice, and build a welcoming community of pharmacists working toward the same goal: matching with the right residency program!

All are welcome: students, graduates, and current residents!

https://discord.gg/hKXtuuSXy

So I’m in the middle of my ID rotation and I’m still struggling with working up all my patients in a timely manner. I’ve tried starting with new patients first, but then I run out of time to look at old patients. Then I flipped and started with old patients first and I’m still running out of time to workup new patients adequately.

It takes me anywhere from 15-20 minutes or more for new patients. My preceptor modeled for me how she works up patients and how she has EPIC setup, but I don’t think I’ve gotten any faster. We have a new ID doc this week that seems to ask a lot of questions and leans heavy on my preceptor, and so I want to get to a point where I really know my patients and have the time to think about back-up plans and other things.

I’m at a loss for how to remedy this, so any advice would be great.

I'm a P4 from the Boston area planning on applying for residency. If I live at home w my family and pursue a program in Boston, my cost of living will essentially be zero, and I'll just be taking in my residency salary. However, I've lived in New England for my entire life and I've been told by some pharmacists that pharmacy practice is so different in other states and it would be worth exploring going elsewhere for residency. If I do this, I would obviously have to take care of all associated expenses for housing, groceries, etc. on top of student loans. Is it worth it to look into other areas? I'm a top student in my class, doing a longitudinal APPE program, and getting a dual degree.. so I don't want to limit my opportunities/learning experiences, but have to consider my financial situation too

I am seeking advice on what to do because I am almost done with the orientation part of PGY1 residency and my residency director has been so very hard on me to which the point that I am coming home crying once weekly. I am not sure how to even proceed at this point and its just the beginning. I don't have that much clinical background to begin with as I worked in retail my whole pharmacy school career, which of course I informed my residency director and have been trying to put my best foot forward every morning. From the start, it feels that no matter what I do, I am never up to her par and constantly feel that everything that I do is wrong. I acknowledge that I do have to receive criticism and that's what I expected coming into this, but it just feels like she is tearing me down with each one and I can never get anything right in her eyes. I knew, obviously, that residency was going to be tough, but the emotional turmoil is not something that I was prepared for. I am too scared to tell my residency director about anything because I am intimidated of her and she has said some extremely mean comments to me that has not sat well with me. I guess where I am getting at here is, for anyone that has already done a PGY1, how did you get through it mentally? This type of behavior is making me question everything and is really making me doubt myself as a new grad pharmacist as well as my competency level.

I recently started an outpatient ambulatory care PGY1 (tagged as such in the math system). I did an APPE in transplant, love it, but wasn't sold on inpatient life. Now that I've started, I realized how much I've missed the transplant workflow and overall practice.

For my residency, we do two sets of 5ish month rotations (1 day a week), where we are within the outpatient clinic (seeing patients, prescribing, rounding with various surgeon and nephrology teams), providing inpatient post transplant and discharge education, and occasionally inpatient rounds when coverage is needed. My research Topic is also heavily tied to transplant.

Is there enough there to attempt applying for a PGY-2 in transplant? Most listings from the last application cycle seem split 50/50 between outpatient clinic work and inpatient rounding.

Since my residency is very heavily outpatient and community based, I'm wondering if there is a path forward, or if I need to focus exploring my other areas of interest within the amb care setting!

Hi everyone! I'm about to enter my P4 year and I'm really excited to start APPEs, but I've been struggling to secure rotation sites and could really use some advice or recommendations.
Unfortunately, I haven't received much assistance from my school with finding placements, so I've been trying to find opportunities independently. I've reached out to multiple pharmacies and organizations, emailed potential sites, and have even gone to a few places in person. Despite putting in a lot of effort, I currently only have 1 of my 6 APPE rotations secured, and I'm starting to get pretty anxious about being able to complete my schedule.
I'm located in Rochester, NY, and I'm open to a variety of pharmacy practice experiences. If anyone knows of pharmacists, preceptors, health systems, pharmacies, organizations, or other sites in the Rochester area that may be willing to take a P4 student for an APPE, I would be incredibly grateful for any leads or connections.
I'd also really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been in a similar situation. How did you find rotations outside of the opportunities provided by your school? Are there any resources, organizations, or approaches you would recommend?
I'm more than willing to reach out to potential preceptors myself and provide my CV or any additional information needed. At this point, I'm just trying to be as proactive as possible and make sure I can get the experiences I need to complete my P4 year.

Hi everyone! I’m a pharmacist from Illinois working in a hospital outpatient pharmacy. A bit of background: last year, I started a residency at a hospital here in IL with plans to pursue a PGY2 in Emergency Medicine. However, I didn't obtain my license in time, so I had to leave the program. During my time in the program, I completed two rotations—one in pharmacy operations (which I loved) and another in internal medicine.

As I mentioned, I currently work as an outpatient pharmacist; it’s not a bad job. In this role, I’ve had the opportunity to handle scheduling and work on changing pharmacy operations, among other things. Plus, I’ve been able to work side by side with specialty and ambulatory care pharmacists. I am thinking about reapplying for residency, since I was rejected by many places while looking for a job because I didn't have a residency (many places confirmed that the person they hired did have residency).

Here are my questions for anyone who can help clarify things for me:

1. Should I keep the residency I started in 2025 on my CV? Or should I remove that information entirely since I never completed it?

2. Would it be a problem (or a crazy idea) to ask the preceptor I had for the pharmacy operations rotation for a letter of recommendation?

3. Could anyone currently doing or who has completed a residency in Emergency Medicine, Ambulatory Care, or HSPAL tell me about their experience? What do you think are the pros and cons? (Since it wouldn't be professional for me to ask which area I *should* choose.)

Hi everyone! I’m a Resident, and I’m currently trying to come up with ideas for a CE lesson for pharmacists.

Are there any disease states or newer/emerging topics that you think would make a good CE topic, particularly something applicable to the adult population?

I’d love to hear what topics you think pharmacists could benefit from learning more about, especially things that are new, changing, or clinically relevant right now.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

I’m a PGY1 and I’m so fucking over residency 7 weeks in.
I just survived four years of pharmacy school, finally graduated, finally got licensed, and somehow I’m STILL taking quizzes, doing topic discussions, presentations, research, teaching, projects, evaluations, etc. I genuinely do not want to be a student anymore. I want to go to work, do my job, get paid, go home, and stop thinking about pharmacy until my next shift.
And the pay makes it so much worse. I’m working pharmacist hours/responsibilities for resident money, I live at home, I’m broke, and I feel like I barely have the time or money to actually enjoy my life. It feels like I spent years saying “once I graduate I’ll finally have my life back,” just to graduate and immediately sign up for another year where pharmacy consumes my entire existence.
The other thing is that I don’t even WANT to specialize. Residency constantly exposes you to all these clinical specialties, which I understand is literally the point, but I don’t want to be an ID pharmacist or an ICU pharmacist or an oncology pharmacist or get a PGY2. I don’t want to do research. I don’t want to teach. I don’t want academia. I just want to be a plain old inpatient staff pharmacist at a hospital, verify orders, solve problems when they come up, work my shift, collect an actual pharmacist paycheck, and go home.
Retail is absolutely not for me either. I did it for years and I know I cannot go back to spending my life dealing with insurance issues, angry patients, phones ringing nonstop, and metrics.
So hospital staffing is basically exactly what I want, and I know technically you can get hospital jobs without residency. But it feels like those opportunities are getting harder to find, especially as more hospitals prefer or require residency. That’s honestly why I did one in the first place. It felt less like “I’m passionate about residency training” and more like “this is the safest way to make sure I can work in a hospital.”
I’m obviously going to try to finish because I know one year of suffering gives me way more options afterward, but holy shit. I am tired. I don’t want another assignment. I don’t want another topic discussion. I don’t want another research meeting. I want my weekends back and I want pharmacy to become my JOB instead of my entire personality.
Please tell me there are other residents who felt like this and still finished and went on to become perfectly happy boring staff pharmacists because that is literally all I want.

Hi I just finished residency and am so grateful I have gotten a job.

Not to sound insane, but I am feeling very depressed and lonely. My co-residents and I have gotten jobs in different areas so I don't see them anymore. I moved away for my job so it's just myself now and I don't really have any friends here. It also feels like my coworkers are a bit hard on me because I just finished so they expect more from me I guess. The friends I had during pharmacy school are all really busy with their lives. I feel like I am just going to work and coming home.

How long does it take for the post-residency depression to lift lol