Program to Prepare Pharmacy Students for Their Postgraduate Training Search

INTRODUCTION

Several national pharmacy organizations, including the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), support increasing the number of pharmacy students who complete postgraduate training, either through residency or fellowship, prior to entering professional practice.^1–3 While viewed as optional in the past, this training now is seen as a necessity for students interested in practicing in an academic institution and/or in more advanced clinical settings, including those involving direct patient care.³ Although the AACP and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) have not released formal statements, each organization has endorsed pharmacy residency training.^4,5 The Accreditation Council on Pharmaceutical Education (ACPE) states within its accreditation standards and guidelines that schools of pharmacy should be committed to creating a culture that respects and supports postgraduate education, and should implement educational programs that expose students to postgraduate educational opportunities.⁶ The importance of postgraduate training for new graduates is supported by most pharmacy faculty members, with whom the responsibility of educating students on postgraduate training and encouraging them to seek such opportunities largely resides.⁷

Pharmacy graduates are pursuing residency training in increasing numbers, and the number of applicants now exceeds the number of available residency positions by 22%.⁸ The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Midyear Clinical Meeting (ASHP-MCM) affords students the opportunity to learn about available residency and fellowship programs. While attending the ASHP-MCM is an asset for pharmacy students interested in pursuing postgraduate training, it can be an overwhelming experience if adequate guidance is not provided. An inadequately prepared student attending the meeting may not benefit to the same extent as a student who has been prepared for the meeting in advance and who understands what activities to focus upon prior to, during, and following the meeting. Pharmacy students at the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences are educated on residency and fellowship training throughout the curriculum, but historically have not been formally prepared for the ASHP-MCM and their search for postgraduate training positions. To assist pharmacy students in preparing for success during the ASHP-MCM and the competitive postgraduate training search, we designed and implemented a pre-meeting educational program, and assessed its usefulness. We felt that this educational program would positively impact the student's preparedness for the meeting and lead to success in their postgraduate training search.

DESIGN

Students interested in postgraduate training who were planning to attend the 2007 and/or 2008 ASHP-MCMs were required to attend a live 1-hour educational forum and given an informational handout packet prior to each meeting. The educational forum was conducted off-campus following a required pharmacy school function. Optional 1-hour training sessions in curriculum vitae (CV) preparation and practice with interviewing were subsequently offered on campus prior to the 2007 ASHP-MCM. The ASHP faculty liaison attended both the 2007 and 2008 ASHP-MCMs, with the primary responsibility of providing onsite guidance to students during the meeting.

The goal of this program was to prepare students for success during the ASHP-MCM and postgraduate training search. Following participation in this program, students would be able to: (1) recall residency and fellowship terminology to facilitate identification of programs of interest prior to and during the ASHP-MCM; (2) explain the benefits of attending the ASHP-MCM and describe ways to use their time wisely; (3) list activities to complete prior to, during, and following the ASHP-MCM, to be prepared for the meeting and stay on track with their postgraduate training search following the meeting; (4) compare and contrast the residency match program with the personnel placement service, and utilize the most appropriate resources in their postgraduate training search; (5) construct an organized CV that highlights their achievements for application to postgraduate training positions; and (6) prepare a cover letter for application to postgraduate training positions.

The educational forum was moderated by the school of pharmacy ASHP faculty liaison and consisted of a 5- to 6-member speaker panel; 4 faculty members and 1 PGY-1 and/or PGY-2 pharmacy resident. The forum was divided into 5 sections: (1) residency and fellowship terminology, (2) benefits of attending the ASHP-MCM and ways to use time wisely, and (3–5) activities to complete prior to, during, and following the ASHP-MCM (Appendix 1). Each section within the forum was given a specific time allotment during which the speaker panel addressed student questions. If key points were not addressed in any section of the forum, the program moderator, who was circulating among the audience, supplemented the discussion with additional questions for the speaker panel. An informational packet was provided to students that included a detailed handout with overview of what to do before, during, and following the ASHP-MCM; general residency and fellowship information; residency match and personnel placement service information; and CV and cover letter preparation tips with examples. The material in the information packet contained handouts from the ASHP Web site as well as original documents, eg, CV and cover letter examples.^9–19 The optional workshop in CV preparation was led by faculty members, who met individually with students to review their CVs. The optional workshop in interviewing was led by faculty members (volunteer residency program directors) who served as mock-interviewers for students pursuing postgraduate training. These workshops were conducted at a later date preceding the ASHP-MCM.

The development and implementation of this educational program required approximately 8 hours of faculty time upfront, followed by an annual commitment of approximately 2 hours of faculty time for revising materials and 2 hours of staff time for preparing the informational packets for students. Faculty members and residents serving on the speaker panel during the educational forum committed to 1 hour of participation time. Faculty participating in the CV and interview workshops volunteered approximately 2 hours of participation time. The monetary costs of the program were minimal, consisting primarily of expenses related to the preparation of the informational packet.

EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT

To assess whether this educational program achieved its learning objectives, pharmacy students who completed the required facets of the program and attended the 2007 or 2008 ASHP-MCM were invited to complete an anonymous online survey during the months of February and March following the ASHP-MCM they attended. Students who participated in the educational program and attended the ASHP-MCM during 2007 and 2008 were excluded from the survey during their second year. The survey tool was approved by the University at Buffalo Social and Behavioral Sciences Institutional Review Board. Survey Monkey (Portland, Oregon) was used to distribute, collect, and analyze survey responses.²⁰ The survey instrument consisted of 22 multiple-choice, ranking, and open-ended questions assessing demographic/background information, the usefulness of the educational forum, the usefulness of the informational handout packet, the usefulness of the CV and interview workshops, and the assistance of faculty members, residents, and fellows during the ASHP-MCM. Ranking questions were answered using a Likert scale (strongly disagree = 1, somewhat disagree = 2, neither agree nor disagree = 3, somewhat agree = 4, and strongly agree =5). The mean Likert scale rating and standard deviation for questions were calculated. As a standard of practice, the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Residency Advisory Committee surveyed the recently graduated pharmacy students who participated in the educational program and attended the 2008 ASHP-MCM to quantify their success in locating a postgraduate residency program.

Sixty-eight pharmacy students attended the 2007 and/or 2008 ASHP-MCMs. Two students participated in the educational program and completed a survey instrument following both the 2007 and 2008 ASHP-MCMs, for which only their initial set of survey responses was included. Of the 66 students included in the final analysis, 64 completed and 2 partially completed the survey instrument, yielding a survey response rate of 97%. Of these, 54 students (82%) attended the educational forum and 60 students (91%) used the informational handout packet. Eight of these students also chose to participate in the optional CV and interview workshops offered prior to the 2007 ASHP-MCM. These groups were not mutually exclusive; that is, students who utilized the informational handout packet may have also attended the educational forum and/or the CV and interview workshops. The majority of students were in their fourth year, although an increase in the number of third-year students attending the 2008 ASHP-MCM was observed. Most students were attending an ASHP-MCM for the first time, and were therefore unfamiliar with the meeting. Postgraduate residency search was cited as the most common reason students chose to attend the ASHP-MCM in both 2007 and 2008 (Table 1).

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Table 1.

Demographics and Background Information of Pharmacy Students Completing an Education Program to Prepare Them for Success During the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Midyear Clinical Meeting and Postgraduate Training Search

Seventy-three percent of students somewhat or strongly agreed that they were adequately prepared for the ASHP-MCM. Of students who attended the 2007 or 2008 ASHP-MCM, 69% and 77% somewhat agreed or strongly agreed that they were adequately prepared for the ASHP-MCM, respectively. Among students who attended the educational forum, 89%, 80%, and 79% somewhat agreed or strongly agreed that the forum equipped them for their activities preceding, during, and following the ASHP-MCM, respectively. Among students who used the informational handout packet, 90%, 83%, and 69% somewhat agreed or strongly agreed that the packet equipped them for their activities preceding, during, and following the ASHP-MCM, respectively. During both years of the survey, students reported that the educational forum and informational packet were useful in informing them on how to identify and apply to a residency/fellowship program, prepare a CV and cover letter, navigate the ASHP-MCM residency showcase, participate in the residency match program, and effectively use the personnel placement service (Table 2). The CV workshop was well-received by the small number of students who chose to participate, with all students somewhat or strongly agreeing that it was useful for reviewing and improving their CV and helping them prepare for their residency, fellowship, and/or job search at the ASHP-MCM. The interview workshop was found to be less useful, with 63% of students somewhat agreeing or strongly agreeing, 13% of students neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and 25% of students somewhat disagreeing that it was useful for assessing/improving their interviewing skills. During the ASHP-MCM, 72% and 62% of students somewhat agreed or strongly agreed that faculty members other than the ASHP faculty liaison and pharmacy residents/fellows were available to them as a resource, respectively. Furthermore, 66% and 53% somewhat agreed or strongly agreed that faculty members other than the ASHP faculty liaison and pharmacy residents/fellows provided them with adequate guidance during the ASHP-MCM, respectively. This contrasts to 86% and 80% of students who somewhat agreed or strongly agreed that the ASHP faculty liaison was available to them as a resource and provided them with adequate guidance, respectively, demonstrating the benefit of having the school's ASHP faculty liaison attend the ASHP-MCM with the primary responsibility of providing guidance to students onsite (Table 2).

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Table 2.

Usefulness of the Educational Program in Providing Guidance to Students for the ASHP-Midyear Clinical Meeting and Postgraduate Training Search

The University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Residency Advisory Committee collected survey data from 20 of the 22 (91%) fourth-year students who participated in the educational program and attended the 2008 ASHP-MCM. Fourteen of the 20 responding students (70%) attended the ASHP-MCM with the goal of seeking a postgraduate residency position, constituting approximately 12% of the graduating class of 120 students. Other reasons for attending the ASHP-MCM included: to search for a fellowship or non-postgraduate position (3 students), to participate in the ASHP Clinical Skills Competition (1 student), and other (2 students). Twelve of the 14 students (86%) were successful in placing with a residency position, which can be considered positive, based on pharmacy match program data indicating the number of students interested in postgraduate residency training exceeded the number of available residency positions by 22% for the 2009–2010 residency year.⁸ Of these 14 students, 10 (71%) matched via the residency match program, slightly exceeding the national average of 67%.⁸ Of the 7 students who indicated their match ranking in the survey, all matched with 1 of their top 3 choices, and 5 (71%) matched with their first choice. An e-mail inquiry distributed to the entire graduating class prior to the Residency Advisory Committee survey indicated that at least 5 additional students identified a postgraduate residency position, none of which participated in the educational program or attended the ASHP-MCM. The total number of students who sought a postgraduate training position without participating in the educational program or attending the ASHP-MCM is not known. Therefore, a comparison of placement data to those who did participate in the educational program and attend the ASHP-MCM was not performed.

DISCUSSION

This is the first published report outlining the development, implementation, and usefulness of an educational program providing guidance to pharmacy students and preparing them for success during the ASHP-MCM and postgraduate training search. Participating students found this educational program, consisting of a 1-hour educational forum, information handout packet, and onsite ASHP faculty liaison support to be useful. The optional components of the educational program—the CV and interviewing workshops—were poorly attended, but the CV workshop was useful to those students who participated. Data assessing pharmacy student placement with residency programs, collected by the school's Residency Advisory Committee following the 2008 ASHP-MCM only, indicated that a high percentage of students who participated in the program with an interest in pursuing residency training were placed with a residency program, suggesting this program prepared students for success during their postgraduate training search. The survey response rates of greater than 90% suggest the data presented here is representative of the target population, pharmacy students from the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences attending the ASHP-MCM in search of postgraduate training. If the experience of pharmacy students across the nation during the ASHP-MCM is similar to that of our students, this program likely would be beneficial to other colleague schools of pharmacy. The primary limitation of this study was the lack of a comparator group. Knowledge of students' feelings of preparedness towards the ASHP-MCM and postgraduate training search prior to participation in this educational program would have allowed for direct comparison, and would have greatly improved upon the relevance of the study results.

This program could be duplicated easily. The first step is to establish faculty support for implementing such a program. The second step is to identify discussion topics, such as residency and fellowship terminology; reasons students should go to the ASHP-MCM and how to maximize their time; and what students should do before, during, and following the ASHP-MCM. The third step is to develop an informational packet that includes a detailed overview of what to do before, during, and following the ASHP-MCM; general residency and fellowship information; residency match and personnel placement service information; and CV and cover letter preparation tips with examples, much of which can be downloaded from the ASHP Web site.^9–19 The fourth step is to identify a core group of faculty members, pharmacy residents, and/or pharmacy students with ASHP-MCM experience to serve as the speaker panel for the educational forum, and to identify a core group of faculty members and/or residency program directors to assist with the optional CV and interview workshops. When the preparatory work is complete, the program coordinator must identify students interested in postgraduate training planning to attend the ASHP-MCM; reserve a date, time, and location that optimizes student attendance; and advertise the educational program to the target group of students. Requiring student participation, or providing incentive for student participation, such as through monetary support to attend the ASHP-MCM, is recommended to optimize student involvement. In our program, students were provided with monetary support to assist with travel-related expenses associated with attending the ASHP-MCM. The ASHP Pharmacy student forum has developed pre-meeting student programming in the areas of navigating the ASHP-MCM, CV writing, and interviewing to complement this educational program.²¹

SUMMARY

This educational program positively impacted the students' sense of preparedness for the meeting, and based on residency placement data for those who participated, contributed to success in their postgraduate training search. To complement current and future ASHP programming, this educational program, which can be duplicated and tailored to a specific college or school's needs, may be implemented by colleges and schools of pharmacy to prepare students for the ASHP-MCM and their postgraduate training search.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Dr. Walter Schroeder who assisted in the preliminary development of this program. I would also like to thank my colleagues who assisted with the educational forums and/or critically reviewed the survey tool: Drs. Gayle Brazeau, Nicole Albanese, Gina Prescott, and Erin Slazak; the pharmacy residents who served on the educational forum speaker panel: Drs. Holly Coe, Stephen Webster, and Misty Gonzalez; and the adjunct faculty members who assisted with the interview workshop: Drs. Kenneth Kellick, Stephanie Seyse, and Pamela Weislo. I would also like to thank Ms. Mary Kruszynski for her assistance in preparing the educational program handout materials.