Psychiatric Pharmacy Profession Growing at an Impressive Rate

With 1 in 5 adults living with mental illness, the mental health epidemic is costing the United States $193 billion annually (from NAMI’s Mental Health by the Numbers). Nearly 60% of those adults are not receiving appropriate mental health services, indicating that the health care system must evolve to address the growing demand. Psychiatric pharmacists can help meet this demand by working with physicians as part of a collaborative team to improve medication-related outcomes for patients with psychiatric, neurologic, and/or substance use disorders.

The College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP) reports real growth in the psychiatric pharmacy profession in recent years, and there are strong signals that the growth will continue. Exciting things are happening such as: 

• BPS reports that the number of Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacists has increased 23% over four years.
• CPNP membership rolls indicate that student interest has grown by 277% while CPNP student chapters at pharmacy schools now number 31.
• ASHP reports that the number of PGY2 Psychiatric Residencies has increased 158% over four years to a total 96 slots.
• For the 2016-2017 residency year, 89.5% of responding Residency Program Directors filled all of their PGY2 psychiatric pharmacy residency slots.
• Residency Program Directors report that:

• 99% of all residents find employment within 3 months of completion of residency.
• 59% of residents obtained Clinical Specialist positions, most of which were Psychiatric or Neurologic Clinical Specialists (70.2%). 
• Over half of the positions obtained after residency were in VA Hospitals (57.3%).
• Nearly half (48%) of positions obtained after residency had a required staffing component.
• Nearly 73% of the positions were considered to have at least a 50% psychiatric focus.
• A majority (61.2%) of positions obtained after residency were in the inpatient clinical setting.

CPNP’s membership itself reports that they are seeing a shift toward direct patient interaction and care (74%) and 82% are optimistic about the future of psychiatric pharmacy. Psychiatric pharmacists are being empowered to utilize their clinical skills and experience in more practice settings. More psychiatric pharmacists are doing more for patients than ever before to make a significant impact on the mental health epidemic.

Read more about the growth of psychiatric pharmacy and career prospects at:

• CPNP Residency Program Director Survey Results
• What it Means to be a Psychiatric Pharmacist
• Diverse Practice Settings
• What a Psychiatric Pharmacist Does