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Tami Argo, PharmD, MS, BCPP, BCGP
Megan Flinchum, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP
Opal Bacon, PharmD, BCPS
Elizabeth Eichel, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP

Taylor Modesitt, PharmD
Erica Wonson, PharmD, BCACP, BCPP
Amber Douglass, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP (Resident and New Practitioner Committee Chair)
Ben Chavez, PharmD, BCPP, BCACP (Resident and New Practitioner Committee Board Liaison)
Tawny Smith, PharmD, BCPP (Resident and New Practitioner Committee Vice-Chair)

CPNP conducts a survey of residency program directors annually. This provides the opportunity for information exchange and for monitoring and action related to growth of the profession. For the 2017 Residency Program Director Survey, 76 distinct Residency Program Directors (RPDs) were contacted and 58 submitted a survey (76% response rate, same as 2016 survey). From the results of the survey, the types of programs include:

  • PGY-2 in psychiatry (2016-2017): 67 positions, reflecting an increase in 12 positions reported from 2015-2016
  • PGY-2 in neurology: 0 positions, consistent with 2015-2016

Accreditation Status

Question 24 inquired about ASHP accreditation status which is depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Plans for ASHP Accreditation

 

Of the RPDs that responded, 79.7% intend to remain ASHP-accredited programs while 18.6% plan to become an ASHP-accredited program. No RPDs reported plans to discontinue their residency program secondary to loss of funding. One RPD reports plans for their residency program to remain non-accredited.   

Residency Positions

For the 2017-2018 residency year, 80.7% of respondents filled all of their residency positions, reflecting a decrease from the 2016-2017 residency year (89.5%).

ASHP’s pre-commitment process to accept a PGY-1 resident into the PGY-2 program was utilized in 21 of the responding programs (35.6%); this reflects a small increase in programs utilizing the pre-commitment process from 2016-2017 year (17 programs). Thirty-five programs (59.3%) reported utilizing Phase I Match, with an average of 5.5 applicants per program in Phase I. A small proportion of programs (16.9%) participated in the Phase II Match, and 9 of 14 programs reported their experience with the new match process as good or excellent. Four programs utilized the Post Match Scramble, however did not fill their PGY2 positions for the 2017-2018 year through that process.  Seven programs (12.3%) had unfilled positions converted to another position, and 20 programs reported not converting their unfilled positions for 2017-2018 residency year. The most common reasons for not filling a residency position included:

  • Lack of qualified PGY-1 resident applicants for PGY-2 programs
  • Did not match Phase I and Phase II
  • Unable to find qualified candidate in post-Phase II Match scramble

Figure 2. Recruitment Modalities Utilized

*Note: some RPDs reported multiple recruitment modalities.

Job Placement

All (100%) residents from reporting programs were able to obtain positions after completing their residency program, with 48.4% of residents securing employment less than 3 months prior to completion of residency.

The majority (81.4%) of residents obtained Psychiatric or Neurologic Clinical Pharmacist positions. Over half of the positions obtained after residency were in VA Health Care Systems (59.0%) (Figure 3), which is consistent with previous years. The majority (60.7%) of positions obtained after residency were in the outpatient clinical setting (Figure 4), whereas in 2016 about 36% of positions were reported obtained in the outpatient clinical setting. This demonstrates a substantial increase in positions acquired by PGY2 resident graduates in the outpatient clinical setting. The majority (74.6%) of the positions obtained after residency were considered to have a 100% psychiatric focus (Figure 5), and the obtainment of a position with this level of psychiatric focus increased considerably from last year (47.9% of positions had 100% psychiatric focus year 2016-2017). Overall, more residents appeared to have obtained outpatient clinical positions, specifically in the psychiatry specialty. 

Figure 3. Institutional Settings of Positions Obtained After Residency

 

Figure 4. Clinical Settings of Positions Obtained After Residency

 

Figure 5. Psychiatric Focus of Positions Obtained After Residency

 

When RPDs were asked about the hiring of applicants for clinical practice or clinical faculty positions in psychiatry/neurology, the top three minimum requirements to qualify as a competitive candidates included: completion of a PGY-1 residency, completion of a PGY-2 Psychiatric Pharmacy Residency and obtaining the BCPP credential (Figure 6).

Figure 6. Percent of RPDs that Consider Listed Qualifications Minimum Requirements for Hiring of Applicants

 

Residency Funding

More than half of the residencies (54.2%) currently obtain funding from the VA Health Care System, which is consistent with previous years (Figure 7). Only one program anticipated additional funding that would allow them to expand the number of residency positions that they offer.

Figure 7. Residency Program Funding Source

 

*Note: some RPDs reported multiple sources of funding

The CPNP Resident and New Practitioner Committee appreciates the PGY2 Residency Program Directors who completed this survey, which facilitates the dissemination of important data to the membership regarding PGY2 psychiatric residency training.

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