For the 2022 Residency Program Director Survey, 89 distinct Residency Program Directors (RPDs) were contacted and 68 submitted a survey response (74% response rate, an improvement from our last RPD survey). From the results of the survey, 83 PGY-2 in Psychiatry positions completed residency in 2021-2022.
Over 97% of residents from reporting programs were able to obtain positions after the completion of their residency program. Of those who successfully obtained a position, over 77% of psychiatric pharmacy residents were able to secure that position prior to the completion of residency, a shift to earlier procurement than previous years. The largest group of these residents found their job within the last 3 months of their residency program (43%). Approximately 35% of residents were successful in securing a position prior to that, with 31% securing a position 3-6 months prior to the completion of their residency.
Figure 1. Timeline for Residents Securing Positions After Residency
All graduating residents who secured a position accepted positions with at least some psychiatric focus (94% of graduating residents with > 75% psychiatric focus positions), an increase from the 2019-2020 survey. The majority of these positions are 100% psychiatric focused (approximately 84% of positions). This past year saw residents placed in more diverse settings, with the majority (58%) still being in federal government positions (e.g., VA/IHS). Figure 2 presents the breakdown of clinical settings of positions obtained after residency, with outpatient being the most common setting, over 64% of positions. This remains consistent with 2019-2020 findings (over 62%). The majority of residents took positions in general mental health (73.1%), with substance use (28.4%), integrated care (17.9%), and pain management (13.4%) being the next most common patient care area focuses.
Figure 2. Clinical Settings of Positions Obtained After Residency
When RPDs were involved in the hiring of applicants for clinical practice or clinical faculty positions in psychiatry or neurology, the most commonly desired minimum requirement was a PGY2 psychiatric pharmacy residency (52.2% of respondents), followed by BCPP/plan to obtain BCPP (46.3% of respondents). These results are consistent with previous years.
For the 2022-2023 residency year recruitment cycle, approximately 90% of respondents filled all their residency positions, demonstrating consistency with previous survey years. However it was noted that 82 resident positions were recruited for the 2022-2023 and at the time of survey there were 80 residents currently in respective programs (97.5% of positions filled).
Figure 3. Percent of respondents who filled all their residency positions
RPDs reported that for the 2020-2021 recruitment cycle, the number of applicants received ranged from zero to twenty applicants, with the most common amount being one applicant. Overall, respondents reported a sum total of 312 total applications (with duplicates if applicant submitted to multiple programs), a slight decrease from last survey year (337 applications in 2020).
According to the National Matching service website (referenced at: https://natmatch.com/ashprmp/stats/2022summpos.pdf ), 94 of 103 available resident positions were filled, with 41.7% of those positions being filled through the early commitment process. Psychiatric Pharmacy is one of the top 7 PGY-2 program types based off number of programs, following Ambulatory Care, Critical Care, Infectious Disease, Oncology, Emergency Medicine, and Pediatrics; and top 5 based off number of offered positions, following Ambulatory Care, Oncology, Critical Care, Infectious Diseases, and Pediatrics (tie).
All responding programs either maintain ASHP accreditation status (91.2%) or are planning on becoming an ASHP accredited residency program (8.8%) if continuing the program next residency year.
The majority of programs are funded through VA Health System funds (46.3%), with the second most frequent being hospital funds (38.8%) (Figure 4). The majority of programs were not anticipating additional funds to expand their number of PGY2 residency positions.
Figure 4. Residency Program Funding Source
The majority of responding RPDs encouraged their resident to become a member of AAPP (76.1%) or required their resident to become a member (17.9%). A majority of RPDs (64.2%) reported encouraging their resident to maintain membership after completion of residency. Regarding funding the membership, 74.6% of respondents stated that their resident covers their own AAPP membership fees (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Funding for resident’s AAPP membership
The AAPP 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.