This blog series by the Resident and New Practitioner Committee is targeted to psychiatric pharmacists seeking their first or a new position. Throughout the spring of 2026, this series will feature interviews with hiring managers in various types of settings.
Community Health Systems
Dr. Andy M. Williams, PharmD, BCPP, FAAPP is the Supervising Clinical Pharmacist of Behavioral Health Pharmacy Services for Riverside University Health System. He also serves as the Resident Program Director (RPD) for Riverside University Health System’s PGY-2 Psychiatric Pharmacy residency program.
The Role of Psychiatric Pharmacists
Riverside University Health System (RUHS) is owned and operated by the County of Riverside in Southern California. It serves as a safety net medical center, providing acute and ambulatory care services, including mental health and substance use services. I oversee ten psychiatric pharmacists who practice in a variety of settings including inpatient adult psychiatry, adolescent psychiatry, psychiatric emergency department, consult liaison psychiatry, ambulatory care psychiatry, correctional health psychiatry, neurology, and geriatrics.
Ambulatory care psychiatric pharmacists provide comprehensive medication management services under a collaborative practice agreement that allows for full prescriptive authority for a caseload of patients.
Inpatient psychiatric pharmacists attend daily multidisciplinary rounds where they provide recommendations to optimize medication management for patients living with mental illness. As our medical center operates on a different electronic health record than the outpatient department of behavioral health, RUHS psychiatric pharmacists are heavily involved in transitions of care, providing thorough, accurate medication histories upon admission, and education at discharge. In addition to discharge counseling, pharmacists also deliver daily patient medication education groups.
RUHS psychiatric pharmacists precept the spectrum of trainees, accepting IPPE and APPE students from many surrounding schools of pharmacy and training PGY-1 and PGY-2 residents. Additionally, RUHS psychiatric pharmacists are integrated into RUHS medical residency training programs – providing education and collaborating on research.
Psychiatric pharmacists are also heavily involved in psychotropic stewardship, fiscal, and operational initiatives – such as coordinating long-acting injectable hospital free trial programs, formulary management, expenditure tracking/optimization, and regulatory compliance.
Advice for Breaking into the Field
Breaking into the field of psychiatric pharmacy is not as daunting as it may seem. My biggest advice is to seek any type of exposure that you can – whether it be exploring organizations like AAPP or even cold emailing/messaging psychiatric pharmacies or pharmacists – it is something that can be accomplished.
Advice for Students
Seek out experiential opportunities in school, such as IPPE or APPE rotations, or even shadowing. As a student, I was first exposed to psychiatric pharmacy through shadowing faculty members and coworkers at my internship site. From these experiences, I was able to expand my knowledge on what exactly it means to be a “psychiatric pharmacist” and to see the different roles that one may have. These encounters helped develop and shape mentorship relationships. These mentors were essential in helping me navigate the journey to becoming a psychiatric pharmacist.
Advice for Residents and New Practitioners
Be open-minded and creative in seeking opportunities. While there may be 100% psychiatric positions available, the opportunity to break into psychiatric pharmacy may present itself in a nontraditional manner. It very well may be that a general inpatient clinical pharmacist position or retail pharmacy position can allow you to seek out opportunities in psychiatry. Psychiatric medications and psychiatric disorders are present in all practice settings. You can advocate for these patients within your setting, pilot new services or practices, and/or align yourself with existing ones.
From there, you never know how your position may evolve into your dream psychiatric pharmacist role. Sometimes the dream role presents itself to you, other times you must build the dream. If the passion is there, you will find a way to get the role you truly feel fulfilled in.
Learning About Job Openings
When I have available positions, I will often utilize the AAPP job board in addition to the public posting that our institution’s HR department will utilize. I will also advertise on social media platforms such as LinkedIn, and even my own social media profiles.
Fun fact – of my current staff, nearly every single pharmacist member of my team is a former trainee, either resident or student. It goes to show you the benefits of forming those connections and relationships when exploring psychiatric pharmacy because you never know when it may result in a potential employment opportunity.
Priority Qualifications and Skills
- Residency Training. As a hiring manager who also wears the hat of a PGY2 residency program director, I recognize the invaluable benefits a pharmacist receives from residency training and therefore place a heavier preference on individuals who have completed a PGY2 in Psychiatric Pharmacy.
- Board Certification. Those who have achieved their board certification in psychiatric pharmacy (BCPP) also receive higher prioritization.
- Drive and Motivation. One of the most important attributes I search for is “hunger.” I am looking for candidates who are passionate, eager, motivated, and willing to be an integral team member.
It does not hurt if they also enjoy partaking in the group potlucks – BONUS!
How to Prepare for the Interview
- Reflection. Expect that common questions are going to be asked during an interview, such as discussing strengths and weaknesses, problem solving strategies, patient experiences, etc. Anticipate and be able to speak to them comfortably and candidly.
- Authenticity. It is critical that you feel comfortable discussing your authentic experience and portray yourself in a genuine fashion. As hiring manager, I am trying to assess if you are going to be a good fit for our group and the needs of the department. By presenting your authentic self, you are also able to show your personality which allows both you and the organization to identify if this is a good match.
Final Advice
There is more than one way to get to an end goal. If a particular path is not exactly what you envisioned, do not get discouraged. If you are passionate, persistent, and patient enough, you will eventually get to exactly where you should be. Keep your eye on the prize and realize that sometimes the “prize” changes and you find yourself with a pleasant surprise.