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.
State Psychiatric Hospital
Andrew Zwack, PharmD, BCPP is a Clinical Pharmacist and PGY2 Psychiatric Pharmacy Residency Program Director at Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center, where he has practiced for 8 years. He earned his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from North Dakota State University College of Pharmacy and completed PGY1 and PGY2 psychiatric pharmacy residencies at Avera McKennan in Sioux Falls, SD.
The Role of Psychiatric Pharmacists
Our patient population is often made up of people living with mental illness who are receiving treatment through involuntary commitment, and sometimes commitment relates to co-occurring substance use disorders. Typically, the people we serve have not benefited from other voluntary treatment alternatives and continue to meet court-determined criteria for danger to themselves or others, leading to involuntary commitment.
Given the complexity of this patient population, psychiatric pharmacists in our organization have many roles to fill. We have both clinical and operational pharmacist roles. All psychiatric pharmacists in our system have opportunities to be involved in various committees, workgroups, or projects; some being Pharmacy Services-focused, while others are part of interdisciplinary projects. Many pharmacists have roles in Formulary and P&T committee work, for instance. There are also opportunities to be involved in performance improvement projects across disciplines such as naloxone at discharge.
- Operational pharmacists. Focus on dispensing/distribution, overseeing medication procurement and delivery to patient care areas, verifying orders, medication reconciliation, checking products leaving the pharmacy, and working with our technicians throughout these processes.
- Inpatient clinical pharmacists. Have a panel of 30-60 patients typically across multiple patient care units or locations. Clinical roles include prospective and retrospective review of patient medication profiles, collecting and assessing medication-related data, making medication recommendations, documenting assessment and recommendations, rounding with treatment teams, and educating patients (groups as well as 1:1 individual). Many inpatient clinical pharmacists serve as primary or secondary preceptors for our PGY2 psychiatric pharmacy resident as well as 4th year APPE students.
- Ambulatory clinical pharmacists. Work with our clinic location for all patients visiting through that site. Roles and responsibilities include intake review of new clinic clients and prospective and retrospective review of client medication lists, meeting with clients and caregivers with the practitioners, collecting and assessing medication-related data, making medication recommendations, documenting assessments and recommendations, patient and caregiver education, and serving as preceptor of PGY2 residents.
Advice for Breaking into the Field
Start with obtaining experience in the area, whether it be in pharmacy school, APPE/IPPE, or outside of the professional environment (e.g., volunteering for a mental health organization). Get familiar with AAPP, which has an abundance of great people and resources to learn more about the field.
Learning About Job Openings
Our job opportunities are posted on our own system's external job postings as well as online recruitment platforms like Indeed and LinkedIn. Job candidates can learn about openings by reaching out to the organization or colleagues in the pharmacy.
Priority Qualifications and Skills
Qualifications or skills may differ across roles (e.g., operational vs. clinical pharmacist). Typically, we look for:
- What interests you about the job and reasons for pursuing
- Interest in mental health treatment
- Board Certification (BCPP or even other ones like BCPS)
- Background training, and past experiences.
- Postgraduate training (residency, fellowship) can be valuable, especially for clinical positions. It could be training or experience with a psychiatric focus but may depend on the plans for the specific area of our pharmacy services being hired for.
- Involvement in research, quality or process improvement, committee involvement, outside organization involvement, and volunteering are all beneficial experiences to have on a CV/resume when applying.
How to Prepare for the Interview
- Get to Know the Organization. Research as much as you can, reach out to any colleagues you know, and search on the internet.
- Understand the Position. Develop a clear sense of what the job is and think about relevant experiences you have had that would relate to the position. Consider the "skills" being sought. From the job description and other resources, learn about the qualities the employer values.
- Demonstrate Curiosity and Interest. Based on things you find when learning about the organization and job, prepare applicable questions (or be prepared to listen during the interview and come up with follow-up questions you have then).
- Be Prepared for a Diverse Interview Panel. Interviews typically include a panel of a few people: a director of the pharmacy from the local site, a pharmacist, a technician, and possibly another pharmacy services leader. Be prepared to engage respectfully and professionally with everyone you meet.
Final Advice
Being yourself is important in this process. Figure out if you fit with the employer as they will be figuring out if they fit with you.