Elayne D. Ansara, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP
Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner – Mental Health
VISN23 Clinical Resource Hub
Indianapolis, Indiana (remote)
Dr. Ansara is a Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner (CPP) in Mental Health at the VISN23 Clinical Resource Hub. She is the former RPD for the PGY2 Psychiatric Pharmacy residency program at Veteran Health Indiana. Dr. Ansara received her Doctor of Pharmacy from Purdue University. She completed her PGY1 Pharmacy residency at IU Health in Indianapolis, Indiana and her PGY2 Psychiatric Pharmacy residency at Eskenazi Health and Purdue University, also in Indianapolis, Indiana.
So you want to start a residency program? Before logging-on to register for the Match and attending the Midyear Clinical Meeting in December, here are a few considerations when starting (or expanding) a new residency program. Ask yourself these three questions as you embark on this endeavor.
Does my facility have the resources to start a residency program?
First, ensure you have the resources at your facility to run an effective training program. If you have an existing program and are looking at expansion, you probably have a good idea about whether you can accommodate another trainee (or more). For those looking to start a new program, a thorough self-assessment of your facility’s ability to support and sustain a residency program should be conducted. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), which accredits all residency training programs, offers several resources to help you evaluate your site including an informational guide “How to Start a Residency Program”.1 Review of the most recent ASHP Accreditation Standards for Postgraduate Residency Programs as well as specific competency areas, goals and objectives for Postgraduate Year Two (PGY2) Psychiatric Pharmacy residencies, will give you a better idea of the expectations for training programs and will assist in program development and design.2,3
How do I fund the position?
If after performing a self-assessment it is determined that support exists for either expanding or starting a new residency program, a large hurdle that will need to be overcome is securing funding for the resident. Funding sources can be explored to help support the program outside of direct facility funding such as partnering with a local College of Pharmacy to help financially support a program. Other avenues of financial support may be grant funding from programs within your health-care organization. Conversations with your director of pharmacy, or if available, an educational officer within your organization can be helpful to determine what funding sources are available to you.
A major part of justification of the program, for both funding purposes and to garner support from staff, is highlighting the benefits of having a trainee (or in the case of expansion, more trainees) at your facility. In a 2010 White Paper published by the American College of Clinical Pharmacists the authors illustrate several potential benefits, financially and otherwise, of having a trainee in the organization.4 These include areas such as clinical service contributions (e.g., direct patient care, research) and administrative service support (e.g., formulary review, committee membership). Potential indirect revenues from supporting a trainee include areas such as increasing the capacity of medical providers or garnering additional payments for pharmacy student education. Offering residency training programs can also help with staff recruitment, development, and satisfaction. Additionally, resident trainees can be utilized to help increase the organization’s capacity to deliver education and scholarship. In addition, they can be useful champions for supporting innovative and new pharmacy services.4 All of these areas should be considered, along with the role the resident can play, when justifying the need to expand or start a training program.
Where can I look when I have no idea what to do?
Additional support should be sought out from other programs at your facility (if in existence). Seek mentorship from those who have already paved the path to creating a program and capitalize on what they have learned in that process. If you are starting the first program at your facility, seek multiple mentors. Reach out to other residency program directors or advice or information about justifying a new program. Additionally, professional organizations such as ASHP as well as AAPP can provide useful tools and communities to help you with this endeavor. Within AAPP, a useful resource is being a member of the RPD Community. This community of RPDs serves to support and assist each other with residency related issues. Although the process of justifying a new residency training program can be, well in a one word…painful, the rewards of creating a sustainable program are numerous.
