In my previous post, I talked about five things you can evaluate on your own without needing direct conversations with the program or company. As someone who has gone through ASHP showcase and many interviews talking with the actual program directors and/or current residents, here are some things I looked for that may require a closer look at the program.

Program Accreditation

I personally did not care if a program was accredited or not. Like I said in my previous post, all I wanted from a residency was to set up a strong foundation in understanding managed care pharmacy and to help me be a successful future managed care pharmacist. Instead of the status of whether the program is accredited, I looked for the rotational structure, projects their residents get to work on. For transparency, half the programs I applied to were accredited and the other half were not.

Resident Retention Rates

This in a way ties to my previous point about program accreditation. Another main goal for me to do a managed care residency instead of applying for managed care pharmacy positions later in my career is that I wanted my foot in the door. If I am trying to impress people in the program and investing myself into the company, I want a program that would help me land a position in a managed care organization as well.

“Vibes” from Their Resident(s)

If a program’s resident(s) looked extremely tired and exhausted, that was also a sign for me that I maybe should not apply to their program. Now, I’m not trying to say the resident(s) aren’t allowed to be tired. But if I can’t even sense the passion that they have in the conversation overall, or when speaking about the projects they are working on. For me, those are signs that they are extremely overworked, the program lacks balance on their program structure, or that the residents don’t typically get to work on things they are passionate about or interested in.

“Vibes” from their program director/preceptors

Don’t get me wrong. Most program directors and preceptors I talked to were great. However, there were instances where I was either quickly dismissed, was poorly addressed to during a conversation, or the interviewer made me feel extremely uncomfortable. That was not how I wanted to be treated for a whole year as a resident. As someone with a lot of imposter syndrome (as do a lot of people in our profession), I also do not want someone to constantly remind me of my self-doubt, especially as a learner.  

Final Thoughts (Part II)