Hospital Pharmacy - April 2018 - 113

738509
research-article2017

HPXXXX10.1177/0018578717738509Hospital PharmacyKrasniak et al

Article

Changes in Pharmacy Residency
Training Design Between 2012 and
2017: A Perspective of Academic
Medical Centers

Hospital Pharmacy
2018, Vol. 53(2) 113-120
© The Author(s) 2017
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https://doi.org/10.1177/0018578717738509
DOI: 10.1177/0018578717738509
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Anne Krasniak1, William Darko1, Christopher D. Miller1,
Robert Seabury1, and Luke A. Probst1

Abstract
Purpose:The role of health-system pharmacists continues to expand, and this area of pharmacy practice increasingly
requires augmented baseline training. It is unclear how Post Graduate Year 1 (PGY-1) pharmacy residencies may be
changing to meet these needs.The objectives of our survey were to describe PGY-1 pharmacy residency program design
among academic medical centers, characterize program changes enacted over 5-year period, and describe career paths
among PGY-1 pharmacy residency graduates. Methods: A 32-item questionnaire was developed independently, which
was reviewed and validated by 4 residency program directors. The survey was uploaded to an online survey tool and sent
electronically to residency program directors of 109 Vizient academic medical centers with PGY-1 pharmacy residency
programs. Residency program directors were identified from a list of Vizient-participating hospitals. The survey was re-sent
at 2-week intervals on 4 occasions to improve response rates. SPSS version 23.0 was used to analyze the data. Results:
Overall, 49 (45%) of hospitals responded to the survey. Survey responses showed statistically significant increases over the
5-year survey period in the following areas: the number of PGY-1 resident positions offered (P = .001), percent of time spent
on teaching experiences (P = .001), and percentage of PGY-1 residents pursuing PGY-2 or fellowship training (P = .026).
Conclusion: We found that PGY-1 pharmacy residency programs at Vizient academic medical centers have undergone
limited changes over the 5-year survey period and substantial variation exists between program designs. The most common
change to program design was an increase in the percentage of time residents spend on teaching experiences. There was
an increase in residents pursuing PGY-2 or fellowship training, which may suggest a shift toward increased specialization in
clinical pharmacy practice or may reflect changes in the availability of job opportunities.
Keywords
education, residency training/programs, pharmacists

Introduction
According to the American College of Clinical Pharmacy
position statement on the vision of the future of pharmacy,
direct patient care will be the standard for future pharmacy
practice.1 Given that assumption, the position statement
affirms that residency training should become a prerequisite
for entry into pharmacy practice by 2020. The American
Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) has committed to the goal that all new college of pharmacy graduates
with direct patient care responsibilities will be required to
complete an ASHP-accredited PGY-1 pharmacy residency
by the year 2020.2 More recently, ASHP's consensus document from the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative Summit
recommended "pharmacist completion of ASHP-accredited

residency training or achievement of equivalent experience"
as part of an optimal pharmacy practice model and that successful implementation of such pharmacy practice models
would require increased numbers of residency-trained pharmacists.3 Furthermore, certain positions, particularly hospital
clinical/staff pharmacist positions, are increasingly perceived
to require a PGY-1 pharmacy residency as an entry level
requirement.4,5 This change is likely due to the expanding
1

Upstate University Hospital, Syracuse, NY, USA

Corresponding Author:
William Darko, Upstate University Hospital, 750 East Adams Street,
Syracuse NY 13210, USA.
Email: DarkoW@upstate.edu
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