Professional responsibilities reported by pharmacists completing residencies in community-based settings

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the professional responsibilities of pharmacists who completed residencies in a community-based setting and to determine if there is a difference in responsibilities for pharmacists completing different types of PGY-1 residency and PGY-2 residency training.

METHODS: A survey was designed by adapting questions from the 2014 Pharmacist Workforce Survey and creating other questions designed for this project. Surveys were distributed electronically to residency program directors of PGY-1 community-based pharmacy residencies, PGY-1 pharmacy residencies in ambulatory care environments, and PGY-2 ambulatory care residencies; program directors were asked to distribute the survey to all residency alumni of their program.

RESULTS: A total of 450 programs were identified; 349 responses were received, with respondents having completed residency training from 1989 to 2016. Respondents represented at least 73 different residency programs across the country. More than 97% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their residency training prepared them to be successful in their career. Nondispensing patient care, ranging from 39.0% to 52.5%, represented the largest percentage of job responsibilities. Current job responsibilities contained a higher percentage of business or organization management compared with first job (17.7% vs. 5.8%; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: Pharmacists completing residency training have a large percentage of their first jobs associated with patient care responsibilities, regardless of the type of training received or the type of setting.