Characteristics of postgraduate year 1 pharmacy residency programs at academic medical centers

The training components and other characteristics of postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) pharmacy residency programs at a sample of academic medical centers were evaluated. A questionnaire was sent via e-mail to the directors of 98 PGY1 residency programs at academic medical centers in the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) to elicit benchmarking data on issues such as recruitment, learning experiences, resident staffing requirements, resident research projects and professional presentations, opportunities for resident participation in teaching activities, and requirements for faculty service as preceptors; 72 program directors responded to the survey. The residency programs represented in the survey reported an average of approximately 14 applicants for each available position in 2010 and an average of about five candidate interviews per available position. The survey results indicated wide variation in the learning experiences offered by PGY1 programs (the most commonly reported rotations were in administration, critical care, internal medicine, ambulatory care, and drug information), with a high degree of individualization of elective rotations. Almost all programs had a mandatory staffing component, typically requiring 4-10 hours of service weekly. Results of this survey indicate that there is a large amount of variation in the components of PGY1 pharmacy residency programs among UHC academic medical centers. The majority of respondents reported no change in the number of residency positions offered within the past two years, but they reported an increase in the number of applications from 2009 to 2010.