So You Think You Can Get A Residency

First of all, congratulations are in order for Lauren, who won SYTYCD this week. I don't want to take away from her accomplishments, but I was sure she was going to win, because of the way there were three finalists, two guys and one girl.

To prove my point, I will bring up a real example - selling houses. When a realtor wants you to buy a house, let's say a cute house in a reasonably good neighbourhood where you have some mild concerns about the noise, or that the bathroom is too small - he or she will bring you to another house that is much different, say, a larger home in a very quiet neighbourhood, but perhaps too expensive and with a design that isn't as comforting or homey. With such a contrast, you will end up picking the first one. Similarly, the two male dancers, Kent and Robert, are - well - similar; even if they dance somewhat different styles, they are both male and are matched up against the female Lauren.

A small note, though, that psychologically, we might get tricked. We might take the erroneous thought-process that there are two guys and one girl, and that therefore it is more likely that a guy will win. This is only somewhat true. Certainly, I would guess there will be more votes overall for the two guys (combined) than for Lauren. However, Lauren will garner more votes to herself because she appeals to the other side of the audience - and in the end, you've got to choose between your favourite guy and your favourite girl.

Today, I went to the Ottawa Hospital (TOH) for a visitation, along with Eric (U Waterloo student), Kalena (I hope I am not spelling her name wrong; CPhA student, also U of T 4th year student) and Kiran (CPhA student, also U Waterloo student). After visiting TOH and CHEO (Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario), speaking with Myrella (once the residency coordinator at TOH), speaking with former and current residents of select Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotian programs, and with residency coordinators or pharmacy leaders in some other regions of Canada, it has become apparent to me that the selection of a residency site is even more complicated than the question that is at the front of most minds - so you think you can get a residency?

The two questions are not mutually exclusive, and that is the point I want to suggest with this blog entry. I may not be very appealing at a large, multi-centre hospital pharmacy system because I do not meet their academic standards, but I may be very appealing to a smaller hospital pharmacy system with only three, smaller sites, a stronger focus on ambulatory care, and a residency coordinator that enjoys my personality and is fully supportive of my goals. (I am just making this up). And so, the question, especially at this stage where we have a meager three months before our residency applications and interviews, that is really going to emerge is which residency programs suit me the best, and the secondary question is how do I get there.

The first and obvious factor is location. There is soon to be effectively only one residency program in the Lower Mainland (Lower Mainland Pharmacy Services), although they may still be separate for our year. However, while I have yet to discuss this with my family and friends, it seems a disservice to me to restrict myself to one residency program, when there are so many other ones in Canada with good reputations. Also, I am relatively mobile and as long as I learn how to survive a Canadian winter, I am sure I could do and would want to do a residency almost anywhere.

So what else matters to me for my residency? Actually, as I am learning, there are many factors I need to consider. There are residents - believe it or not, but I'm sure you will - who did not enjoy their program. I want this 12-month program (or 13 in Hamilton, I think, but don't quote me) to be a great learning experience, one where I can develop my clinical assessment, networking, and presentation skills and to explore what areas of hospital pharmacy may interest me in the future. I want a program that is sufficiently flexible for me to pursue the rotations or activities that I would like to, sufficiently demanding so that I am fully motivated to do more than the call of duty, and sufficiently relaxed so that I can make friends and enjoy extracurricular activities.

I have not started my in-depth assessment, so to speak, of residency programs, but I would like to lay out what I am looking for. You may not share my "criteria," but that's OK - these are preliminary and so at this point, they are more just "points for consideration" rather than a set method of selecting my preferred residency programs.

1) Rapport with residency coordinator.

2) A diversity of engaging rotations. Opportunity for electives that I consider interesting, including for external electives. Opportunity to take all the rotations that I consider essential.

3) One-on-one preceptor time and amount of support afforded from residency coordinator.

4) Support for pharmacy practice and collaborative research.

5) Opportunity to do teaching for pharmacy students, other students, or in the community.

6) Workload of the program.

7) Any outstanding features of the program (eg. TOH has a on-call toxicology piece to the residency program; Hamilton has a strong EBM component).

8) Number of residents accepted each year and opportunity to work with other residents.

9) Strong, sound hospital pharmacy management. Rapport of pharmacists with other health care workers in that hospital system. Dynamic of the hospital, including community engagement and fundraising initiatives.

10) Experience and the extent of clinical and research responsibilities of my preceptors.

Feel free to suggest more!