Association between application scores and positive onsite interviews of pharmacy residency applicants

Extract

Application to pharmacy residency programs has become increasingly competitive over the past several years. Although successful candidates must excel in the various stages of the application process, preparing written applications and securing onsite interviews are early and arguably the most difficult steps. Residency programs vary in the criteria used for offering onsite interviews. The majority of insight into this topic comes from surveys of residency program directors, but corresponding analyses of interview offers have been minimal.^1,2

The pharmacy residency program at Indiana University (IU) Health has undergone exponential growth over the past six years. The program currently trains 14 postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) residents annually within our academic health care center, encompassing three different hospitals. Our residency application and interview process has remained relatively unchanged during this time of growth. Each completed application packet, which includes a survey, undergoes independent review by at least two pharmacy residency preceptors. Consistency among reviews is improved through the use of a scoring rubric. Candidate scores are then averaged among reviewers, and top-scoring candidates are invited to an onsite interview.