Effects of Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience Characteristics on Postgraduate Year 1 Residency Match Rates

Abstract

Background: Mentors often provide advice to students regarding selection of Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) rotations to strengthen their candidacy for a residency position. However, the impact of APPE characteristics on the chances of matching is unknown. Objective: To determine the impact of APPE characteristics on Post Graduate Year-1 (PGY1) residency match rates at a Midwest US college of pharmacy. Methods: Graduates from a single college of pharmacy who participated in the PGY1 match in 2015 or 2016 were included. Match data were obtained from National Matching Services. APPE characteristics (e.g., rotation timing relative to the Midyear Clinical Meeting [MCM], rotation type, and setting) were stratified by matched status. Independent predictors were identified using multivariate logistic regression and tree-based models. Results: Ninety-nine students were included with 57 matching (57.6%). Students completing an infectious diseases rotation (75 vs. 51%; p = 0.028), a hospital rotation before the MCM (67 vs. 47%; p = 0.039), or a rotation in an ambulatory care clinic (67 vs. 47%; p = 0.045) were more likely to match. Students completing an independent community pharmacy rotation were less likely to match (8.3 vs. 64%; p < 0.001). After multivariate adjustment, all of these factors were associated with the likelihood of matching except completion of an infectious diseases ( p = 0.077) or ambulatory care rotation ( p = 0.073). Conclusion: A hospital rotation prior to the MCM was positively associated with matching while completion of an independent community pharmacy rotation was associated with non-matched status. The utility of these findings in guiding APPE selections for students pursing residency should be explored.

Factors associated with pharmacy residency matching: A scoping review

“…After the full‐text review, a total of 28 studies were identified for inclusion, data extraction, and further analysis (Figure 1). 8‐35 …”

“…Because of the heterogeneity in study methodology and outcomes, the authors only extracted and described factors from the study data that could potentially have an impact on residency match rates. More than half of the studies (Table 1) identified an intervention, types of required or extracurricular activities, or student determination within a pharmacy school that was associated with residency matching 8‐23 . A small number of studies (Table 2) surveyed RPDs regarding their perceptions of desired characteristics of residency candidates 24,25 .…”

“…Sixteen of the studies analyzed data from pharmacy schools to determine the impact on match rates 8‐23 . Almost all of these studies ( n = 14) were conducted at a single pharmacy school, 8‐21 and two of the studies were conducted at the same pharmacy school 10,23 .…”

“…Two studies evaluated the effect of APPEs on match rates 10,18 . Censi and colleagues found students in the Class of 2016 were more likely to match if they had completed an infectious diseases (75% vs. 50.7%; P = 0.028) or ambulatory care clinic rotation (66.7% vs. 46.7%; P = 0.045) during their last year of pharmacy school, or a hospital rotation before the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting (67.3% vs. 46.8%; P = 0.039) 10 .…”

“…Two studies evaluated the effect of APPEs on match rates 10,18 . Censi and colleagues found students in the Class of 2016 were more likely to match if they had completed an infectious diseases (75% vs. 50.7%; P = 0.028) or ambulatory care clinic rotation (66.7% vs. 46.7%; P = 0.045) during their last year of pharmacy school, or a hospital rotation before the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting (67.3% vs. 46.8%; P = 0.039) 10 . The study also found students were less likely to match if they had rotations in other clinical specialty areas (42.1% vs. 67.2%; P = 0.014) or an independent community pharmacy rotation (8.3% vs. 64.4%; P < 0.001).…”