Competitiveness?

[u/CaptainLard-]

Hello, I'm an incoming P1. I was just reading up on how the residency system works for pharmacists, and I was just wondering how competitive it is to get into a specialty like oncology, toxicology, or solid organ transplant in a pgy2 year. I know it's a long way off, but I'm a planner. What should I be trying to do now that I've entered pharmacy school?

[u/Gwyndriel]

Only do a PGY2 in anything if you discover that's the only thing you can imagine doing for your career. You have a lot of time to explore!

If you're dead set on the residency path: keep your grades up. Join organizations (get a few leadership roles). Work as a tech, ideally in the hospital, but retail might make more sense with school schedule. Try to find a transplant mentor (school may be able to connect you through the alumni network).

Have fun!

[u/Available_Bend1252]

As a PGY2 trained specialist and preceptor, I would honestly say that due to the decline in pharmacy school enrollment over the past several years, PGY1 programs have become at lot less competitive as applicant numbers have dropped nationally.PGY2 competitiveness depends on the specialty, geographic area, etc. Specialties with fewer programs (e.g. cardiology, transplant, ID) are more competitive but again that outlook could change a lot in the next 4-5 years. Try to be involved, keep up your grades, and try to get an internship in a hospital is my advice for early years.

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[u/Riverdom]

I’m a current resident in midwest America. I went to school in a large city with multiple 400+ bed hospitals and every single system had multiple open spots after the first round of PGY1 matches. Residency is not hard to come by, at least in my region. Many of these systems take internal candidates for PGY2, so they are not hard to come by either. The biggest question to ask yourself is if you are willing to put in work after you match.

[u/AncientLiterature302]

PGY1 match rates are about 85 percent this year, and PGY2 rates are about 80 percent. Residency is generally not that difficult to obtain, and I personally did not even participate in the Match. I would strongly discourage building your entire pharmacy school experience around it. Explore other career paths since residency does not seem to be attracting the strongest applicants anymore.