Megan Flinchum, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP
Tami Argo, PharmD, BCPP, MS
Erica Wonson, PharmD, BCACP, BCPP
Opal Bacon, PharmD, BCPS
Rani E. Thamawatanakul, PharmD
Amber Douglass, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP
Ericka Crouse, PharmD, BCPP, CGP, FASHP
Robert Haight, PharmD, BCPP
As an ongoing service, CPNP is pleased to provide the results of its annual survey of Residency Program Directors. In 2016, 78 distinct Residency Program Directors (RPDs) were contacted and 59 responded (76% response rate). The survey results the following types of programs:
Question 11 inquired about ASHP accreditation status which is depicted in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Plans for ASHP Accreditation
Of the RPDs that responded, 81.4% intend to remain ASHP-accredited programs while 13.6% plan to become an ASHP-accredited program. One RPD will be discontinuing their residency program secondary to loss of funding. No programs report plans to remain non-accredited. All responding PGY-2 programs offered a mixture of inpatient and outpatient settings, with one program also incorporating a residential setting (1.7%).
For the 2016-2017 residency year, 89.5% of respondents filled all of their residency slots. ASHP’s pre-commitment process to accept a PGY-1 resident into the PGY-2 program was utilized in 17 programs (28.8%); 71.2% did not use the pre-commitment process. Three programs (5.7%) had unfilled positions converted to another position. Ten programs (17.5%) participated in the Phase II Match, five of which reported their experience with the new match process as good. Reasons for not filling a residency position included:
The majority (98.7%) of residents were able to obtain positions after completing their residency program, only one respondent reported that their resident was still looking for a position at the time of survey completion. The majority (58.8%) of residents obtained Clinical Specialist positions, most of which were Psychiatric or Neurologic Clinical Specialists (70.2%). Over half of the positions obtained after residency were in VA Hospitals (57.3%), which is consistent with previous years. Nearly half (47.8%) of positions obtained after residency had a required staffing component, however a majority (73.2%) of the positions were considered to have at least a 50% psychiatric focus (Figure 2). A majority (61.2%) of positions obtained after residency were in the inpatient clinical setting (Figure 3).
Figure 2. Clinical Settings of Positions Obtained After Residency
Figure 3. Psychiatric Focus of Positions Obtained After Residency
When asked about the hiring of applicants for clinical practice or clinical faculty positions in psychiatry/neurology, the top three minimum requirements to qualify as a competitive candidates included: completion of a PGY-1 residency, completion of a PGY-2 Psychiatric Pharmacy Residency and obtaining the BCPP credential.
More than half of the residencies (61.0%) currently obtain funding from the VA Health System, which is consistent with previous years, however the overall percent slightly increased from 55% to 61% (Figure 4). Five programs anticipate additional funding that would allow them to expand the number of residency positions that they offer, which increased from only one program as of last year.
Figure 4. Residency Program Funding Source
*Note: some RPDs reported multiple sources of funding
The CPNP Resident and New Practitioner Committee appreciates the Residency Program Directors who completed this survey which allows for continuation in providing meaningful data to the membership regarding psychiatric residency training.