RESIDENCY TRAINING FOR PHARMACISTS WHO PROVIDE DIRECT PATIENT CARE

To recognize that optimal direct patient care by a pharmacist requires the development of clinical judgment, which can be acquired only through experience and reflection on that experience; further,

Pharmacists who provide direct patient care should have completed an ASHP-accredited residency or have attained comparable skills through practice experience; further,

To support the position that the completion of an ASHP-accredited postgraduate-year-one residency be required for all new college or school of pharmacy graduates who will be providing direct patient care.

Rationale

Pharmacists who engage in direct patient care can improve patient outcomes and significantly decrease the overall costs of the healthcare system. Completion of a postgraduate pharmacy residency enables a pharmacist to maximize the provision of these direct patient care services. The use of well-trained pharmacy technicians and technological advances will minimize pharmacists’ dispensing roles. Based on the assumption that in the next 20-30 years most pharmacists will be providing direct patient care, it is incumbent upon the pharmacy profession to ensure that pharmacists are in a position to most effectively optimize medication outcomes.

Pharmacy students who graduate meet the minimum competency requirements based on pharmacy licensing examinations; however, pharmacists who have completed a residency are better equipped to provide direct patient care due to advanced training based on repetitive practice, preceptor guidance, and the additional interdisciplinary training they receive. This direction is consistent with ASHP’s Long-Range Vision for the Pharmacy Workforce in Hospitals and Health Systems.

Similar to the medical model in which medical school graduates complete a residency that allows for the standardization of physician training and the attainment of an appropriate level of competency, the profession of pharmacy would benefit from a similar standardization of training. The value of pharmacy residency programs has been demonstrated over time and has stimulated a significant increase in accredited residency programs as well as employer demand for residency-trained pharmacists. Residency training bolsters clinical skills and further develops clinical judgement through experience and reflection on that experience.