Although the pharmacy profession has continued to evolve, the overall demand for pharmacists has waned since last year, according to the latest figures from the Aggregate Demand Index (ADI).

Supported by the Pharmacy Workforce Center, the ADI uses data from panelists involved in the hiring of pharmacists to provide a continuous measure of national, regional, and state-level demand for pharmacists. The 5-point scale on which the ADI estimates demand can be found on the Table.

5 = High demand; difficult to fill open positions

			4 = Moderate demand; some difficulty filling open positions

			2 = Demand is less than the pharmacist supply available

			1 = Demand is much less than the pharmacist supply available

The most recent available data show national pharmacist demand was 2.94 in March 2016, a decrease from the demand score of 3.55 estimated in March 2015.

Large organizations that include community, clinic, and inpatient pharmacies were found to have a particular high demand for pharmacists (3.62) compared with institutional settings (2.99) and community settings (2.95).

Regionally, the Western states saw the greatest demand (3.25) in March 2016, followed by Southern states (3.04) and Midwestern states (2.98), while the Northeastern states saw the least demand for pharmacists (2.27) during this time. Notably, the demand in each region was lower in March 2016 than it was in the previous year.

Among individual states, demand for pharmacists was highest in Louisiana (4.50), Oklahoma (4.17), and Mississippi (3.38), and lowest in Massachusetts (2.00), Rhode Island (2.00,) and New Jersey (1.80). See the Figure for a complete list of the March 2016 demand scores in each state.

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Although the pharmacy profession has continued to evolve, the overall demand for pharmacists has waned since last year, according to the latest figures from the Aggregate Demand Index.

Job Facts and Figures: Information for Success

‘Tis the season! In early December, thousands of pharmacy students will be heading to Las Vegas for the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition in hopes of landing a residency or fellowship after graduation.

The good news is that there are hundreds of potential residency and fellowship programs on display at Midyear. The bad news is that thousands of budding and early-career-stage pharmacists attend this event seeking a postgraduate gig, and not all of them are ultimately successful. How can you maximize Midyear, stand out to residency and fellowship directors, and be the ideal candidate for the positions at this meeting? Here are a few humble suggestions to consider as you plot your strategy.

When was the last time you took a look at your LinkedIn profile and perked it up with your projects, rotation experiences, skills, and education? Take the social networking service seriously—the rest of us do. Recruiters now claim they review LinkedIn profiles over resumes and CVs when screening potential employers for the first time.

When you think you’ve got your LinkedIn profile polished up and ready, try turning it into a resume. To do so, click the My Profile link in the upper left of the LinkedIn homepage, then click the tiny drop-down arrow to the right of the View Profile As button and choose Save To PDF. This version should be tested against your REAL CV or resume to make sure you’re capturing everything in both places; make sure they match, or match at least with the important items!

Consider integrating Slideshare into your profile to show off presentations, or nearly any URL links to your work online, and if you really want to get fancy, you can try uploading your LinkedIn profile PDF to a portal like Resumonk.com.

Although Midyear is the first time many students are exposed to residency or fellowship directors, you have very little time to make a solid first impression with a director when floating through Residency Showcase. Ask yourself what you would rather look at in a sea of white papers and resumes: another white boring piece of paper that looks like all the others, or something with color, projects to pinpoint about a candidate, and an interesting layout?

Did you pick the infographic yet? If you’re cruising the Showcase and get to meet one-on-one with a director in 60 seconds or less, would you pick the infographic then? While I don’t think an infographic resume could replace a CV quite yet in pharmacy for a formal interview, I do think Midyear’s Residency Showcase is one of the best places to try it out.

You could certainly go overboard with pictures and text, but if you’re unsure of what direction to take with your infographic resume, try searching for ideas on Google or Pinterest. Note that color and a pretty layout do not excuse poor grammar or misspelled words; your handouts must be perfect. To be safe, have several friends and family members read whatever it is you’re handing out.

If you’ve never had a business card, now is the time to get one. These little gems are one of the lowest cost, highest return on investment ways for you to differentiate yourself from the herd.  You can probably grab them from your university with their logo, but there are many cool options online that can help you stand out.

Avoid using a normal size and shape business card, as it will never stand out in a pile of business cards. My favorite custom business card portal with interesting shaped business cards right now is Uprinting.com, which offers affordable custom business cards with plenty of interesting shapes. 

When you hit Residency Showcase, wear a jacket with pockets (actual working pockets, ladies).  In one pocket, ask for and keep all the residency directors’ business cards; in the other, keep a stack of your cards, so that when you ask for a directors’ card, you trade it with yours. This way, you can head home having left behind your card (and maybe even your 1-page infographic resume), and you have a stack of residency and fellowship directors’ business cards and contact information.

99.9% of the residents and fellow candidates aren’t going to do what I’m about to suggest to you, but I can guess that the 0.1% that does ends up in their first choice of residency or fellowship. I want you to send a brief thank-you postcard to every director or business card contact you collected at Showcase after the meeting.

Postcard postage costs a little less than first class snail mail, and it’s another opportunity for you to stand out from the crowd and leave a positive impression with the person making the hiring decision. Here, you can custom create postcards that match you, your business card, and your infographic resume. The postcard should be handwritten, personal, and legible; additionally, be sure to include your contact information, and try to get them into the mail in a timely fashion.  Sometimes, I take a stack of cards with me on a trip where I met a lot of people/traded business cards, and then address my thank you post cards to them on the plane ride home. 

I ask recruiters all the time about hand written thank-you notes and very few people actually still send them, but the ones who do, get hired.

These are my 5 best tips for those who want to Maximize Midyear next month.  If you follow these tips, you may not immediately get a gig in Vegas, but you will get noticed!

Erin Albert, MBA, PharmD, JD, PAHM, is a health outcomes pharmacist and pharmacy fellowship director for Myers and Stauffer, LC, a co-host of The Pharmacy Podcast, writer, entrepreneur, attorney, preceptor, career coach, and STEM advocate. More on her at her blog, www.erinalbert.com.  

At the top of December, thousands of pharmacy students will be heading to Las Vegas for the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition in hopes of landing a residency or fellowship after graduation.

5 Tips for Maximizing Midyear

As the wife of a collegiate basketball coach, I have lived in 7 states over 8 years; moving is simply a part of the game. During the first few years of this lifestyle, I had come to accept that I would not have a real career, and that graduate or professional school was out of the question. I certainly felt as though I could not be accepted into and get through pharmacy school and rotations when I was consistently on the move.

Four months after my husband and I moved to Montana in 2009, I was able to secure a job working in a community health center as a medication assistance coordinator. Given the economic climate of the time, I was grateful to have a job, but this position soon blossomed into something much more. During my time there, I was frequently mistaken as a pharmacist when rotating students, from the local pharmacy school, would shadow me; over time, this led me to consider applying to and attending pharmacy school. While I was concerned about the possibility of moving again, I eventually decided that while I could not predict the future, I still needed to follow my passion and pursue a career as a pharmacist.

As I took the next steps in determining what classes I needed to take to get into pharmacy school, and figuring out how to fit that into my work schedule, I was recruited into a new position by the local nonprofit hospital, where I worked for a great woman who encouraged me to continue my education. With her help, I began taking up to 9 credits per semester while working full time; this led to many late nights and many passed-up social events on the weekends, but I knew that current sacrifices would lead to future successes. 

After about a year and a half of having this schedule and preparing to apply for pharmacy school at the University of Montana (UM), my husband was offered another job at Oregon State University (OSU). Although my husband’s new employer had a pharmacy school, almost all of the prerequisites were different from those at UM. This forced me to reassess what was needed and figure out how to get it done, but I was able to formulate another plan of action.

Just a year later, however, my plans changed once again when the OSU head coach and supporting coaching staff were surprisingly let go. Thus, we were left searching for new jobs and facing the likely reality of another move. Fortunately, my husband was able to find another job, this time in Utah, so we packed our bags, yet again, and made the move.

Now that my husband was settled, I turned my attention back to my own career aspirations. I remembered a meeting I had with a previous advisor who had mentioned a remote four-year pharmacy program offered by the Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions (CUSPHP) in Omaha, Nebraska. This sounded like it would make the most sense in my life, but the prospect led to many questions. Would an online program work for me? What were the logistics? Would I get in? Would it affect getting a job in the future? As I researched the program, I learned that the online students use distance technology to complete the same classes as the on-site students; the only exceptions to this are the labs, which remote students take during a short on-site period during the summer. I also found that I had already completed all of the prerequisites, so all that was left was to complete the application, write my essays, and take the PCAT.

After sending in my application for the CUSPHP distance program in September 2014, I was invited to the Creighton campus for an interview in early December. The interview process was surprisingly inviting and unintimidating, as I was welcomed by faculty, staff, and current students. In speaking with technology staff during this interview, I was reassured about the demands of the distance program, and knew I had made the right decision. A couple weeks after the interview and a few days before Christmas, I received a phone call from CUSPHP to let me know I had been accepted into the distance program, a decision that left me both ecstatic and relieved.

I am now about to begin my second year of pharmacy school at Creighton, and I continue to be pleased with my decision. Although the CUSPHP distance program is rigorous, it has provided me with flexibility in my day-to-day life, and helped me to break free of the figurative chains that prevented me from seeking a career as a pharmacist. Things may not always be easy, run smoothly, or go as planned, but it is always worth it to pursue your dreams and educate yourself to the highest level of your abilities.

As the wife of a collegiate basketball coach, I have lived in 7 states over 8 years; moving is simply a part of the game.

Learning from a Distance

As members of the Rutgers University chapter of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP), we recently had the opportunity to attend AMCP Nexus, a major pharmacy convention held in National Harbor, MD. As one of AMCP’s two annual conventions, Nexus aims to provide in-depth educational programming on the current advances and challenges in managed care.

In the past, our student chapter had only sent a few students each year to national conventions, and so we looked to Nexus as an opportunity to expand our horizons with the encouragement of our faculty advisors.

We first tackled the planning and logistics of the trip, completing budgeting and booking our hotel rooms as soon as the early bird registration opened. Fortunately, National Harbor is within reasonable driving distance of Rutgers, a factor that motivated us to attend.

In order to be fully prepared for the conference, we made sure to research the list of events and programs, aided by a very sophisticated smartphone app offered by AMCP that allowed us to navigate through hotel maps and view speaker schedules in advance. As the conference drew closer, we discussed which programs would benefit us and our student chapter.

One surprising concern that we faced while preparing was deciding what to pack. We wanted to proudly represent Rutgers in professional attire, but it was difficult to gauge what the professionals around us might wear and which shoes would be suitable yet comfortable enough for a full day of conference activities. In the end, we erred on the side of caution and chose to dress in business professional attire, which turned out to be the correct choice.

When it came to packing, we also had to plan which accessories to bring, including bags, writing utensils, and business cards. The convention provided nice canvas bags for carrying papers and brochures, but we also saw women carrying medium-sized totes and men carrying messenger bags. Most of the attendees, including students, also carried business cards. By the second night, our collection of business cards had grown to a decent size, and proved to be very helpful in writing follow-up emails to professionals and staying in touch with students from other chapters.

Walking into the convention center, the atmosphere of warmth and excitement within the venue immediately made us feel welcome. Signs clearly directed us to the various rooms of the Nexus convention, which helped to steer us away from the several other conventions being held simultaneously in the same building.

We attended a meet-and-greet session for student pharmacists, where we discovered that some pharmacy schools routinely encourage students to attend national conventions. Over 40 student pharmacists from the University of Maryland were in attendance, and 6 students had traveled down from the newly formed AMCP chapter at Touro College of Pharmacy in New York.

The educational seminars were split into several different series based on areas of interest: “The Basics of Key Managed Care Pharmacy Topics,” “Drugs, Diseases and the Managed Care Impact,” “The Evolving Health Care Environment,” “Current Aspects in Specialty Pharmacy Management,” and “Putting Managed Care Pharmacy Research to Work.” As students, we focused on lectures from “The Basics” series and learned about topics such as risk sharing between payers and pharmaceutical companies, outcomes-based contracting, and evaluating value-assessment frameworks. The sessions were geared toward professionals in a variety of backgrounds with different aptitudes, so we found the lectures to be not only educational, but accessible, as well.

Outside of the seminars, we also found opportunities to learn at the daily poster sessions, morning group yoga, the residency showcase, and even during meals. On the Nexus website, it was suggested that attendees try to sit with an unfamiliar face at lunch. While this sounded daunting, the environment at the convention facilitated networking and made meeting new people easy and stimulating. We found that all of the attendees, professionals and students alike, were extremely willing to greet one another, talk about their backgrounds and ideas, and listen receptively. The discussions in all of these structured and unstructured forums motivated us to think about what new goals we could reach, both as individuals and as an AMCP student chapter.

The AMCP Nexus convention was a perfect way for students to begin exploring their future careers beyond the insulated academic bubble of pharmacy school. As first-time conference attendees, we arrived slightly apprehensive about mingling among professionals and meeting so many strangers. but we soon found ourselves incorporated into the midst of the conference, where we learned, exchanged ideas, and had fun. Based on our experience at Nexus, we encourage our fellow pharmacy students to step up and take on future convention opportunities.

Ginny Li is a 2018 PharmD candidate at the Rutgers University Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, and the P&T coordinator for the Rutgers University AMCP Chapter. 

Soham Shukla is a 2019 PharmD candidate at the Rutgers University Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, and the president-elect of the Rutgers University AMCP Chapter. 

Jenny Shan is a 2018 PharmD candidate at the Rutgers University Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, and the president of the Rutgers University AMCP Chapter.

As one of Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s two annual conventions, AMCP Nexus aims to provide in-depth educational programming on the current advances and challenges in managed care.

Taking on AMCP Nexus: A First-Time Conference Experience

 and Walmart honor students throughout the year with the Respect, Excellence, and Service in Pharmacy (RESPy) Award. This award is presented to extraordinary pharmacy students who have made a difference in their communities by demonstrating excellence in pharmaceutical care and advancing the profession of pharmacy.

 and Walmart would like to congratulate the 2016 winners:

“Innovation and being resourceful are important traits for pharmacists to possess, especially in today’s health care market as organizations look to minimize costs while meeting metrics on safety and quality.”

Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacy

“Patients love to feel they are a priority and not a metric, so pharmacists must be sure to spend as much time as possible with patients to provide the best care possible.”

Evva Destine Hoover, PharmD Candidate 2016

“I’m always looking for opportunities to give back, and I’ve learned so much from the amazing people I’ve served with and helped.”

University of Michigan College of Pharmacy

“We must create our own opportunities; we cannot wait for an opportunity to be presented to us. We should utilize our creativity and value to push the boundaries of our profession and the impact we can have on the health care community.” 

University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy

“Pharmacists have a unique role in which they must be able to work with people who have various roles and education levels, including other health care providers, students, and patients.”

Dominique Dormeville, PharmD Candidate 2018

“Thoroughly understanding our patients’ needs and empathizing with their situation allows pharmacists to communicate appropriately with patients and address their concerns.”

University of Findlay College of Pharmacy

“My service opportunities have allowed me to gain new perspectives on pharmacy, transform the way I communicate with others, and develop relationships that I will cherish the remainder of my life.”

“A pharmacist has to have compassion for people of all walks of life on all days of their life.  You really have to put yourself in someone else’s place in order to effectively teach the patient about their medications and to fully understand their current condition.”

Pharmacy Times and Walmart honor students throughout the year with the Respect, Excellence, and Service in Pharmacy (RESPy) Award.

RESPy Recap 2016

When making the decision to pursue a post-graduate residency program, I knew I wanted a community-based clinical setting that allows patients and families to easily access pharmacists. I wanted the opportunity to learn from the wealth of knowledge of experienced pharmacists, as well as engage in a role as a community healthcare provider and resource. In order to accomplish this, it was important to choose a setting that was established and reputable both in the pharmacy industry and with the public as a health and wellness source.

Albertsons Companies has stores in most major US markets and encompasses banners that have operated in American communities for decades. Starting out as a family business in the early 20

 century, the company has met the health and wellness needs of individuals and their families for multiple generations, and now includes over 2200 grocery stores and over 1700 pharmacies. The history and prominence of Albertsons is one of the reasons I chose to pursue a residency with the company.

As an Albertsons resident, I have had the opportunity to gain experience and learn from pharmacists in various practice settings, including an outpatient ambulatory care geriatric clinic, at Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona, and at Albertsons Companies’ Southwest division. Each practice site offers a distinct perspective on the profession, with some striving to meet the health needs of a diverse patient population and others making business decisions that may have an impact operations for hundreds of pharmacies.

Midwestern University-Glendale includes its community-based residents in a number of academic roles. As residents, we get hands-on experience working with student pharmacists in honing the practical skills necessary to practice pharmacy, such as conducting effective patient interviews. The residents also have the opportunity to enhance their precepting skills by offering constructive feedback to the student pharmacists under the guidance of a faculty member. The residents present several lectures, expanding their presentation skills as well as taking on the task of preparing the lecture and the accompanying test questions for student pharmacists. As with all PGY1 residencies, residents take on a year-long research project that emphasizes the importance of practice-based pharmacy research.

I have also had the opportunity to learn from key leaders and managers within Albertsons. These individuals not only influence the company’s operations, but also help foster the collaborative culture of the organization. It was important to be to be able to learn from company leadership to provide a framework to understand the rationale behind policies and procedures in the community pharmacy setting.

A great deal of value comes from conversing with as many pharmacists in your residency area of interest as possible. Though I did not have the opportunity to engage with my mentors before residency, I did reach out to pharmacists in my community to get their perspective and input on my interests in a community-based pharmacy residency. The pharmacists I met while on rotation with the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) were very helpful and encouraging. They shared their experiences with residencies and fellowships and highlighted the varied paths one can take to their chosen career in the field of pharmacy. After starting my residency with Albertsons, I continued to engage with pharmacists and took the opportunity to learn from their experiences and to find out more about what drew them to community pharmacy.

One of these pharmacists, Ashlie Temple, PharmD, recently completed her residency and is now a residency coordinator for the Southwest division. In her role as coordinator she is highly involved in developing and growing the residency program. In addition to these duties, Dr. Temple is a staff pharmacist for a store in Goodyear, Arizona, where she uses the cognitive services that community pharmacists provide to their patients.

“The pharmacists at Albertsons Companies are vital members of the community, where they know patients by name and inquire about the patient’s family members. Such familiarity fosters a close partnership, where the patients see their community pharmacists as a vital resource for health information,” Dr. Temple said. “The small family atmosphere at Albertsons Companies pharmacies draws patients in because they know they’ll be well looked after.”

Another pharmacist, Karen Liu, PharmD, was also a Albertsons Companies resident and is currently a staff pharmacist at one of the busiest stores in the organization’s Southwest division. Dr. Liu has a passion for patient care and upon completion of her residency she devoted a great deal of her time to travel health and diabetes management; she also sees patients through the Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance program to help them manage their disease. The quarterly appointments allow Dr. Liu to develop a partnership with her patients and helps them to gain better control of their diabetes.

“I like to spend time with the patients and conduct point-of-care testing,” Dr. Liu said. “Such opportunities showcase the skills and knowledge pharmacists contribute to healthcare team.”

Finally, I had the pleasure of meeting one of Albertsons’ district managers, Doug Skvarla, RPh, who over his 5 years with the company has seen firsthand the value that Albertsons places in its team members. Skvarla has devoted much of his time to mentoring pharmacists, and says he believes that the most satisfying aspect of his role with Albertsons is watching these individuals reach their full potential. With district managers such as Skvarla who are dedicated to supporting the stores and ensuring they have the tools needed to provide optimum patient care, all pharmacy teams are able to make a difference.

Though the company started as a grocery chain, Albertsons Companies has grown to become a leader in community pharmacy practice with a focus on the patient and personal relationships. As the role of pharmacists evolves, Albertsons continues to grow to meet the needs of its patients, and I am happy to be able to grow as a pharmacist with a company that shares my values.

Anissa Marzuki is a post-graduate year 1 (PGY1) community practice resident with Albertsons Companies in Phoenix, AZ. She moved from Hawaii where she earned her PharmD from The Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy. Anissa earned her master's in Public Health from the University of Maryland, College Park.

When making the decision to pursue a post-graduate residency program, I knew I wanted a community-based clinical setting that allows patients and families to easily access pharmacists.

Pharmacy Careers November 2016

Job Facts and Figures: Information for Success

5 Tips for Maximizing Midyear

Learning from a Distance

Taking on AMCP Nexus: A First-Time Conference Experience

RESPy Recap 2016

Choosing Your Employer: Why it Matters