Survey of learning opportunities in academia for pharmacy residents

Purpose. The types of teaching experiences offered in academia in pharmacy residency programs affiliated with or offered through colleges of pharmacy throughout the United States were evaluated. Methods. Two 15-item questionnaires were developed, one for programs that offer a concentrated rotation in academia and one for programs that offer longitudinal opportunities in academia. These questionnaires were developed to assess the activities incorporated into the different learning experiences, the number of residents completing concentrated rotations, the residency director's perception of the benefit to the residents, and barriers that exist for institutions that do not offer concentrated rotations. The questionnaires were distributed electronically to pharmacy residency directors at academic medical centers and colleges of pharmacy in the University HealthSystem Consortium listserver. The responses were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Results. Of the 154 institutions identified for survey distribution, 86 were academic medical centers and 68 were colleges of pharmacy and affiliated programs. Program directors from 99 institutions completed a questionnaire (response rate, 64.3%), representing 434 postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) and 290 postgraduate year 2 (PGY2) residency positions. Thirty-six percent (n = 36) of respondents offered a concentrated rotation in academia, and 64% (n = 63) offered longitudinal opportunities in academia. Sixty-six institutions offered a teaching certificate program; however, it was mandatory in only 42% of programs. Conclusion. The majority of PGY1 and PGY2 residency programs surveyed did not offer concentrated rotations in academia but did offer longitudinal opportunities for residents to gain teaching experience. The majority of programs that did not offer these experiences did want formal training on how to provide these opportunities.