FACTORS MOTIVATING PHARMACY STUDENTS TO PURSUE RESIDENCY AND FELLOWSHIP TRAINING

Factors that influence pharmacy students to pursue residency and fello wship training were studied. Directors of 514 residency or fellowship programs were asked to distribute to their residents or fellows a surv ey concerning factors that influenced their decision to enter a reside ncy or fellowship. Deans of the 75 U.S. pharmacy schools were sent a r elated survey and asked to forward it to the faculty or staff member w ho was most involved in promoting residencies and fellowships to stude nts. This survey asked about methods for promoting the programs and th e faculty member's opinion on why students chose to become residents a nd fellows. Residents and fellows cited ''to gain knowledge and experi ence,'' ''recognition of new and challenging roles,'' and ''desire for specialized training'' as their leading reasons for entering their pr ograms. The pharmacy school representatives also cited ''to gain knowl edge and experience'' and ''desire for specialized training'' as leadi ng reasons. The residents and fellows thought instruction on residenci es and fellowships should occur earlier in the pharmacy degree program s than it was being provided. The pharmacy school respondents consider ed the largest barriers to entering such programs ''financial'' and '' a job was available upon graduation from pharmacy school.'' The pharma cy school survey results were broken into two groups: the 9 schools th at produced the most students who went on to residencies and fellowshi ps, and the rest of the schools. The former group was more likely to o ffer the Pharm.D. degree and to involve preceptors, residents, and fel lows in didactic and clerkship teaching. Two factors-''to gain knowled ge and experience'' and ''desire for specialized training''-were cited most frequently by survey respondents as important factors in student s' decisions to pursue residencies and fellowships, and schools that p roduce more residents and fellows tended to involve preceptors, reside nts, and fellows in didactic and clerkship training.