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year is full of transitions. We start to prepare to become pharmacists and decide where we would like to have a career whether as a resident, fellow, or staff pharmacist. We move away from didactic lectures and have increased clinical experiences from which to draw knowledge. And within ASHP we prepare to move from the Pharmacy Student Forum (PSF) to the New Practitioners Forum (NPF). I am a pharmacy student from the University of Colorado on rotation at ASHP headquarters from September 25^th to November 4^th. My preceptor, Christina Martin, is the Director of ASHP Membership Forums working closely with NPF. Working on assignments with the NPF has allowed me to find further resources for my upcoming career transition.

The Career Transitions web page has information to help new practitioners in all stages of their careers. This includes students (pre-match), students (post-match), residents, and new practitioners. Based on my time in life, and the time of year (can anyone say Midyear Clinical Meeting?), I am focusing on the pre-match section, aptly subtitled “How do I get to Match Day in one piece?” Below I will go into a bit of information about some of the sections and how they have been and will be useful preparing for Midyear, interviews, and beyond.

• Residency Directory: this is probably one of the best-known resources for students provided through ASHP. From the Online you can search through programs based on location and type of program with PGY1, PGY2, or combined. This is the best way to find programs that are accredited and pre-candidate/candidate programs that are brand new. The pre-candidate program applications are coming in every day so you might just have a new residency program in your area next year!
  • I am looking at this section almost every day. Editing, adding, and deleting programs to my personal spreadsheet while finding out more information about each program I am interested in. Luckily I have many persons here at ASHP to discuss my residency pursuit strategy with!
• The Student Guide to Residency: this resource is provided through the PSF and has even more helpful documentation, including webinars and information about the application process.
  • Some of the documents I’ve used are the Timeline, PhORCAS, and the webinar about the Midyear.
• The Match: this is the website for the match (PhORCAS opens November 2^nd at 3pm and register for the match by December 31^st). This link takes you to an overview of how the match works with additional information about the relatively new Phase II match.
• Curriculum Vitae (CV) Resource Center & Review Program:
  • Some sections I found useful to help edit my CV were the Review Rubric, and the document on CV Transformations Through Career Transitions.
  • The CV review program for Fall semester has already passed and reviewers should have provided feedback by 10/19 if you submitted a CV.
• Personnel Placement Service (PPS): the video on the web page will give you more information about PPS if you’re not sure if you will be attending. The list of programs (but not positions until 10/25) can be found on this page as well.
  • Deadline for early bird discounted registration ends 10/24!
• The next three sections, Selecting the Right Residency Program, Professional Pearl: Writing a Pharmacy Residency Letter of Intent, and Interviewing Tips for the “Soon-to-Be” New Practitioner, all provide articles with information about their respective section. I won’t give away what they say but would recommend taking a look!

I am thankful for the resources provided through ASHP and to the mentors who have aided my on my career journey so far. I cannot wait to see what this next year has in store!