Blog Viewer

For many 4th year pharmacy students, December means Midyear Clinical Meeting and residency applications.

I arrived at Midyear focused on gaining as much information as possible from the Residency Showcase. I spoke to 5-8 programs per session and was prepared with specific and general questions for each program. Many programs had several interested applicants in a semi-circle around one resident. Some programs had lines of applicants waiting for a chance to speak with a program representative. Part of the experience, is politely transitioning in and out of the circles and asking enough questions to get a good feel for the program, but not too many questions to monopolize a representative's time. After meeting with each program, I wrote down whom I spoke to and what I learned at each program. There are tables scattered around the showcase so applicants have a chance to collect their thoughts. I wish that I had written down more details about what was discussed at each program. I only handed out one CV, but gave out a bunch of business cards. Overall, I found the showcase very useful at getting a feel for programs, having specific questions answered, and narrowing down which programs I want to apply to.

Now, I am in the middle of completing my residency applications. Filling out PhORCAS took longer than I expected. Each extracurricular activity has to be entered separately and in the correct order. I finally finished my letter of intent! It was challenging for me to choose which of my activities to emphasize in a limited amount of space. I look forward to submitting my applications over the next week. 

Best of luck to the 2015 residency applicants!