Post‐graduate pharmacy fellowships: The current state of affairs

• Published in: JAACP : Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy 2023-02, Vol.6 (2), p.145-153
• Main Authors: Elmes, Abigail T., Holger, Dana J., Cieslak, Karolina, Desai, Divya, Kunz Coyne, Ashlan J., Patel, Vraj, Rodgers, Jo E., Jarrett, Jennie B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: fellowships; pharmaceutical research; pharmacy; training
• ISSN: 2574-9870; 2574-9870
• DOI: 10.1002/jac5.1746

While pharmacy residencies are relatively unanimous in their focus on cultivating quality clinical pharmacists with exceptional clinical knowledge and practice skills, post‐graduate pharmacy fellowships offer training opportunities to develop skills for successful entry into other career types, with major differences between and within various types including pharmaceutical industry, clinical practice, academia/education, and other fellowship programs. In general, pharmaceutical industry fellowships are designed to prepare pharmacy graduates to primarily contribute to various aspects of pharmaceutical drug development and marketing with skills aligned with a specific functional area within pharmaceutical industry. Clinical practice, academia/education, and other research fellowships generally focus on developing research skills in targeted areas ranging from specific therapeutic areas, teaching and learning, or disciplines of research. Most fellowship programs provide training and experiences to develop vital translatable skills such as interpersonal, written, and verbal communication, time and project management, leadership, and teamwork. Conversely, fellowship training can differ considerably, even within individual fellowship types and programs, in specific purpose, structure, required activities, funding, collaborative affiliations, and the specific career a graduate may be qualified to pursue after program completion. The objectives of this article are to differentiate various types of post‐graduate pharmacy fellowship programs and to review strengths and potential areas for improvement across all post‐graduate pharmacy fellowship programs.