SIUE School of Pharmacy Graduates Attain 84% Residency Match Rate

For Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Pharmacy (SOP) graduates seeking to advance their educations and healthcare careers, pharmacy residency programs provide one such avenue.

The SIUE SOP has a strong history of successfully matching graduates with residency positions, this year landing in the top 10 percent of schools across the nation. This year, 84 percent of SOP graduates pursuing residencies obtained a match, exceeding the national average of 66 percent.

“Our success in residency match reflects the quality of our students and the School’s PharmD program, as well as our amazing faculty’s devotion to helping students,” said Jingyang Fan, PharmD, assistant dean of Academic Affairs and clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice.

Residencies provide postgraduate training, allowing the resident to practice direct patient care and practice management under the supervision of an experienced preceptor. Residents gain a competitive advantage in the job market, more clearly defined career goals, and a better perspective on which area of care best suits their interests.

The SOP works with students interested in residency training on their applications to the residency programs. These students then enter a match process, conducted by the National Match Services and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) in order to place candidates into residency positions.

Similar to matching programs used in other health professions, including medicine and dentistry, “the Match” provides an orderly process to help applicants obtain positions in residency programs of their choice and to help programs obtain applicants of their choice.

“Our match rate is an honest reflection of the efforts and energy put forth by our amazing faculty,” said Kelsey Elmore. “They are constantly creating opportunities to provide us with the best preparation and support to successfully match with a residency program.” Elmore, of Loveland, Colo., was matched with Dignity Health St. Rose Dominican – Siena Campus, located in Henderson, Nev.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to begin my career as a pharmacy resident at the VA St. Louis Health Care Center,” added Taylor Kirby, of Mackinaw. “Our class has always had a strong interest in pursuing residency after graduation. We would not be here without the strong support and guidance of our SOP faculty.”

In early December, students wishing to pursue residency begin a highly involved process of identifying and subsequently ranking their programs of choice. Similarly, residency programs compile a list ranking the desirable applicants in order of preference. All rank order lists are submitted to ASHP and run through a matching algorithm. The Match then places students into programs based entirely on the preferences of the rank order lists, and the Match list is announced in late spring.

Along with Elmore and Kirby, the following students were matched to programs:

Class of 2017 alumni who have decided to pursue a second-year residency include:

Photo: SIUE School of Pharmacy’s Maddie VanDaele presents her research on campus.