Academic and training requirements in advertisements for pharmacy management and clinical positions

Exploring employer job requirements: An analysis of pharmacy job announcements

OBJECTIVES

Postgraduate training, dual degrees, and board certifications are credentials viewed by academic pharmacy communities and professional organizations as positive assets for those seeking pharmacist jobs; however, a key question merits further investigation: do these views match employer expectations? The primary objective of this study was to identify the most common qualifications employers require as stated in job advertisements.

METHODS

Pharmacist job postings from the aggregate jobs website Indeed.com were evaluated for the 20 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. Search criteria included: pharmacist, full-time, and within a 50-mile radius of the metropolitan area. Positions were excluded if they were not pharmacist specific, did not require a pharmacy degree, were part-time, or were temporary. Required and preferred qualifications were collected in the following categories: practice type, experience needed, training, certification, and desired skills.

RESULTS

Six hundred and eleven of 1356 postings met inclusion criteria. Positions were classified as community (113), health-system (264), industry (149), academia (9), or other (76). Four hundred and six (66.4%) required a minimum of a Bachelor's of Pharmacy degree, while 174 (28.4%) required a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Experience was required for 467 positions (range of 6 months to 14 years). Postgraduate training was required for 73 positions (66 residency/7 fellowship). One job required a Master's degree, type unspecified. BPS certifications were required for 7 positions (1.1%) and preferred for 22 positions (3.6%). Certifications and skills most required by employers were verbal and written skills (248), Microsoft Office proficiency (93), immunization certifications (51), and Basic Life Support/Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation certifications (37).

CONCLUSION

Postgraduate training, dual degrees, and board certification were not significant factors in the qualification criteria for the positions identified. The qualifications most often required by employers were experience and skills. Our findings indicated that employers wanted many soft skills that cannot be quantified.

Education, postgraduate training, board certification, and experience requirements in advertisements for clinical faculty positions

OBJECTIVES

To compare requirements for pharmacy practice faculty positions in advertisements from 2002 through 2006 to those reported from 1990 through 1994.

METHODS

Positions advertised from January 2002 through December 2006 in 3 newsletters and journals were evaluated for required or preferred degree, completion of residencies and/or fellowships, years of work experience, board certification, and other postgraduate training and education. Advertisements were separated by tenure-eligibility and rank.

RESULTS

Of 426 advertisements for faculty members, 77% required additional training, including residencies and fellowships or their equivalent in experience. Board certification was required in only 0.9% but preferred in 11%. Advertisements for tenure-eligible positions did not have more extensive requirements than nontenured, nor did upper vs. lower rank.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared to 1996, the number of advertisements requiring postgraduate training to secure a faculty position almost doubled. Whether the qualifications of faculty members recruited match the requirements is unknown.

Dual degree programs at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy

The rapid growth and evolution of the pharmacy profession has created a wide array of opportunities for graduating pharmacists beyond traditional community pharmacy or hospital practice. Management and leadership positions in federal and state healthcare agencies, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, retail pharmacies, academia and managed care organizations increasingly require the pharmaceutical knowledge obtained through a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) degree combined with financial, organizational, and management skills. In these innovative positions, pharmacists are being called upon to assume responsibilities as executives and administrators in systems providing pharmacist care services to patients. To endow students with knowledge and skills required to perform the duties required in these decision-making positions, the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy has established 3 joint degree programs: the PharmD/Master of Business Administration (PharmD/MBA), PharmD/Master of Public Administration (PharmD/MPA), and PharmD/Master of Science in Economics (PharmD/MS). This paper describes these joint degree programs.

Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties–Certified Faculty: A Survey of United States Colleges of Pharmacy

Board certification of pharmacists has been a reality in the United States since 1976, when the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties (BPS) was founded. Little has been reported about the effects of board certification of pharmacists, particularly pharmacy practice faculty, since 1992, when the BPS administered its first certification examination. We developed and pretested a survey to describe and measure the effect of BPS certification on the realm of academia as perceived by deans of colleges of pharmacy in the United States. Deans or other appropriate officials at all 84 colleges of pharmacy in the United States were asked to complete and submit this 13-question survey, which was administered through the Web and maintained respondents' anonymity. Officials from 35 of the 84 colleges completed the survey, for a response rate of 42%. No college reported that board certification was a condition for employment. Eight schools (23%) anticipated a certification requirement in the future. The most commonly reimbursed items associated with certification were fees for the American College of Clinical Pharmacy preparatory course and the BPS examination. Twelve schools (34%) provided no reimbursement toward certification. The most common incentive for faculty to obtain certification was consideration in promotion and tenure (66%). We believe that this information will facilitate efforts to gauge the effects of BPS certification on colleges of pharmacy. We also anticipate that it will assist colleges as they attempt to recruit and retain the most qualified faculty members possible, particularly in light of the national pharmacist shortage.