Pursuing postgraduate pharmacy training in the United States for international pharmacy graduates: Approaches, current status, challenges, and future perspectives

Abstract

AimsThis paper aims to describe the procedures and current status regarding the pursuit of postgraduate pharmacy training in the United States for international pharmacy graduates. Also, it highlights some of the challenges those individuals may face throughout their journey and provides future perspectives.MethodsTo describe the procedures regarding the pursuit of postgraduate pharmacy training in the United States, we searched and summarized the information in public online platforms, such as the National Matching System, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, and many others. To describe the current status, we searched the publicly available American Society of Health‐System Pharmacists residency online directory and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy fellowship online directory for programs offered to international pharmacy graduates.ResultsTwo main pathways were identified to pursue postgraduate pharmacy training in the United States for international pharmacy graduates. Of the currently available residency training programs, we identified 16 programs that offer postgraduate year one and eight programs that offer postgraduate year two positions for international pharmacy graduates. We identified 64 fellowship programs in the American College of Clinical Pharmacy fellowship directory. However, the directory does not provide information on whether or not these fellowship programs will accept international pharmacy graduates.ConclusionIn order to pursue postgraduate training in the United States, international pharmacy graduates face several logistical, administrative, and immigration obstacles. This is the first article to describe the current status, provide guidance on the approaches to pursue postgraduate pharmacy training in the United States, address some of the challenges, and provide several recommendations to be considered in the future.

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“…Additionally, healthcare policymakers should consider investing heavily in additional logistic, financial, and social support for individuals interested in establishing cardiology training sites in these underserved areas. Another solution to this challenge is to increase the number of individuals obtaining their cardiology training in the United States to meet the current demand 27. Moreover, there is an excellent opportunity to explore activating telehealth in rural areas that lack pharmacist-run cardiology clinics where pharmacists could run virtual clinics and provide patient care to those in need.…”

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