So you just started APPE. You're stressed and frantic trying to keep up with journal clubs and topic discussions, and having to be at the hospital for 6:30am rounds is slowly killing you. Preparing for residency application season is a whole 6 months away and is honestly the last thing on your mind. But, it shouldn't be. It is so easy to start preparing now, so that when PhORCAS opens up you are armed with all the information you need to fill out those apps with ease.
Document your interventions
On residency interviews you'll be asked time and time again "tell us about a time when you.....". These are situational based questions meant to evaluate your behavior, coping, attitude, etc. The best type of answer to this sort of question is responding with a relevant intervention you made! So, it will be a massive help to yourself if you start documenting all the awesome pharmacy interventions you make on rotation. Create a document, organize it by rotation, and write in a short summary of what you did. Thats it, its so simple! You think you'll remember that super cool thing you did from June in December, but let me tell you, you won't. Your brain is going to be so crowded with all the stress of apps and rotations will blend together. I created one of these documents and was really diligent about using it for my first 3 rotations, but then I fell off the wagon after that. When I was preparing for interviews I found myself referencing the document quite a bit and becoming frustrated with myself for not recording interventions I had done at the rest of my rotations. So trust me, recording this stuff will help!
Volunteer for extra work
If residency is your end goal you need to optimize your experience in all your clinical rotations. In my inpatient and ambulatory care rotations, I said yes to every project, opportunity, and event. Saying yes, and being genuine about it, shows that you're ready to work hard, and that you care about the work that you're doing. Your preceptors will repay you for that enthusiasm. I was extremely excited to be taking on the extra projects my preceptors offered me, and a lot of the projects ended up becoming the center of my residency application. I was able to be involved in papers, and presentations that were great talking points during my interview.
Think about letters of recommendation early
Think about the rotations that are most in line with where you see yourself as a future pharmacist and consider asking the preceptors in those rotations for letters of recommendation. While you should be working your butt off in ALL your rotations, it is in these rotations that you should try to shine as much as possible. You want your letter writers to have a lot of good things to say after all! Also, thinking about this early on and planning which preceptors you may want letters from will help your be prepared in case a preceptor is unable to write a letter. Wait till the end of the rotation and if possible, ask them in person!
Keep your CV up to date
Your CV should be updated continuously and in real-time. That whole thing I mentioned about forgetting interventions earlier? Yeah, it applies here too. There were a few times I did an event or joined an organization and forgot to immediately add it to my CV and guess what, it never made it there for residency interviews. I can tell you I labored over my CV, edited it countless times, and totally forgot to add one of the major organizations I was in. Did this matter in the end? No. But if you have an experience you're proud of it deserves to be on that CV! So try to keep up with it as much as possible and you'll thank yourself come December.
I promise doing these four simple things will help immensely when you start inquiring about residency applications. It is already a stressful time and anything you can do to alleviate the anxiety surrounding it will be a huge help. Good luck and there will be more advice to come as interview/app season approaches!
