Accreditation - The act of granting approval to a postgraduate residency program after the program has met set requirements and has been reviewed and evaluated through an official process (document review, site survey, review and evaluation by the Commission on Credentialing).
Candidate - The status granted to a program that has a resident(s) in training, has applied to ASHP for accreditation, and is awaiting the official site survey, and review and evaluation by the Commission on Credentialing. As soon as the program receives ASHP-accredited status, its status is retroactive to the date of receipt of application, and includes those residents who were pursuing the residency at the time application for accreditation was submitted.
Conditional Accreditation - The status awarded by ASHP to a program that is not in substantial compliance with the applicable accreditation standard, as usually evidenced by the degree of severity of non-compliance and/or partial compliance findings. Programs must remedy identified problem areas and may undergo a subsequent on-site survey.
Early Commitment - Early commitment is a process whereby an organization with both PGY1 and PGY2 programs elects to allow its current PGY1 residents to commit to one of the organization's PGY2 residency positions for the following year, in advance of the Match. Guidelines regarding selection criteria, commitment rules, agreements and fees can be found in the Rules for the ASHP Pharmacy Matching Program.
New Graduate of a Doctor of Pharmacy Program - A graduate of the doctor of pharmacy program is a novice who possesses fundamental knowledge, skills, attitudes, and abilities to provide medication-related patient care, but has limited practice experience.
Postgraduate Year One (PGY1) Residency - Postgraduate year one of pharmacy residency training is an organized, directed, accredited program that builds upon knowledge, skills, attitudes, and abilities gained from an accredited professional pharmacy degree program. The first-year residency program enhances general competencies in managing medication-use systems and supports optimal medication therapy outcomes for patients with a broad range of disease states.
Postgraduate Year Two (PGY2) Residency - Postgraduate year two of pharmacy residency training is an organized, directed, accredited program that builds upon the competencies established in postgraduate year one of residency training. The second-year residency program is focused in a specific area of practice. The PGY2 program increases the resident's depth of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and abilities to raise the resident's level of expertise in medication therapy management and clinical leadership in the area of focus. In those practice areas where board certification exists, graduates are prepared to pursue such certification.
Pre-candidate - The status that may be granted to a program that has submitted a completed application indicating intent to seek "candidate" status. Programs may be in a pre-candidate status for no more than fifteen months. One of the purposes of this status is to assist the program in recruiting a resident through participation in the Resident Matching Program. If a program in pre-candidate status is not successful in recruiting a resident within fifteen months, the status may be extended for one additional twelve-month period. By the conclusion of this status, the program must have submitted an application for accreditation or this designation will be removed and not granted to the same program again. Programs in this status must submit an application for accreditation when training of the first resident begins.
Residency - A structured, directed, salaried, postgraduate training program in a defined area of pharmacy practice, typically lasting one year.
Residency Directory - An online publication, updated annually, is compiled by ASHP. It provides descriptions of each ASHP-accredited program, and programs in preliminary accreditation, candidate, and pre-candidate status. Included is location, contact person, type of residency, stipend, start date, and special features unique to that program.
Residency Showcase - An exhibit program conducted annually as part of the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting. The Showcase provides an opportunity for applicants to meet preceptors and current residents, and to get information about residency programs in which they may be interested.
Resident Matching Program (RMP) - Also called "The Match." The RMP is a formalized process conducted by National Matching Services Inc. to match applicants with pharmacy residency programs. After the match is conducted, unmatched candidates receive a list of sites with positions still available. Applicants then communicate directly with the residency programs.
