Pharmacy Residency Match Results for 2016 Released

Nearly 4000 pharmacy students recently matched with 1797 residency programs across the country.

For residency applicants who haven’t matched into programs, the good news is that they have another chance to do so though the Second Residency Match.

Interest in residencies is on the rise, and pharmacy students increasingly have more opportunities to land them. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Resident Matching Program noted that 322 residency positions were added to this year’s Match.

“The Match results show that the growth in numbers of both residency programs and available positions is outpacing the growth in the number of applicants,” stated Janet Silvester, PharmD, MBA, FASHP, vice president, ASHP Accreditation Services Division, in a press release. “That’s definitely a win in ASHP’s efforts to grow residency program capacity across the country.”

Last year, the Match had the highest number of available positions for students since 1979, but 382 positions went unfilled (60% more than this year) and 1755 applicants were left unmatched (9% more unmatched applicants since 2013).

This year, 3041 postgraduate year (PGY) 1 and 580 PGY2 students were matched. Meanwhile, 1569 PGY1 students and 248 PGY2 students did not match in the first round.

A total of 6713 applicants enrolled in the 2016 Match, but the 1275 who withdrew either found a position, had no interview offers, had no acceptable programs to rank, had a personal/health/other reason, or did not provide a reason.

Evidence showing more students being interested in residencies can be found in the enrollment numbers from the past few years. There were 6277 applicants who enrolled in the 2015 Match, 5978 who enrolled in 2014, 5637 who enrolled in 2013, 5124 who enrolled in 2012, and 4495 who enrolled in 2011.

Students who did not match this round will have to be patient for a short time. Pharmacy students can submit their applications to programs for the Second Match starting at noon Eastern Standard Time (EST) on March 23, 2016.

On March 28, 2016, applicants can log onto the National Matching Service Match system to manage their information and submit rankings. Students will have until April 1, 2016, to submit their rank order lists.

ASHP recommends both applicants and programs to list their choices in the order of their preference. They do not need to consider how they will be ranked by the other party.

Then, on April 8, 2016, students can find out if they have earned a spot in the Second Match at noon EST on natmatch.com.

ASHP stated that it added the Second Match this year because of the increasing number of pharmacy students and pharmacists who wish to pursue residencies, as well as the number of programs who want pharmacy students and pharmacists.

Before, students who did not find a position through the Match had to go through the more informal Post-Match Scramble, which will still exist after the Second Match. However, ASHP said it expected fewer students will go through this process in 2016.

The Second Match is made possible through collaborations with the National Matching Services and the Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application Service.