Relationship between advanced pharmacy practice experience grading schemes and pharmacy residency match rates

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Residency Matching
• Experiential Learning

Background:

• Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs) are crucial for pharmacy students' professional development.
• The grading schemes used for APPEs may influence student outcomes, including residency match rates.
• Understanding the impact of grading systems on residency placement is vital for program improvement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between APPE grading schemes and pharmacy residency match rates.
• To determine if program variables like age and funding affect this relationship.
• To provide insights into optimal assessment strategies for APPEs.

Main Methods:

• A survey was sent to pharmacy program experiential administrators regarding APPE grading schemes.
• Program data on age and funding were collected.
• Survey responses were correlated with American Society of Health-System Pharmacists residency match data (2016-2018).
• Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics and logistic regression.

Main Results:

• Most programs (62%) used letter grades for APPEs; 30% used pass/fail.
• Programs using pass/fail grading had higher match rates for both PGY1 and PGY2 residencies.
• Older programs generally had higher match rates, but older programs with letter grades showed lower PGY1 match rates than those with pass/fail.
• Both public and private programs using pass/fail grading had higher PGY1 match rates.

Conclusions:

• Pass/fail APPE grading does not hinder PGY1 or PGY2 residency placement.
• The choice of grading scheme should consider its impact on residency outcomes.
• Program administrators should evaluate grading strategies in light of residency match data.