FAQ
Question: What is the accreditation for residencies?
Answer: The American Society for Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) is a pharmacy organization that grants accreditation status to residency programs. ASHP has a process that requires each site to demonstrate compliance with established standards of practice and offer a program that meets requirements for training. On ASHP’s website, there is a list of accreditation standards, as well as a list of the outcomes, goals, and objectives that residency programs must fulfill in order to become accredited.
Although traditionally, most residencies were offered in institutional setting such as hospitals, there has been a trend towards the accreditation of residency programs in other settings, including community practice sites and long-term care facilities. It is important to note that even in non-health-system residencies, ASHP sets accreditation standards. Frequently, however, this is done in conjunction with other pharmacy organizations (e.g. Community Pharmacy Residency accreditation with APhA). Drake has an accredited community pharmacy-based residency offered in conjunction with Dahl’s. The ASHP website (www.ashp.org) has a searchable directory of accredited residencies, sortable by location or specialty. Some programs are currently undergoing ASHP accreditation, and past residents will be grandfathered in after accreditation is complete.
Not all residencies are accredited. There are many non-accredited programs that are very good programs. This situation may occur when a practice site is very specialized or very new. As such, these sites are frequently hard to find. If you cannot find the kind of residency you’re interested in through the ASHP Online Residency Directory, another resource to look through is the American College of Clincal Pharmacy (ACCP) website. The ACCP has a searchable database of residencies and fellowships available at www.accp.com/resandfel.
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