Pharmacy Residency FAQs

Application Information

Who should I ask to write letters of recommendation?
It is important for at least one letter to come from an APPE preceptor who is able to speak to your clinical knowledge and ability to interact with patients or the health care team. Other letters are candidate specific and may include long term employers, long term pharmacy mentors or faculty mentors who have a strong relationship outside of the classroom with you. Please do not include letters from those who only know you on a personal level. When in doubt, APPE preceptors tend to provide the most insightful letters.

What transcripts should I include?
We need to see full transcripts for pharmacy school and for your pre-pharmacy requirements if applicable. Please include any additional information for higher education/degrees completed in PhORCAS.

What should I include in my letter of intent?

The letter of intent is your chance to stand out!  All applicants have very similar looking CVs and letters of recommendation but the letter of intent allows our screening committee and interviewers to get a first glimpse of who you are as an individual.  We want to know why you want to do a residency, what your 5 year plan is and why you chose to apply at Aultman.  We read a lot of CVs so the letter is also your chance to emphasize the areas of the CV that you want us to know about most.  Please don't just tell us what you think we want to know but instead, be yourself. Finally, avoid generalities and fluff as much as possible - be specific and forthcoming about who you are and what you are looking for.

Do I have to fill out all of the fields in PhORCAS when the information is already on my CV?
The PhORCAS fields are standard and included in every applicant’s packet. As such they serve as a quick reference for our application screening committee and assist our interviewers. In addition the fields in PhORCAS allow narrative descriptions of activities and experiences that may not be included in the CV. We recommend you fill out these fields as they will be reviewed with the CV in detail.  We also recommend you proofread these fields for errors prior to submission.

How do I include my research experience?
Published research and presentations should involve full citations and if the citation isn’t clear, should also include type of presentation (poster, platform, virtual, CE, etc.), audience and your role in the project. We understand pharmacy students have limited opportunity to complete full research projects so we are also interested in any experiences you have that will assist you in conducting your own research project during residency. Please be specific about what research skills you possess!

What information should I include about my IPPEs and APPEs?
Unless your IPPE experience was very unique, just provide the basic information about your IPPE schedule. Please include all of your APPE schedule, even the ones you haven’t completed at the time of your application. Be sure to include type, dates, site, location (city, state) and preceptor for each one. We also want to see a summary of what each completed APPE entailed and your accomplishments for each one. It is not necessary to repeat information in the summary that is included elsewhere in the CV.

What should not be included in my CV?
In general we do not need to see activities completed or achievements that happened before pharmacy school. Exceptions may include pharmacy work, shadowing experiences, or previous research. 

What are the most common application mistakes candidates make?
Not including everything, making spelling or grammatical errors and not expressing clear goals and interest areas are the most common mistakes. The vast majority of candidates also seem to use a template/form letter for their letter of intent - please be more creative than saying "I am writing to express my sincere interest in your program."

We strongly encourage candidates to have their CV and letter of intent reviewed and critiqued by at least one pharmacy faculty member or pharmacy mentor. ACCP has an excellent CV review service and also provides CV examples on the student section of their website that we highly recommend.  ASHP also has a toolkit in their student member section with CV examples and has a CV review service open at certain times of the year. 

We also see one or two letters of intent each year with references to another program - wrong names of people spoken to at Midyear, excitement about a rotation that we do not offer, or otherwise mentioning something obviously related to another institution or program.  We encourage you to customize your letter of intent to Aultman Hospital but be extremely careful to keep letters for different programs separated!

Finally, applying to the wrong Aultman residency program happens every now and then. Please beware that this FAQ page is for Aultman Hospital - Canton's program. There is also a residency program at Aultman Alliance Community Hospital. Please make sure to apply to the correct program.