Academic Pharmacy Fellowships: Is it the defined path into Academia?

By:  Victoria L. Williams, PharmD, BCCCP

 “Dr. Williams, what do I have to do if I want to pursue a career in academia?” a curious student asked me after class.  As a clinical faculty member with 50% of my appointment dedicated to direct patient care and the other 50% to teaching, research/scholarship, and service, my answer started off strong with tried-and-true advice on pursuing residency training to prepare for the practice component of my role. With respect to the other pillars of my position, I stumbled. I realized much of my own path to clinical faculty was somewhat circumstantial and not necessarily easily reproducible for future generations. For example, when I was a PharmD student at my current institution, I leveraged didactic elective coursework to build a solid foundation in higher education through classes hosted by our College of Education and Human Ecology. But, after a major curricular redesign with significant structural changes, taking this many courses outside of the modern PharmD Program is not feasible today. Nonetheless, when answering this student’s question, I listed all of my teaching and academia-related experiences that I pursued as a trainee, in the hopes that these experiences might spark a passion and provide potential direction. I concluded my advice with a major caveat that everyone’s journey to academia is unique, and that unlike residency training for clinical pharmacy careers, there is not a “standard” path for academic careers (only certain minimum qualifications, like residency training with teaching certificate completion, to consider in planning your training pathway).^1,2

This question, and my potentially-less-than-satisfying response, made me curious… are fellowships the succinct answer to this student’s question? Should trainees pursue academic fellowships to strengthen teaching, assessment, scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL), and service skills, much like one pursues residency training to strengthen clinical, research, and practice management skills? 

Before implying that academic fellowships are an assured entry-point into academia, we should consider the previous success and availability of fellowship programs across the academy. A cursory review of program websites highlighted vast differences in the quantity and quality of information provided on previous fellows’ current roles. Thus, it is unclear at what extent fellowship programs help interested future faculty obtain their desired careers. It is prudent to track placement-related outcomes of fellowship programs, though a centralized body to report such data is lacking. This lack of oversight presents both opportunities and challenges, as summarized in the table below. 

Table 1. Academic Fellowship Programs: Opportunities and Challenges
Opportunities	Challenges
Offer intensive training across pillars of pharmacy academia -Teaching: teaching & course coordination, clinical practice/precepting, assessment, classroom technology, etc. -Research & SOTL -Service -Clinical Practice Can modify training to meet needs of residency-trained or entry-level PharmDs	Performance/quality/assessment standards set by individual programs leads to lack of uniformity. -Program completion at one institution could imply a variable skill set compared to program completion at another
Flexibility in structure -Customizable program structure leverages strengths of the institution to maximize fellow’s development -Prospective fellows can self-select programs that are uniquely tailored to meet their needs	Recruitment/application processes determined by individual programs  -Inconsistent application timelines   -No central search database for prospective fellows (unlike the one for residency programs sponsored by ASHP) -No recruitment standards/safeguards

Though establishing an accrediting body would seemingly address some, if not all, of these challenges, before taking such a drastic measure, we should ensure that academic pharmacy fellowships are effective in their purpose. To do so, we should consider the following:  

Recently, the University of Houston College of Pharmacy shared their program details and successes.⁴ The academy would benefit from similar information sharing from both longstanding and newer academic pharmacy fellowship programs. This information-sharing is an important first-step before we endorse these programs as defined entry points into pharmacy academia. So, how would you answer my student’s question – What post-graduate training is necessary to become clinical pharmacy faculty?  If your answer does NOT include an academic pharmacy fellowship, What additional information regarding these programs would you like to see aggregated and analyzed?

For more information: 

Below are a list of hyperlinks to academic pharmacy fellowships intended to serve as examples of opportunities mentioned above. Please note this is not a comprehensive list of opportunities, nor is it a personal endorsement of these programs. Programs are listed in alphabetical order: Ohio State University (website under development), Touro College of Pharmacy, University at Buffalo, University of Houston, University of Kentucky, University of North Carolina, Washington State University, West Virginia University. 

References:

1. Brooks AD. Considering academic pharmacy as a career: opportunities and resources for students, residents, and fellows. Curr in Pharm Teach Learn. 2009;1(1):2-9. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cptl.2009.05.001

2. Engle JP, Erstad BL, Anderson DC Jr, et al. Minimum qualifications for clinical pharmacy practice faculty. Pharmacotherapy. 2014;34(5):e38-e44. doi:10.1002/phar.1422

3. Guidelines for Clinical Research Fellowship Training Programs. ACCP. Accessed August 1, 2023. https://www.accp.com/resandfel/guidelines.aspx. 

4. Wanat MA, Biju A, DeGracia CM, et al. Academic Pharmacy Fellowship Programs are an Innovative Solution to Improve the Faculty Pipeline. Am J Pharm Educ. 2023;87(6):100012. doi:10.1016/j.ajpe.2022.10.003

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Author Bio(s):

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Pulses is a scholarly blog supported by Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning