Pursuing postgraduate pharmacy training in the United States for international pharmacy graduates: Approaches, current status, challenges, and future perspectives

Aims: This paper aims to describe the procedures and current status regarding the pursuit of postgraduate pharmacy training in the United States for international pharmacy graduates. Also, it highlights some of the challenges those individuals may face throughout their journey and provides future perspectives. Methods: To describe the procedures regarding the pursuit of postgraduate pharmacy training in the United States, we searched and summarized the information in public online platforms, such as the National Matching System, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, and many others. To describe the current status, we searched the publicly available American Society of Health-System Pharmacists residency online directory and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy fellowship online directory for programs offered to international pharmacy graduates. Results: Two main pathways were identified to pursue postgraduate pharmacy training in the United States for international pharmacy graduates. Of the currently available residency training programs, we identified 16 programs that offer postgraduate year one and eight programs that offer postgraduate year two positions for international pharmacy graduates. We identified 64 fellowship programs in the American College of Clinical Pharmacy fellowship directory. However, the directory does not provide information on whether or not these fellowship programs will accept international pharmacy graduates. Conclusion: In order to pursue postgraduate training in the United States, international pharmacy graduates face several logistical, administrative, and immigration obstacles. This is the first article to describe the current status, provide guidance on the approaches to pursue postgraduate pharmacy training in the United States, address some of the challenges, and provide several recommendations to be considered in the future.