Stop Pressuring Pharmacy Residents to be Licensed by July 1

Student pharmacists pursuing residency often report feeling extreme pressure to be licensed by their residency program's deadline, which may be as early as July 1 or the start of residency. American Society of Health-System Pharmacists accreditation standards, however, only require a resident to be licensed for two-thirds of their residency program for successful completion. Although expecting licensure as soon as possible may achieve some residency programmatic fiscal and experiential goals, those benefits to the program must be balanced with what is feasible and appropriate for the resident. This commentary aims to encourage residency programs to select a deadline for licensure that is more reasonable and reflective of the current licensure climate for several reasons: (1) data do not support an increased likelihood of passing the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination and jurisprudence examination when both are taken prior to the start of the residency; (2) students and schools have limited control over test date availability; (3) no evidence-based licensure examination preparation approach exists; (4) unreasonable licensure deadlines may contribute to premature testing and resident burnout; and (5) examination failures may be mitigated with adequate study time postgraduation.