PhORCAS and References

Hopefully you have already contacted your reference writers by this point.  If this was a topic discussed with them many months ago, this would also be a good time to confirm that they are still willing to serve as a reference.  If you have not contacted anyone yet, it would be a good idea to reach out to 3 - 4 people who meet the following criteria:

• They are knowledgeable about what pharmacy residencies are looking for in a candidate.
• They know details about your assertiveness, time management, dependability, emotional maturity, ability to work with peers, professional demeanor, leadership, resourcefulness, willingness to accept constructive criticism, independence, and clinical problem-solving skills.  They have worked side-by-side with you and have seen you work in challenging conditions, in other words.
• They have had the opportunity to evaluate your writing and verbal communication skills directly (watched you give a presentation, read one of your assignments, etc.).
• They believe that you exceed what is expected in the majority of all of these areas.

Consider the possibility that you are also being judged on the relative importance of WHO you ask to serve as a reference for you.  This does not mean that you should immediately go and ask the Dean.  If they can only speak about you in very vague and non-specific terms, do not ask that person (ex. "he came to class," "she turned assignments in on time," "she wasn't unprofessional," "it seems like his peers like him").  If a nationally-recognized clinical pharmacist has recently served as a preceptor for you, you might get some mileage out of the recognition of that person; only ask this person if they know you well and truly think you are a rock star.  Do not ask administrative assistants, friends or family members (even if healthcare professionals), or pharmacy technicians.  Think carefully before asking undergraduate professors and some types of prior supervisors.  Their endorsement of you may not carry as much weight.

There is a big change this year for references and you need to let people know this information up front.  PhORCAS will no longer be accepting uploaded letters of recommendation.  Instead, reference writers will only answer the questions provided online.  This will ultimately save the reference writer some time and effort, which will hopefully mean that it will be easier for deadlines to be met.  There will also be no size limits for fields where reference writers can include open comments.  Take some time to review the questions that reference writers will be asked to answer online (PhORCAS Standardized Reference questions).  It may not be a bad idea to discuss some of these questions with them so that they know your self-identified areas of weakness and measures you are taking to improve on those areas. Keep in mind that you are not going to be able to review any of their responses in PhORCAS.

Finally, it is suggested that you provide reference writers with a list of programs to which you will be applying, with their published deadlines, even if you have not yet selected all of your designations in PhORCAS.  Consider also letting them know information about why you are interested in specific programs so they can speak specifically about your perceived fit with those programs.