Justin T. Hare, Pharm.D.
Assistant Director of Pharmacy
Coordinator of Pharmacy Residency Training
Originally from Southern New Jersey, Justin moved to Morgantown, West Virginia in 1997. He received his Doctorate of Pharmacy from the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy and went on to complete a PGY-1 residency at West Virginia University Hospitals. He spent the next few years at the hospital as the Nephrology Clinical Pharmacist, having served as a primary preceptor for both WVU students and residents during that time span. He eventually accepted the position of Assistant Director and Residency Program Coordinator in 2006. He currently serves as the Residency Program Coordinator for all WVUH Residency Programs and as the Director of the PGY-1 program.
Q&A with the Residency Program Coordinator:
Q: What are the benefits in completing a residency?
A: By completing a residency a student is going to gain two significant benefits. The first is confidence, which is typically the reason most students are interested in completing a residency in the first place. Many students feel like they are not completely prepared for the rigorous clinical demands of today’s pharmacy world. By completing the goals and objectives within an ASHP accredited residency program, students are assured that they will be much more prepared for a clinically driven career path. The second significant benefit a student will receive is the competitive edge they will gain when entering into the job market. Most students are prepared for a limited amount of career choices immediately following the completion of their doctorate programs. However, by completing a residency, a student can gain the knowledge needed to be competitive in several more advanced pharmacy careers within clinical pharmacy, administration, industry, etc. By simply completing a residency most pharmacy directors feel that a student can gain the equivalent of 4-7 years of real world pharmacy experience.
Q: What is the most important trait of a successful resident?
A: The most common trait seen in successful residents of the past is an outgoing, socially capable personality. Residents that are very comfortable in a variety of professional and social situations typically make the easiest transition into the world of clinical pharmacy. Consider the best professors you’ve had in pharmacy school; the best professors are not necessarily the smartest, they’re the ones that can explain a concept so that all members of the class can understand. The best residents follow the same path.
Q: I’ve heard that only the smartest students in pharmacy school are able to complete a residency. How important are grades when applying to a top program?
A: It would be difficult to convince me that a pharmacy student with a 4.0 GPA is any smarter than a student with a 3.0 GPA. Just about everyone that can successfully meet the demands of today’s doctorate program is intelligent. When really analyzing an applicant’s GPA, several other factors must be considered, such as: leadership activities, society involvement, community service, work experience, organizational abilities, and time management. You could argue that the student with a 4.0 GPA kept themselves better organized by utilizing stronger time management skills…but were they involved with extracurricular activities, or did they only focus on their grades? The most “residency ready” students are those that were able to juggle a little bit of each of the previously mentioned activities throughout their entire academic career.
Q: Most people say that completing a residency is extremely difficult. What makes the residency year so challenging?
A: It is not the hospital, the ASHP requirements, the preceptors, or even the Residency Director that make the residency year so challenging. It is the resident themselves. The best residents expect so much of themselves that their “perfectionist” qualities often take over. Residents often work long, hard hours because they expect to give only their best efforts. It is this concept that often allows residents to learn so much in such a small amount of time.
Q What makes the residency program at WVUH stand out from other programs?
A: I think our biggest strength lies in our flexibility to meet the residency applicant’s interests. Many applicants start their residency with a particular career path in mind. However, very few make it through an entire residency without changing their career interests at least once. Our residency offers over 20 different rotational experiences including some unique opportunities such as nephrology, emergency medicine, trauma, teaching, and investigational drugs just to name a few. I have never seen a resident complete the rotational schedule that is chosen at the beginning of the year. It is often “edited” more than once throughout the year as each resident’s interests change and they select new rotations based on these new interests.