Inclusion of health equity language in recruitment materials for postgraduate pharmacy residencies

Sarah Vas; Akshara Kumar; Jessica Schowe; Jasmine Reyes; Taylor Krout; Monica L Miller; Rakhi Karwa

doi:10.1093/ajhp/zxae393

Inclusion of health equity language in recruitment materials for postgraduate pharmacy residencies

Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2025 Jan 25:zxae393. doi: 10.1093/ajhp/zxae393. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Sarah Vas¹, Akshara Kumar¹, Jessica Schowe², Jasmine Reyes¹, Taylor Krout³, Monica L Miller⁴, Rakhi Karwa⁴

Affiliations

¹ Purdue College of Pharmacy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
² Eskenazi Health, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
³ Franciscan Health, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
⁴ Center for Health Equity and Innovation, Purdue College of Pharmacy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.

PMID: 39862220
DOI: 10.1093/ajhp/zxae393

Abstract

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Purpose: The study objective was to analyze the use of health equity (HE)- and social determinants of health (SDOH)-related language within pharmacy residency websites and recruitment materials.

Methods: Using the ASHP residency directory of 2022, a randomly selected sample of postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) and PGY1/PGY2 programs from each state were analyzed. After search terms were selected from HE/SDOH resources, each program's residency-specific webpages (RSWs) and institution-specific webpages (ISWs) were searched and given a score based on the frequency of identified terms. The primary outcome was the number of programs with at least one identified instance of HE/SDOH terms. Additional outcomes included the frequency of HE/SDOH terms on ISWs or RSWs and program score distribution. Outcomes were also evaluated among programs in medically underserved areas (MUAs).

Results: Three hundred eighteen programs were included, of which 205 (64%) included HE/SDOH language within RSWs, ISWs, or both. Of these 205 programs, 126 programs (61%) included language only on ISWs. The number of programs that only had one instance of HE/SDOH terms on either category of webpages, or had a score of 1, was 128 programs (40.2% of the total of 318 programs). Of the 111 programs in MUAs (35%), 66 (59.5%) included HE/SDOH language within the ISWs.

Conclusion: Most evaluated programs, including those in MUAs, lacked language specifically identifying their focus and work around HE/SDOH within their residency promotional materials.

Keywords: health equity; pharmacy education; pharmacy residency; recruitment; social determinants of health.

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