Objective. To examine the effect of advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) grading schemes on residency match rates. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was administered to U.S. pharmacy schools and colleges to determine an APPE grading scheme. Post-graduate year 1 residency match data for the years 2013-2015 was obtained from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Additional variables thought to affect residency match rates were collected from publicly available sources and prior research. Unadjusted and adjusted multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to compare 2013-2015 residency match rates between institutions using letter grading and those using pass/fail grading schemes. Potential confounders for incorporation into the adjusted model were identified by Chi-square or Fisher's exact test as appropriate. Results. There were 110 of 126 schools that responded to the survey. Of these, 100 schools reported using either letter grading or pass/fail grading schemes in APPE courses and were included in the study. Unadjusted analysis revealed no difference in match rates between letter grading and pass/fail grading schemes over the aggregated time frame or in individual years. After adjusting for potential confounders, pass/fail grading was associated with higher match rates in the aggregate analysis and in 2013. However, no association was observed in 2014 or 2015. Conclusion. This study demonstrates that there is limited difference in residency match rates between schools using pass/fail or letter grading schemes in APPEs.
Keywords: clinical clerkship; educational measurement; pharmacy residencies.