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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Pharmacists

How to Apply: PGY1 and PGY1/PGY2 Combined Programs

2023-2024 hiring cycle (for the 2024-2025 residency year)

Application deadline: Applications and required documents must be uploaded and submitted to USAJobs and PhORCAS by 11:59 PM Eastern Time (ET) 12/15/2023. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Process: Applicants who meet the 12/15/2023 deadline AND submit all required materials will be reviewed by an IHS Human Resource Specialist for eligibility and qualification. If you are selected for an interview, the Residency Program Director from the individual site(s) will contact you. Not all applicants will be granted interviews. IHS residencies do NOT participate in the ASHP Match process. Every effort will be made for IHS residency selections to be made in advance of ASHP Match process, so that in the event of a non-selection for an IHS Residency, candidates can still proceed with the Match.

EACH ITEM ON THIS CHECKLIST IS REQUIRED (sections A, B)
Please read and follow all instructions very carefully. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure the application is complete. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. Other questions should be directed to the contacts listed at the end of this notice.

All applications will be considered for the Civil Service or Tribal employment system unless the applicant ALSO applies separately to the USPHS Commissioned Corps.
Application to the Corps is OPTIONAL and may not be granted to all IHS residency selectees. Corps application is NOT required to apply for IHS residency.

To apply for the USPHS Commissioned Corps:
In the event that you are selected for an IHS Residency and you are interested in applying to the USPHS Commissioned Corps [PDF - 1.9 MB], the screening process will begin immediately upon residency selection. Your decision to apply to the Corps must be made immediately after being selected for a program. Please do the following if you are considering employment as a USPHS Commissioned Corps Officer:

SECTION A. USAJobs online application for Federal Employment (#1-5 below)

To apply, fill out the online USAJobs application by 11:59 PM ET December 15, 2023.

PGY1

PGY1/PGY2

Review this video for further instruction on completing this application Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov . The applicant is responsible for ensuring the application is officially submitted. You will receive a notification or control number from USAJobs when you have fully completed the application. Incompletely submitted applications will not be considered. To complete the USAJobs application(s), you will need the following prepared in advance:

  1. Pharmacy school transcripts (unofficial is acceptable)
  2. Most current Curriculum Vitae (we suggest that you submit your CV instead of using the online "resume builder")
  3. Form BIA-4432 Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov  [PDF - 1 MB] only if requesting consideration of Indian Preference for employment
  4. If you are a licensed pharmacist, you must submit a copy or include license information such as license number and the state you are registered in on your CV.
  5. ANY other documents requested in the announcement

SECTION B. PhORCAS Application

We will be using the National Matching Services Inc. Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application Service (PhORCAS) for residency program applications. The PhORCAS portal will open November 1, 2023, and close on December 15, 2023 at 11:59 PM ET for IHS Pharmacy Residency Programs. To complete your application in PhORCAS, you will need to create an account. Once you have created an account, you will be able to complete your online application including selecting which programs you want to apply to. Instructions and information regarding PhORCAS accounts and applications are available at the Phorcas Applicant Help Center.Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 

Please note that PhORCAS charges $110 for the first four programs you apply to, and $43 for each additional application. A separate application is required for each program the candidate is interested in applying to. In order to use PhORCAS, a $160 fee to the National Matching Service is also required and this is outside of our control.

With your application, you will need to upload and submit the following:

  1. Required by PhORCAS
    1. Three (3) letters of recommendation
    2. Pharmacy school transcripts
    3. Personal statement
    4. Current CV
  2. Additional documents required by IHS*
    1. Prospective Resident SurveyExit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov  [PDF -859 KB]
    2. Writing sample – fully developed in paragraph form, no outlines or presentation slides. This should be your own work (and not a collaborative effort that you have co-authored) and should be technical, professional, and pharmacy focused. This can be from previous coursework from school or APPE rotations. This should be submitted with your prospective resident survey through PhORCAS.

*Additional documents must be scanned into one PDF and uploaded as one document. Please ensure that your answers have been saved to the fillable form by selecting "print to PDF" and saving the document. Step-by-step instructions for saving your PDF can be found below.

"Flatten" and Merge PDF Instructions

The Prospective Resident Survey is a fillable PDF, however we have had issues in the past with the PDF not saving the fillable fields once uploaded into PhORCAS. To fix this issue, please lock or "flatten" the PDF document prior to uploading.

To lock or "flatten" a PDF:

  1. Once you have filled out the PDF completely, go to "File" tab and select "Print"
  2. Select the PDF printer (Adobe PDF or there are many free PDF printer drivers available for download from the internet.) and select "Print"
  3. Select the location to save the "flattened" version of the PDF and select "Save"

Visit Adobe's website to merge a PDF with another file, or use other free online PDF merge tools. Please combine your "flattened" Prospective Resident Survey PDF with your writing sample prior to uploading to PhORCAS, as PhORCAS will only allow the upload of one supplemental document.

The IHS Pharmacy Residency Programs do NOT participate in the general ASHP Match but conduct their own internal match process prior to the ASHP Match. Candidates that do not match with an IHS Pharmacy Residency Program will be able to continue with the ASHP Match if they had also applied to non-IHS residency programs. If you are only applying to IHS residency programs, you do not need to register for the ASHP Match. A $160 registration fee to the National Matching Service is required in order to use the PhORCAS system and will allow applicants to participate in the ASHP Match should they not match with an IHS Residency Program.

Email addresses for individual Directors can be found on the Residency Directors page.

For questions about Section A: USAJobs application, please contact Kirk Carter and Mary Hicks.

For questions about Section B: email IHS pharmacy inquiries..