# PharmReaDy: A Longitudinal Platform for Industry Career Preparation for Student Pharmacists in the U.S

## TL;DR

PharmReaDy is a platform designed to prepare student pharmacists for industry careers by integrating various educational elements into their PharmD program.

## Contribution

PharmReaDy introduces a structured, longitudinal platform for workforce readiness in pharmacy education, embedded within a PharmD curriculum.

## Key findings

- Enrollment in the industry-focused elective course increased from 8 to 30 students over three offerings.
- Course evaluations remained consistently high with no significant differences between cohorts.
- Students showed increased participation in industry-aligned opportunities and strong academic performance.

## Abstract

As pharmacy career pathways diversify, professional doctoral programs such as PharmD face increasing pressure to demonstrate measurable workforce readiness outcomes within accreditation-constrained curricula. This study describes and evaluates PharmReaDy, a longitudinal, theory-informed workforce readiness platform embedded within a U.S. PharmD program. Guided by Tinto’s student retention framework, the platform integrates curricular, co-curricular, and experiential elements, including an industry-focused elective course, national professional competitions, targeted skills workshops, micro-credentialing opportunities, and experiential placements. Outcomes were assessed using enrollment trends, aggregate course evaluation data, academic performance indicators, and downstream participation in industry-aligned opportunities. Enrollment in the elective increased from 8 to 20 to 30 students across three offerings. Mean course evaluation scores across seven learning domains remained consistently high, ranging from 3.7 to 3.9 on a 4-point scale, with no statistically significant differences between cohorts (Welch’s t-tests, adjusted p > 0.05) and small positive effect sizes observed over time (Hedges’ g ≈ 0.20–0.29). Students demonstrated strong academic performance and increased participation in industry-focused competitions, scholarships, and post-graduate fellowship pathways. Findings from PharmReaDy indicate that workforce readiness can be meaningfully operationalized as a structured educational function embedded within professional curricula rather than being exclusively deferred to post-graduate training.