Comparing Characteristics, Wages, and Work‐Life Outcomes of Board‐Certified and Noncertified
U.S.
Pharmacists in Hospital and Ambulatory Care Settings: A Cross‐Sectional Analysis of the 2024 National
Brianne K. Bakken, David A. Mott, Sara Nadi, Vibhuti Arya, William R. Doucette, Caroline A. Gaither, Jon C. Schommer, David H. Kreling ABSTRACT
Background
Board certification is a credential increasingly used to signal advanced clinical expertise and specialization in pharmacy. However, evidence associating board certification with workforce outcomes remains limited. The purpose of this study was to compare the economic and work‐life outcomes of board‐certified and noncertified United States pharmacists.
Methods
The 2024 National Pharmacist Workforce Study (NPWS) is a cross‐sectional, online, descriptive survey that collected responses from U.S.‐licensed pharmacists. Data from 827 respondents who reported they were actively practicing as a pharmacist in either a hospital/health system ( n = 661) or ambulatory care ( n = 166) setting were weighted to create a representative sample. Economic and work‐life outcomes included hourly wage and perceived life satisfaction. Descriptive statistics and multivariate ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models were used to examine associations between board certification and the outcome variables.
Results
The weighted sample of respondents actively practicing in hospital/health system ( n = 867) and ambulatory care ( n = 221) settings showed 26.3% and 35.3% were board‐certified, respectively. In the hospital/health system setting, board certification was significantly associated with higher hourly wages and higher perceived life satisfaction. In the ambulatory care setting, board certification was significantly associated with higher hourly wages and was not significantly associated with perceived life satisfaction.
Conclusion
Board certification was associated with higher wages across both hospital/health system and ambulatory care settings, and higher life satisfaction among hospital/health system pharmacists. These findings suggest that board certification may provide meaningful economic and work‐life benefits for some pharmacists. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms linking certification to work activities and other work‐life outcomes, particularly in the ambulatory care setting.