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Pharmacy Practice Residency
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Program Director: Michael J. Melroy, Pharm.D., BCPS, (melromi1@memorialhealth.com)
Director of Pharmacy: Ken Jozefczyk, M.S., R.Ph., (jozefke1@memorialhealth.com)

Memorial University Medical Center
Memorial Hospital in Savannah, Georgia, first opened its doors in 1955 as a 300-bed community hospital. It was named in honor of the men and women who died fighting for our nation. At the time, it was called, "the most modern hospital in this part of the country."

Today, Memorial University Medical Center (MUMC) is a 530-bed nonprofit tertiary care and academic medical center serving a 35-county area in southeast Georgia and South Carolina. It is the flagship of Memorial Health, the largest healthcare system in the region. The organization's mission is: With compassion, we heal, teach, and discover. Learn more about MUMC and its services.

Our Location
Memorial University Medical Center is located in the beautiful coastal city of Savannah, Georgia. Savannah's architecture, history, and hospitality are internationally known. The city offers an outstanding quality of life and a wealth of opportunities for businesses, individuals, and families. Find out more about Savannah.

Residency Overview
The pharmacy residency at Memorial University Medical Center (MUMC) provides excellent clinical, academic, and practice opportunities. The program is accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and features the following core, elective, and longitudinal rotations:

Core Rotations
Orientation/Institutional Practice
Critical Care -- Trauma
Critical Care -- Medicine
Internal Medicine
Infectious Disease
Oncology
Pediatrics
Practice Management
Research
Psychiatry

Elective Rotations
• Any Core Rotation
Cardiology
Medication Safety

Longitudinal Experiences
Drug Information
Research
Community Outreach

Additional Rotations

Contact Information

Core Rotations

Orientation/Institutional Practice
This rotation is designed to expose the resident to the general functioning of the central pharmacy and the hospital environment. The resident is trained to enter orders, produce Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) formulas, IV admixtures, and chemotherapy. Meetings with the residency director and residency advisory board are held on a regular basis to discuss expectations, requirements, and personal goals for the program. During this rotation, the resident will be expected to begin selecting a research project.

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Critical Care -- Trauma
As a member of the trauma surgery team, the resident will follow trauma patients in the medical/surgery/trauma and neuro intensive care units. Responsibilities include daily rounds, pharmacokinetic consultation, recognizing drug-drug and drug-disease state interactions, reporting and preventing adverse drug reactions, and general monitoring of drug therapy. Care for the critically ill patient is a highly specialized area and an increased emphasis will be placed on the patients' hemodynamic state, the utilization of appropriate antibiotics, and TPN.

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Critical Care -- Medicine
The medicine critical care service is a consult service that rounds daily at 8:30 a.m. in the intensive care units. Common diagnoses include acute respiratory failure, sepsis/septic shock, hypovolemia/cardiogenic shock, acute decompensated heart failure, arrhythmias, acute intoxication, and acute renal failure. Common disease states/therapeutic issues encountered on this service include nutrition management, hemodynamics and physiologic monitoring, acid/base management, principles of mechanical ventilation, stress ulcer prophylaxis, prophylaxis and management of DVT/PE, basic ECG analysis and arrhythmia management (ACLS guidelines), fluid and electrolyte management, shock syndromes, acute respiratory failure/ARDS, MODS, acute renal failure, sepsis, management of select infectious diseases (intra-abdominal infections, surgical wound infections, nosocomial pneumonia, nosocomial urinary tract infections, line sepsis), antimicrobial pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, alcohol withdrawal management, and other disease states consistent with this patient population.

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Infectious Disease
This rotation allows the resident to be exposed to daily rounds with an ID clinical pharmacist. The ID service is a consult service and has a wide variety of patients from many different backgrounds (medical service, critical care, oncology, neonatal, HIV, etc.). The residents are also involved with research in this department, as well as pharmacokinetics, appropriate antibiotic selection, and HIV issues.

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Internal Medicine
The resident participates in patient rounds as an integral part of a multidisciplinary team. The resident provides pharmaceutical care, including pharmacokinetic consultations, drug information, monitoring for the appropriateness and cost-effectiveness of drug therapy, reporting of adverse drug reactions, and assessing drug-drug, drug-disease state interactions. The resident attends morning report, noon conference, and weekly grand rounds, providing for intense involvement and exposure to a variety of internal medicine topics and discussions. Resident has direct patient contact and plays an important role in patient education and patient counseling.

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Oncology
This rotation will expose the resident to a variety of issues involved in managing cancer patients at the Curtis and Elizabeth Anderson Cancer Institute at MUMC. The resident will attend a scheduled medical oncology, hematology, and gynecologic oncology clinic during the course of the rotation. Daily responsibilities will include providing patient counseling for all chemotherapy patients, providing recommendations for the management of chemotherapy-induced side effects, answering oncology-related drug information requests, and consulting on pain management cases. During the rotation, the resident will have weekly case presentations and topic discussions relating to patients seen during clinic. In addition, if needed, the resident will present a brief in-service for the oncology nursing staff. Other experiences during the rotation will include attendance at weekly tumor board meetings and orientation to radiation oncology.

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Pediatrics
The pediatric rotation places emphasis on pathophysiology and treatment of disease states in the pediatric population within the children's hospital at MUMC. Alternatives to drug therapy, documentation and prevention of adverse drug reactions, pharmacokinetics, and selection of antimicrobial regimens are important aspects of this rotation. The pharmacy resident is responsible for educating patients and their families about medications specific to the patient's disease state. The resident is responsible for a formal case presentation to pharmacy staff and administration.

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Practice Management
This rotation is coordinated by the program director. The residents meet with the director of the pharmacy to discuss theories on pharmaceutical administration, budget issues, technology advancements, and other global issues relating to the department and the profession. The residents are active members of the P&T Committee, and also serve on other committees throughout the hospital as directed.

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Psychiatry
Residents gain the experience necessary to function as a clinical pharmacist in the treatment of the psychiatric patient, while gaining insight into the clinical and social problems of mental illness and substance abuse. Residents follow patients in MUMC's Center for Behavioral Medicine and medical psychiatric unit. Residents gain experience working with a multidisciplinary team of psychiatrists, physicians, nurses, social workers, and other healthcare professionals. Residents have direct patient contact, providing patient education on psychotropic medications to mentally ill patients in a group therapy setting.

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Research
Residents will present a year-long research project at the Southeastern Residency Conference in the spring. Residents will work with the research coordinator starting at the onset of the year and will meet regularly to discuss issues and progress. Residents will also be active in coordinating sponsored research throughout the health system. In addition to the research project, each resident is responsible for two medication use evaluations that are coordinated by the program director and presented to the P&T Committee.

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Elective Rotations

Cardiology
This rotation allows pharmacy residents to round with a hospital cardiology service in the Heart & Vascular Institute at MUMC. Common cardiovascular disease processes including coronary artery disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and congestive heart failure are discussed in detail and treated. Patient education and compliance are essential aspects of this rotation.

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Medication Safety
During this rotation, the resident will focus on medication safety and investigational drugs. The resident will participate in relevant meetings, documentation of medication incidents, safety coaching, and the development or modification of pharmacy policies at MUMC. The resident will also be involved in the management of investigational drug products according to established protocols, policies, and procedures.

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Core Rotations
Core rotations can also be repeated as electives.

Longitudinal Experiences

Drug Information
This is a longitudinal rotation that is delegated by the chief resident. As drug information (DI) issues arise, the residents are assigned DI projects as needed. This can include anything from dosage ranges to side effects to new drug monographs for P&T committee meetings.

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Community Outreach
This is a longitudinal rotation provided to the greater Savannah community. It includes visits to senior citizen centers, retirement and assisted living communities, pharmacy schools, career days at local high schools or colleges, information sessions for MUMC's cardiac rehabilitation program, and other consults as required. Presentation topics can include prescription drug plans, medication usage, "brown bag sessions," and other topics as requested.

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Additional Rotations
Other areas of interest addressed by residents will be evaluated by the program director and will be coordinated if appropriate with the guidelines set forth by the ASHP Standards of Pharmacy Practice Residencies.

Regular meetings are held with the pharmacy director and manager to discuss the practice of pharmacy and other issues pertinent to the profession. Journal Club is held regularly for article discussion as well as case presentation. Residents also attend the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, present forum presentations, precept pharmacy students, and provide education to the pharmacy, nursing, and medical staff.

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Contact Information

Additional questions should be directed to:
Michael J. Melroy, Pharm.D., BCPS
Manager, Clinical Services
MUMC Department of Pharmacy
4700 Waters Ave.
Savannah, GA 31404
Melromi1@memorialhealth.com
912-350-8245

 

 

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Memorial University Medical Center hospital campus: 4700 Waters Avenue, Savannah, GA 31404 - 912-350-8000