PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency Program Director
Our PGY-1 residency 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:
PGY-1 program
The purpose of the MUMC PGY1 Residency Program is to build on Doctor of Pharmacy education and outcomes to contribute to the development of clinical pharmacists responsible for medication-related care of patients with a wide range of conditions, eligible for board certification, and eligible for PGY2 pharmacy residency training.
Core rotations
Orientation/institutional practice
This rotation is designed to orient the resident to the general functioning of the central pharmacy and acclimate him or her to the hospital environment. The resident is trained to enter orders, initiate and adjust Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) formulas, and compound I.V. 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 is expected to complete IRB proposals for a research project and a medication utilization evaluation.
Critical care - medicine
The resident rounds daily in the ICU as part of the medicine critical care team. 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, antimicrobial pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, alcohol withdrawal management, and other disease states consistent with this patient population.
Infectious disease
The primary goal of this rotation is to gain an understanding of appropriate empiric and definitive antibiotic utilization in adult inpatients using the principals of antimicrobial stewardship. Daily activities include supporting Memorial Health University Medical Center's Antimicrobial Management Program (AMP) through prospective audit and feedback, engaging in active dialogue with ID attending, and initiating AMP interventions with medical staff. The resident will also be involved with antimicrobial and microbial surveillance, patient counseling, allergy assessments with penicillin skin testing, pharmacokinetic monitoring, HIV medication management, and providing timely drug information for healthcare professionals and patients. This rotation also allows the resident to participate in daily rounds with an infectious disease consult team.
Internal medicine
The resident participates in patient rounds as an integral part of a multidisciplinary team. The resident provides pharmaceutical care by providing pharmacokinetic consultations and drug information, monitoring for the appropriateness and cost-effectiveness of drug therapy, reporting 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. The resident also has direct patient contact and plays an important role in patient education and patient counseling.
Pediatrics
The pediatric rotation places emphasis on pathophysiology and treatment of disease states in the pediatric population within the Memorial Health Dwaine & Cynthia Willett Children's Hospital of Savannah. 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 rounding with the PICU team, dosing medications, educating patients and their families about medications specific to the patient's disease state, and attending biweekly morning report and noon conferences. The resident is also responsible for a formal case presentation to pharmacy staff and administration.
Practice management
The resident meets with the pharmacy clinical manager to discuss theories on pharmaceutical administration, budget issues, technology advancements, and other global issues relating to the department and the profession. The resident attends all meetings required by the pharmacy clinical manager. The resident is assigned necessary projects throughout the rotation arising from discussions and meetings. A medication utilization evaluation will be assigned during this rotation to be completed on the rotation with an action plan presented to the P&T Committee if applicable.
Elective rotations
Any core rotation
Core rotations can also be repeated as electives.
Cardiology
The resident spends several weeks rounding with a cardiology team and may have an opportunity to observe interventional cardiology procedures. Instruction includes identifying patients at greatest risk for medication therapy problems, drug information, patient education, discussing medication-related issues with the appropriate physician, providing in-service education to the team, code participation, and contributing to the analysis of adverse drug reactions and/or medication errors. The resident is expected to gain advanced knowledge through literature review, topic discussion, and direct patient care.
Critical Care - Neuro
The neuroscience ICU elective rotation is a specialized rotation focused on illnesses and injuries to the head and spinal cord. There is no single team that manages the neurologically injured patient and can range from an attending pulmonary critical care physician, trauma/surgical critical care service, neurologist or neurosurgeon. To maintain continuity of care with the interdisciplinary team, the resident will round with the pulmonary critical care team that manages the majority of the neurovascular ICU. The resident will also follow all of the neurovascular ICU patients not on their primary rounding team to make recommendations to the patient’s respective team as well as follow consults for all neurovascular ICU patients. The purpose of this rotation is to allow the resident to become an expert in the pharmacotherapeutic management of critically ill neurologically injured patients, including expertise in antiepileptic monitoring and stroke management.
Critical care - Trauma
As a member of the trauma surgery team, the resident follows trauma patients in the medical, cardiovascular, trauma, and neuro intensive care units. Responsibilities include participating in daily rounds, providing pharmacokinetic consultation, recognizing drug-drug and drug-disease state interactions, reporting and preventing adverse drug reactions, and general monitoring of drug therapy. Care for critically ill patients is a highly specialized area and an increased emphasis will be placed on the monitoring of hemodynamic states, the utilization of appropriate antibiotics, and management of TPNs.
Emergency medicine
This rotation is for PGY1 pharmacy residents. The resident, along with the E.D. pharmacist, will cover all areas of the E.D., including trauma, cardiac treatment, exams, express, observation, pediatrics, admission unit, and the clinical decision unit. This rotation allows the resident to apply the clinical, communication, and teaching skills necessary to interact in a multidisciplinary emergency medicine environment. The practice environment requires daily interaction with physicians, residents, nurses, pharmacy staff, and other healthcare professionals to optimize pharmacotherapy for patients.
Medication safety
During this rotation, the resident focuses on medication safety and investigational drugs. The resident participates in relevant meetings, documentation of medication incidents, safety coaching, and the development or modification of pharmacy policies at MHUMC. The resident is involved with the management of investigational drug products according to established protocols, policies, and procedures.
Oncology
This rotation exposes the resident to a variety of issues involved in the management of adult inpatient oncology/hematology patients at Memorial Health. Daily responsibilities include providing patient counseling for all chemotherapy patients, providing recommendations for the management of chemotherapy-induced side effects, and answering oncology-related drug information requests. During the rotation, the resident has topic discussions, journal club, and a case presentation focused on patients seen during the rotation. In addition, if needed, the resident presents a brief in-service for the oncology nursing staff. Other experiences during the rotation include attendance at weekly multi-disciplinary tumor board meetings.
Additional elective rotations
- Critical Care – Cardiology
- Critical Care – Neuro
- Critical Care – Pediatrics
- Emergency Medicine II
- Emergency Medicine – Pediatrics
- Neonatal
- Psychiatric
- Psychiatric II
Longitudinal experiences
Drug information
This is a longitudinal rotation delegated by the chief resident. As drug information issues arise, the residents are assigned D.I. projects. This includes anything from dosage ranges to monitoring and reporting adverse drug reactions to new drug monographs for P&T Committee meetings. The residents are active members of the P&T Committee and also serve on other committees throughout the hospital as directed.
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.
Additional information
Teaching certificate
Residents participate in a program administered by Mercer University that encompasses teaching strategies, both didactic and experiential. After completion of the requirements of the program through submission of a teaching portfolio, the resident is eligible to receive a teaching certificate.
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 present Forum presentations and precept pharmacy students as well as provide education for the pharmacy, nursing, and medical staff.