PGY1 Pharmacy Residency: Learning Experience Descriptions

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Academia

This longitudinal learning experience through the University of Mississippi will provide the resident with opportunities to develop teaching skills in a variety of settings. Residents will have the opportunity to lead PBL groups and/or skills lab sessions at the University of Mississippi-Oxford campus. Residents will also be required to attend seminars during the school year. During this rotation, residents will be required to prepare patient cases to be utilized in PBL groups as well as develop questions to be utilized in testing.  Residents will be assigned to a teaching mentor at the University of Mississippi, and opportunities for didactic lectures and student precepting may occur.  Residents will be required to complete all activities outlined by the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy Teaching and Learning Certificate Program.

Ambulatory Care

Ambulatory Care is a 10-month longitudinal learning experience at MRHC.  This rotation will be centered on our employee and community health services; providing educational classes and individualized counseling sessions for patients and employees.  Residents will be able to gain clinical experience in the Community Care Clinic alongside Internal Medicine Physicians and medical residents in the spring months.

Cardiology

This 5-week rotation is designed to develop the resident’s knowledge and skills in the pharmaceutical care of patients with cardiovascular disease, especially as they relate to the application of therapeutic principles in heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, and coronary artery disease. An understanding of guideline-based therapies; problem identification, problem solving, healthcare team interaction, communication skills, patient interaction, documentation, and drug information are emphasized through daily encounters with patients and the cardiology/medicine teams.

Critical Care

This 5-week rotation is designed to develop the resident pharmacist’s knowledge and skills in pharmaceutical care as it relates to the application of therapeutic principles in the critically ill population.  This course will stress the application of therapeutics in critical patients and will require the resident to develop skills in proper drug therapy selection, patient monitoring, pharmacokinetics, drug administration, and delivery of pharmaceutical care.  The resident will work closely with all levels of critical care healthcare professionals.

Emergency Medicine

This 5-week learning experience is designed to give the resident experience in the Emergency Department setting and further the resident’s emergency medicine drug knowledge.  The resident will work with ED physicians, physician residents, nurses, and pharmacists to learn the various roles each plays in this setting.  The resident will serve as a drug information specialist in the emergency department.  After this rotation, the resident should be able to provide direct patient care as part of an interdisciplinary emergency care team of providers, nurses, and other health care professionals. Problem identification/prioritization, problem-solving, healthcare team interactions, communication skills, patient/family interactions, application of pharmacokinetics, documentation of consultations, and provision of drug information are emphasized through daily encounters with patients and the emergency medicine team.

Home Health and Hospice

Hospice is an elective, 12-month, longitudinal learning experience at MRHC. The primary goal of the learning experience is to develop the residents’ abilities to manage patients’ medication profiles during the final stages of life. Residents will work to assist the hospice team in taking care of the needs of the patients, including chronic pain management and management of disease complications during biweekly interdisciplinary team meetings.  As availability permits, the resident will have the opportunity to accompany the hospice nurses on house calls and assist the nurse as needed.

Inpatient Pharmacy Staffing

Staffing is a required, 10-month, longitudinal learning experience at MRHC.  The staffing longitudinal learning experience will be a continuation and augmentation of concepts introduced in orientation and the clinical rotations throughout the year.   The focus of the staffing longitudinal learning experience is on the provision of hospital pharmacy services as they relate to other healthcare practitioners.  Specifically, the experience incorporates order processing, medication dispensing, workflow management, and clinical pharmacy services.

Infectious Disease

The infectious diseases learning experience is a 5-week rotation centered around ID and Antibiotic Stewardship (ABS) services.  This learning experience is designed to develop the resident’s knowledge and skills about the provision of infectious diseases pharmacotherapy.  Collecting and analyzing patient information, designing evidence-based therapeutic regimens, communicating these regimens and monitoring plans, as well as appropriately documenting direct patient care activities are emphasized through daily work with the infectious disease pharmacist, infectious diseases physicians, and infection control personnel.

Internal Medicine

This 5-week rotation is designed to give the resident a basic understanding of disease states encountered in the general medical patient population.  This learning experience will stress the application of therapeutics in patient care and will require the resident to further develop skills in proper drug therapy selection, patient monitoring, pharmacokinetics, patient education, and delivery of pharmaceutical care to hospitalized patients. The resident will spend a significant amount of time rounding and communicating with hospitalists, specialist physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and patients. Pharmacy students may be on rotation simultaneously, and residents can co-precept during the experience.

Nephrology

This 5-week learning experience is designed to give the resident a basic understanding of disease states related to nephrology.  This learning experience will stress the application of therapeutics in patient care and will require the resident to further develop skills in proper drug therapy selection, patient monitoring, patient education, and delivery of pharmaceutical care. The resident will spend a significant amount of time rounding and communicating with the nephrology team, pharmacists, and patients.

Pharmacy Administration and Management

This learning experience will expose the resident to a wide variety of practice management-related topics including clinical practice management, operational pharmacy management, and medication safety.  The resident will participate in required meetings related to these areas throughout the rotation, and he/she will complete various related projects.  This rotation is a 4 week concentrated learning experience that will provide information to help the resident succeed in future projects or experiences throughout the year.

Pharmacy Informatics and Automation

This 4-week learning experience is designed to give the resident a basic understanding of pharmacy informatics and automation.  This learning experience will highlight the regular maintenance of current pharmacy systems along with the implementation of new pharmacy tools to enable pharmacists.  The running and maintaining of the numerous automation devices at MRHC, and the education of each of these areas to achieve safe and effective use of medications will also be covered.

The pharmacy department at MRHC utilizes multiple technology platforms including MediTech, Pyxis, VigiLanz, Cardinal Order Express, and Web Form Imprint.  Residents will complete at least one MUE, using logical, well-planned outcomes and study designs.  Residents will be integrated into informatics and technology-based projects as opportunities arise.

Pharmacy Orientation and Operations

This 4-week rotation will orient the Resident to MRHC and the pharmacy department.  The resident will be introduced to the RLS process and PGY1 residency requirements. This rotation is designed to provide the resident with new pharmacist training to allow the resident to competently staff both the inpatient pharmacy and the patient units during assigned shifts.

Psychiatry

Psychiatry is a 4-week rotation focused on providing care for hospitalized adult and geriatric patients with mental illness.  This learning experience will stress the application of therapeutics in patient care and will require the resident to further develop skills in proper drug therapy selection, patient monitoring, patient education, and delivery of pharmaceutical care to hospitalized patients. The resident will spend a significant amount of time rounding and communicating with psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, internal medicine residents, nurses, and social workers.  Pharmacy students may also be on rotation simultaneously and if so, the residents will have the opportunity to co-precept during the experience.

Research/Project Management

Research/Project Management is a required, 12-month, longitudinal learning experience at MRHC.  During the year, residents must develop and complete at least one major project (typically research, but maybe a quality improvement) on some element of pharmacy practice, utilizing the support and guidance of a project advisor.  Residents will be provided direction through each step of their projects, including the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval process (if required) and completion of project manuscripts.  The primary purpose of the learning experience is to provide residents with experience in the development, implementation, analysis, and presentation of a major project.