Post Graduate Year 2 (PGY2) – Critical Care Pharmacy

Charleston Area Medical Center’s PGY2 pharmacy residency is an ASHP accredited program. This residency is designed to provide advanced training and education, beyond the PGY1 Pharmacy Practice residency experiences, in critical care medicine, surgery and emergency medicine populations. The second-year resident will further refine the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to pursue rational drug therapy in a collaborative environment for a critically ill patient population. The resident will also become proficient in conducting independent research in the critically ill patient. Upon completion of the specialty residency, the resident will have achieved a level of expertise in the critical care environment to function as a clinical specialist within a multidisciplinary team and to become a leader within the profession.

Residency Goals

• Develop expert clinical problem solving skills and competencies in critical care pharmacology, fluid and electrolyte management, cardiovascular/hemodynamic monitoring and support, sedation, analgesia, antimicrobial therapy and nutrition support to enable the resident to participate effectively in therapeutic decision-making, drug therapy selection, therapeutic drug monitoring, and nutritional support to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.
• Develop and enhance a broad depth of knowledge and direct experience within critically ill populations such as medicine, cardiology, trauma, surgical and neuroscience.
• Develop and enhance teaching skills by participating in didactic pharmacy courses, precepting students in clinical rotations, and providing multidisciplinary education to health care professionals, patients, and family members.
• Enhance written and oral communication skills to enable the resident to contribute critical care information by publication and presentation.
• Develop sufficient knowledge and clinical experience in critical care to initiate and perform research project in this area.
• Develop effective organizational, integrative, and evaluative skills that assist the resident in developing cost-effective, patient-oriented pharmacy services in critical care.

Resident Responsibilities
The residency program will be tailored to complement and enhance the background and professional aspirations of the successful applicant. In general, the PGY2 resident's responsibilities will include:

• Patient care (70%): the resident will work directly with the multidisciplinary teams assigned to specific critical care areas, under the supervision of a preceptor, and provide direct patient care services daily.
• Teaching (10%): the resident will co-precept Doctor of Pharmacy students during their experiential training (i.e., IPPEs and APPEs), provide didactic instruction (i.e., lectures and case conferences), and extend continuing education to the pharmacy, medical and nursing staff.
• Research (15%): the resident will be responsible for initiating and successfully completing a critical care project, which will be presented at a regional residency conference, as well as participating in other ongoing projects within the critical care practices of the preceptors. The resident will also be required to complete an MUE or drug class review and present that information to the CAMC Pharmacy and Therapeutics committee.
• Practice management (5%): the resident will participate with the preceptors and departmental administrative staff in the continuing development and management of critical care pharmacy services.

 

Required rotations                                                      Longitudal experiences

• Cardiac ICU                                                            •     Residency research project
• Critical care/medicine (2)                                     •     Medication use evaluation
• Critical care/trauma surgery                                •     Journal club and case conference
• Emergency medicine                                            •     Formal ACPE CE presentation
• Toxicology/poison center                                      •     Clinical on-call services
                                                                                     •     Health Right Clinic - www.wvhealthright.org
                 
                         
  Elective rotations

• Surgical ICU
• Internal medicine
• Infectious disease
• Pediatrics
• Trauma step-down unit
• Cardiology
• Additional opportunities may be arranged

Incentives

• Stipend $40,000 to $45,000 annually
• Financial support to attend ASHP Midyear, SCCM and Eastern States Residency Conference*
• Medical and dental insurance
• Education stipend
• Meal allowance
• Paid time off (PTO)
• 2 weeks vacation
• 12 sick days
• 7 educational/professional days (may be used as flex days**)

*Pending availability of funding
**Flex days – resident may take these days off service to work on projects and presentations