PGY1 Residency

Children's Mercy offers three postgraduate year-one (PGY1) positions. The PGY1 program meets the requirements of applicable standards set forth and approved by ASHP for a residency and has received American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) accreditation.

The PGY1 pharmacy residency program builds on the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) 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 postgraduate year two (PGY2) pharmacy residency training.

PGY1 Program Goals

• To develop marketable distributive and clinical job skills including literature assessment, presentation and teaching skills 
• To function as a competent clinical pharmacist in an interdisciplinary health care team
• To become an independent practitioner with self monitoring skills
• To improve written and verbal communication skills
• To increase flexibility to change, adapting quickly to new situations and environments
• To exercise leadership in improving the safety of the medication use system
• To provide effective education to patients, families, health care professionals and students
  
  

General Goals

The CMH PGY1 residency uses the ASHP Residency Standard to guide its instruction and evaluation of residents. Upon completion of this residency, the PGY1 Pharmacy Resident will demonstrate competency in the following areas:

• Competency Area R1: Patient Care
• Competency Area R2: Advancing Practice and Improving Patient Care
• Competency Area R3: Leadership and Management 
• Competency Area R4: Teaching, Education and Dissemination of Knowledge
• Competency Area E5: Management of Medical Emergencies
  
  

Program Details

The focus of the program is on the provision of pharmaceutical care, with core rotations in general pediatrics, neonatology, critical care, ambulatory care and other specialty patient care rotations. The residency program is designed to offer a training plan specific to each resident based on their interest, goals and past experiences. Residents are required to complete required rotations in order to build a solid pediatric foundation and have the opportunity to select elective rotations based upon their specific interests and goals.

Elective rotations are designed to suit the individual needs and interests of the resident and exist for all subspecialty areas of practice. The residents will also be members of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee, and will have the opportunity to participate on several other medication-related hospital committees. Teaching experiences, including both didactic and clinical instruction, are gained through interaction with medical and pharmacy students, pediatric residents, and hospital staff. 

Rotations

Required traditional (4 week) rotations include:

• Ambulatory Care
• General Pediatrics
• Hematology/Oncology/BMT
• Infectious Disease
• Neonatal Intensive Care
• Orientation
• Pediatric Intensive Care
• Pharmacy Administration
• Teaching

Required longitudinal (9 months) rotations include:

• Ambulatory Care 
• Distributive (Staffing)
• Drug Information
• Research
• Resident Conference

Elective rotations are designed to suit the individual needs and interests of the resident and exist for multiple subspecialty areas of practice. Each resident will be able to choose three elective rotations for the residency year, with each rotation being a traditional 4 week experience in duration. In order to increase the available opportunities, efforts are made to ensure each resident has at least one elective block where they are the only resident with an elective at that time; however, availability of elective rotations is based on the preceptor’s availability.

Potential elective rotations at CMH include:

• Advanced Pediatric Intensive Care
• Antibiotic Stewardship Program
• Bone and Marrow Transplant
• Cardiology
• Cystic Fibrosis/Pulmonology
• Emergency Medicine
• Hematology/Oncology
• Medication Safety 
• Nephrology (Dialysis/Renal Transplant)
• Neurology
• Personalized Medicine/Drug Safety Service 
• Solid Organ Transplant (Heart/Liver)
• Repeat a core rotation

Residents are also required to complete additional program requirements, aimed at developing a skilled and competent pediatric pharmacist. Additional program requirements include completion of a major research project, platform and poster presentations at national/regional/local conventions, student teaching and precepting, active participation in hospital committees, and weekend pharmacist staffing.  

Eligibility requirements include a Doctor of Pharmacy degree or Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Committee certificate and ability to obtain licensure in the state of Missouri and Kansas with 90 days of employment.