PGY1 Pharmacy Residency

The purpose of the orientation rotation is to familiarize new residents with the responsibilities of the residents within Mercy Hospital’s PGY1 program. This includes becoming acquainted with the duties of a clinical pharmacist to fulfill the residency staffing commitment. During this rotation, the resident will receive information and prove competency on department and system policies and procedures. In addition, the residents will complete the Initial Assessment of Competency, on-line learning programs, and Orientation Checklist.

The critical care rotation gives residents an opportunity to provide pharmacist patient care to critically ill patients at both Mercy Hospital campuses. The critical care rotation allows the resident to identify patient-specific problems in critically ill patients and apply clinical therapeutic knowledge to provide patient care. In addition, the resident will monitor therapeutic drug regimens for efficacy and toxicity and become familiar with disease states common to critically ill patients. The resident will actively participate in daily ICU rounds with other members of the ICU multidisciplinary team (includes house physician, nursing, pharmacist, social worker, respiratory therapy, dietitian and chaplain).

The internal medicine rotation is designed to give the resident an overview of the patient population at the Mercy Hospital campuses while providing the building blocks for clinical pharmacy. The resident is involved in providing pharmaceutical care to internal medicine patients with acute and chronic medical illnesses. The resident will monitor patient's medication therapies, present and discuss internal medication topics with preceptors and students and further develop clinical pharmacist staffing skills.

Medication Safety is a required longitudinal learning experience. This rotation provides the resident with a solid foundation and equips them with the knowledge and tools to identify, develop and implement safe medication practices, as these are responsibilities of every pharmacist. The resident will gain knowledge through reading medication safety literature, evaluating medication error data, assessing compliance with technology related safety features and policies and participating in medication safety committee meetings and discussions. The knowledge will then be applied to develop and implement initiatives to improve the medication use system. 

This rotation is a longitudinal rotation that focuses on several pharmacist counseling opportunities on both the Mercy and Unity campuses. These include one-on-one medication reviews with outpatient cardiac rehab patients and group teaching for patients admitted on the inpatient substance abuse unit. Residents will meet with patients, provide education, complete documentation in the electronic health record when needed, and interact with other health care professionals as appropriate.

During this rotation, the resident will design and implement a rotation schedule for an IPPE student. This will include central and decentral shadowing, projects, and topic discussions. The resident will serve as a direct resource for the student and will gain experience in providing the student with opportunities to learn and excel in multiple areas.

The purpose of the practice management rotation is to enhance the resident's understanding of the role of pharmacy management and leadership in meeting the goals of the organization. Through assigned readings, focused discussions, projects and observational and participative experiences, the resident will gain knowledge and skills related to financial operations, purchasing, medication safety, medication distribution, regulatory compliance and collaboration with other disciplines. The resident will be challenged to evaluate and express insight related to their ongoing experiences and the manifestations of leadership. 

The resident will work routinely with our pharmacy director, pharmacy operations and clinical managers, Allina Health pharmacy leaders, and other leaders on an ad-hoc basis. Residents will participate in multidisciplinary committees and projects, attend department staff meetings, director-manager meetings, and other department meetings as assigned by the preceptor.

This is a one-week rotation with the system formulary department at The Commons – Allina Health's corporate campus. The week will consist of focused discussions about literature interpretation and assessment and statistics, creation of at least one written in-depth drug monograph or drug class review, and presentation of that work to the System Formulary Committee and appropriate committees.

This longitudinal rotation pertains to the formal residency capstone project.  The resident's project will ultimately be of benefit to optimizing pharmaceutical patient care at the institution or within the Allina Health System.  This learning experience will take place across both Mercy and Unity campuses.  The resident will present their project at a formal pharmacy conference in the spring of each year.  The project must be approved by the Mercy-Unity pharmacy management team prior to implementation. Activities may include acquiring IRB approval.

The cardiology rotation gives residents an opportunity to provide pharmacist patient care to cardiology patients at Mercy Hospital. The rotation is designed to give the resident an opportunity to interact with patients hospitalized for heart failure, arrhythmia, acute coronary syndrome (ACS), primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH), interventional, cardiac surgery patients and critically ill patients with a cardiology-related primary diagnosis. The resident will design, recommend, monitor and evaluate patient-specific therapeutic regimens for selected cardiology patients.

During the emergency medicine rotation the resident will work with an emergency medicine pharmacist. The resident will be an active member of the abnormal culture/lab follow-up service working under a collaborative practice agreement. The resident will be available to answer questions and provide recommendations to emergency medicine physicians and nurses. The resident will experience a fast-paced pharmacy environment that includes responding to and assisting with critical and trauma situations.

The infectious disease rotation is designed to give the resident an opportunity to focus on the diagnosis, process, prevention and treatment of various infectious diseases. The resident will actively participate in daily antibiotic stewardship rounds with other members of the Antibiotic Advisory Team (including an infectious disease physician and pharmacist). The resident interacts with nurses, other pharmacists and microbiology/lab personnel daily.

During the mental health rotation, the resident will have the opportunity to provide pharmacist care to inpatients with psychiatric illnesses on the Unity campus. The resident will attend daily multidisciplinary rounds on our inpatient adult mental health and geriatric psychiatry units. The resident will have the opportunity to shadow inpatient psychiatrists and be exposed to therapeutic interventions including electroconvulsive therapy.

The informatics elective rotation will provide the resident with the knowledge and experience to identify, develop, and implement safe medication practices. The resident will read journal articles and other publications on medical informatics, and this learning will then be applied to develop and implement initiatives to improve the medication use system. The resident will work with the informatics pharmacist at Mercy Hospital and other members of the pharmacy leadership team for this elective learning experience.

The AHCI Mercy Campus Oncology Infusion Elective is a dual clinical/operations directed experience that focuses on the treatment of patients with a hematology or oncology diagnosis. Residents will have an integral role in the review and management of AHCI patients and therapies with both clinical and operations focused tasks. The resident will provide clinical review and comprehensive disease state management for patients receiving outpatient infusion therapy. The resident will also learn the complete process of order verification, coordination of compounding and delivery of hazardous and non-hazardous medications with the goal of being proficient at day-to-day operations by the end of the rotation. There will be a vast array of clinical questions, projects, meetings to attend, and shadowing opportunities available to the resident also.

The elective oncology clinical rotation focuses on hospitalized patients with cancer with an emphasis on supportive care. During this rotation the pharmacy resident will identify and resolve medication therapy issues for patients as it pertains to oncology care. The resident will use current treatment guidelines to develop, monitor, and adjust patient-specific pharmacotherapy regimens and monitoring plans. The resident will follow all patients admitted for chemotherapy and other patients identified by either the resident or preceptor. Opportunities for residents to shadow oncologists and infusion center nurses are also available.

The primary focus of the elective pain rotation is to provide the residents with skills to effectively provide pharmaceutical care and make appropriate pain management interventions for hospitalized patients with acute and chronic pain. The resident will work closely with a multidisciplinary consult team during this rotation. In addition to gaining skills in assessing pain, the resident will also develop expertise in designing individual pain regimens and performing opioid equianalgesic conversions.

The Teaching rotation is an elective yearlong longitudinal experience at Mercy Hospital. This rotation is designed to provide PGY1 pharmacy residents at Mercy Hospital with the necessary knowledge and skills to obtain a teaching certificate through ASHP's Teaching Certificate program. The rotation will be conducted longitudinally throughout the residency year and will cover three distinct tracks: Core Track, Academic Teaching Track and Experiential Teaching Track. Each participant will work with a mentor and complete various assignments to develop their teaching abilities.Additionally, participants will have teaching responsibilities at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy to gain exposure to academic teaching environments.