Rotations

Rotations

During each rotation, the pharmacy resident will collaborate with pharmacists, nurses and physicians to identify, prevent and resolve medication therapy issues.

The resident must devise efficient strategies for accomplishing all required activities in a limited time frame. The focus of each rotation will be specific to the area, but may include other medication use issues as needed to care for the patients.

Emphasis will be placed on the resident's ability to improve their clinical skills in the selected area; however, the total care of the patient will also be taught. This includes the ability to multi-task and perform necessary dispensing functions.

By the end of the rotation, the resident should be competent to work independently as a novice pharmacist in the particular area, including:

  • addressing routine clinical questions from nurses and physicians
  • efficiently and effectively completing patient chart and medication administration record review
  • completing order entry
  • developing an awareness of available resources.

The preceptor will be accountable for evaluating and providing feedback to the resident. The resident may work with several pharmacists during each rotation.

Clinical rotations

Core

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.
This rotation is a longitudinal rotation that focuses on patient counseling in the outpatient setting. Pharmacy residents will complete one-on-one medication reviews with cardiac rehab patients. 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 three-week rotation schedule for an IPPE student. This will include central and decentral shadowing, project 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 manager(s), participants in multidisciplinary committees and projects, Allina Health pharmacy leaders and other leaders on an ad-hoc basis. The resident will 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.

Core elective 

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 our Unity campus. The resident will attend rounds on our inpatient adult mental health and substance abuse units. The resident will have the opportunity to shadow inpatient psychiatrists and be exposed to therapeutic interventions including electroconvulsive therapy. The resident will also have the opportunity to interact with patients directly by teaching medication classes on the unit. 

Elective

Recognizing American Society of Health-System Pharmacists' call for pharmacy leadership development, the Mercy Residency Program offers a focus in developing an emerging pharmacy leader. The three-part series will focus on:

  • Getting to know one’s strengths and weaknesses by taking a Myers Briggs and Now Discover Your Strengths assessment. A goal will be to develop a personal mission statement.
  • Leading the medication-use system through the infrastructure of site meetings and Allina Health meetings. Residents will meet with key leaders throughout the system and be responsible for leading a small project at an Allina Health system-wide pharmacy meeting.
  • Independent critical thinking during pharmacy and multidisciplinary meetings. Residents will be asked to develop meeting agendas and guide the discussion. Budding leaders who are passionate about change management will find this series engaging. This rotation is elective and designed to be an extension of professional pharmacy management.
The elective oncology clinical rotation focuses on both outpatient and 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 oncologist and infusion center nurses are also available.
The Transitions of Care rotation is designed to allow the resident to obtain a better picture of care transitions at Allina Health. The resident will explore continuity of care by evaluating ways to prevent medication transition errors and streamline workflow/efficiency at admission and discharge in both inpatient and outpatient settings. This elective rotation will take place during the spring of the residency year at the hospital and surrounding locations in the community.

Off-site electives

  • Ambulatory Care (Allina Health clinics)
  • Toxicology (HCMC Poison Center)
  • Pediatrics (St. Paul Children’s Hospital)
  • Health System Leadership (The Commons)
  • Hospice/Pain (Allina Health Westgate)
  • Clinical Decision Support (The Commons)
  • Rural Health (Various Allina Health affiliate hospitals)