Residency Learning Experiences
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Orientation to OU College of Pharmacy and OU Health – 1 month
During the first month of the program, the resident participates in orientation activities at the OU College of Pharmacy and OU Health. The resident will attend a 2-day College of Pharmacy orientation and complete a documentation checklist to ensure initial documents and residency requirements are met. In addition, this rotation is designed to familiarize the resident with the primary practice site and to prepare the resident to function as a staff pharmacist in the inpatient setting. Residents begin training in investigational drugs and drug information during this month in addition to completing institutional review board requirements for conducting research.
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Clinical Staffing Orientation – 1 month
This rotation will take place over 2-3 weeks in December and is designed to expose the resident to the roles and responsibilities of the clinical pharmacy specialists in an effort to prepare the resident for their clinical staffing weekend shifts in the Spring semester of their longitudinal staffing requirement. This rotation month also includes attendance at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting.
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Ambulatory Care – 1 month
There are four options available (Ambulatory Care at Variety Care Federally Qualified Health Center, Oncology Clinics at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, Family Medicine Clinic at OU Health Family Medicine, or General Internal Medicine Clinic at OU Health Physicians) for the required one-month ambulatory care rotation. The resident can preference rotations based on interest. Depending on the site selected, the resident is introduced to the outpatient management of thromboembolic disorders, diabetes, infectious diseases, oncologic conditions, as well as co-morbid diseases such as hypertension and dyslipidemia. Additionally, the resident may also be involved in transitions of care to and from the inpatient setting. Additional options for ambulatory care rotations can be explored based on interest of resident and availability of preceptors.
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Inpatient Internal Medicine – 1 month
The internal medicine rotation is designed to promote the development of skills necessary to provide comprehensive pharmaceutical care services to internal medicine inpatients. The pharmacy resident joins a medicine teaching team consisting of physicians, physician trainees, the pharmacist preceptor, and pharmacy trainees. Patients assigned to the internal medicine teaching teams present with a wide variety of disease states including but not limited to diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, end-stage liver disease, and lower respiratory tract infections.
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Critical Care – 1 month
There are three options for the required critical Care rotation, which include the Medical Intensive Care Unit, Pediatric Medical Intensive Care Unit, or Trauma Intensive Care Unit. The critical care rotation is designed to provide the resident with an opportunity to be exposed to the management and care of critically-ill patients. The pharmacy resident will be a member of a teaching team composed of medical students, mid-level practitioners, medical residents, and an attending physician. The resident will be exposed to disease states and/or topic discussions including sepsis/septic shock, ICU related infections (e.g., ventilator associated pneumonia) inotropes and vasopressors, sedation, analgesia, and neuromuscular blockers.
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Inpatient Infectious Diseases - 1 month
The inpatient infectious diseases rotation is designed to provide the resident with an opportunity to design, monitor, and re-design patient specific infectious diseases pharmacotherapy for patients on the infectious disease consult service. The pharmacy resident will be a member of a teaching team that includes an infectious disease attending physician, infectious diseases fellow, and internal medicine residents. The resident will be exposed to a variety of disease states/infections including endocarditis, opportunistic infections, meningitis, multi-drug resistant infections, and invasive fungal infections.
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General Pediatrics – 1 month
The general pediatric rotation is designed to provide the resident with exposure to disease states and various pharmacotherapy topics in children. The pharmacy resident will join a teaching team composed of medical students, medical residents, and an attending physician. Residents will be exposed to a variety of disease states including but not limited to asthma, sepsis work-up, a variety of viral and bacterial infections, bronchiolitis, seizure disorders, and pediatric pain management.
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Practice Management – 1 month
The practice management rotation allows the resident to participate in institutional programs and activities involving the medical and pharmacy staff, as well as adherence to established practices, procedures, and policies of the institutions and affiliated hospitals. During the rotation month, the resident will attend meetings with the pharmacy management team and will complete projects as needed in preparation for those meetings. Longitudinally, the residents are assigned to institutional committees and are expected to actively participate in committee activities as well as other development experiences at OU Health and OU College of Pharmacy.
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Elective Rotations – 3 months
Elective rotations can be tailored to the resident’s interests. Offerings include any of the previously mentioned required rotations or additional ambulatory care and acute care rotations including cardiology, cardiac intensive care, inpatient or outpatient family medicine, bone marrow transplant, emergency medicine, clinical toxicology, neonatal intensive care, pediatric hematology/oncology, pediatric cardiovascular intensive care unit, neuro critical care, outpatient hematology/oncology, transitions of care, inpatient antimicrobial stewardship, and solid organ transplant. Residents will also have the potential to work with residency preceptors to develop additional learning experiences based on specific interest area.
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Research – 1 month and longitudinal
Residents complete a research curriculum which includes the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Institutional Review Board (IRB) certification for conducting human research and specific research training sessions through Resident Rounds. Each resident designs and executes an original research project under the mentorship of their research committee, which consists of the residency program director, an expert in the practice area in which research will be conducted, and an expert in study design, data analysis, and statistical methods. The research rotation occurs longitudinally from July through June; however, residents will also be scheduled for a one-month rotation to focus on data collection and analysis. Residents present preliminary research findings as a poster at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting and final results as a podium presentation at the Oklahoma Residency Research Conference hosted by Oklahoma Society of Health-System Pharmacists. In accordance with ASHP standards, residents prepare a high-quality manuscript based on their research findings.
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Teaching and Methodology - Longitudinal (12 months)
The teaching and methodology longitudinal rotation consists of both didactic and experiential components designed to promote integration and application of various aspects of teaching and optimize learning through a variety of teaching experiences. The course coordinator and education specialist work closely with each resident to ensure adequate support in each of the teaching opportunities. Some of the required teaching activities include two didactic lectures, four sessions as an evaluator in a pharmacy practice lab, two sessions as a group facilitator for case-based discussions, and development of a teaching philosophy statement.
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Ambulatory Continuity Clinic - Longitudinal (6 months)
Continuity of care clinic experiences take place in the second half of the PGY1 pharmacy residency (January through June). Residents provide pharmaceutical care services to patients on a regular basis (usually one half-day weekly) in the same outpatient setting for a period of six months. This gives residents the opportunity to practice longitudinally in one setting and see patients on return visits to the clinic. Available experiences include Ambulatory Care at Variety Care Federally Qualified Health Center, Oncology Clinics at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, Family Medicine Clinic at OU Health Family Medicine Center, or General Internal Medicine Clinic at OU Health Physicians.
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Drug Information and Medication Use Evaluation - Longitudinal (12 months)
Since the development of strong drug information skills is essential for pharmacy practitioners, this experience is longitudinal throughout the entire residency program. Residents participate in defined drug information activities, such as the completion of one drug information question, preparation of drug monographs for formulary consideration, presentation of an educational seminar for nurses or staff pharmacists, and development and presentation of at least one medication use evaluation (MUE).
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Service Commitment and Investigational Drug Service - Longitudinal (12 months)
As an integral component of the PGY1 pharmacy residency, PGY1 pharmacy residents learn to function independently as a staff pharmacist within the OU Health Department of Pharmacy (approximately every third weekend rotation). In the Fall semester, the resident will be exposed to and fulfill responsibilities of a staff clinical pharmacist in both the adult and the Children’s Hospital pharmacy. In the Spring semester, the resident will be exposed to and fulfill the responsibilities of a clinical pharmacy specialist and perform clinical responsibilities such as vancomycin dosing, IV to PO changes, renal dose adjustments, anticoagulation, etc. In addition, residents participate in educational programs and departmental staff meetings as assigned. As part of the staffing responsibilities, residents will also be trained in the handling of investigational drug products and research protocols at OU Health.
