| Required Rotations | Elective Rotations* | Longitudinal Experiences |
|---|---|---|
| Orientation** | Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) | Administration - Clinical Operations |
| Ambulatory Care | Diabetes Management | Literature Evaluation and Education |
| Internal Medicine (I-IV) | Emergency Medicine | Pharmacy Practice/Staffing |
| Cardiology/Advanced Heart Failure | Informatics | Research Project |
| Medical Intensive Care | Infectious Disease | |
| Malignant Hematology | ||
| Medical Oncology | ||
| Nephrology | ||
| Neurovascular Intensive Care |
*Elective rotations may change based on availability; new rotations may be created based on resident interests.
**Not required for early commit PGY1 residents
The following is a brief overview of required, elective, and longitudinal experiences offered to residents at Good Samaritan TriHealth Hospital. For full details of each learning experience, including goals, objectives, and activities, please refer to the Rotation Manual.
Duration: 4 weeks
Available to: Required for all residents (exempt – PGY2 residents early committing from PGY1 program*)
*Early-Commit PGY2 residents will complete Orientation on day 1 of the PGY2 residency year
Location: GSH Central Pharmacy (primary), various inpatient settings (secondary)
Preceptor: Amneh Alzatout, PharmD, BCPS; Corey Wirth, PharmD, BCPS
A formal orientation program for all incoming residents is scheduled for early July each year. New residents are to attend all corporate orientation dates as required per the terms of employment. This orientation period is designed to introduce residents to the Good Samaritan TriHealth Hospital (GSH) Department of Pharmacy policies and procedures and various practice settings throughout the hospital. Additionally, the resident will become proficient in use of all pharmacy department software (EPIC, DrFirst MedHx, etc) and gain a baseline functional knowledge of the medication distribution system of the central pharmacy, IV room, investigational drugs, and services provided to all surgical areas. Further, the resident will become familiar with all ‘pharmacy-to-dose’ consultative services, and will be required to pass all competency exams.
During this time, the resident will meet with the Program Director to establish the individual Resident Development Plan, which will be finalized by the end of the orientation period. In addition, the resident will review the Residency Manual, all policies relating to the residency program, ASHP PGY2 Accreditation Standards, competency area goals and objectives, evaluation strategies and requirements for successful completion of the program with the RPD or designee. The final week of the orientation experience will be spent on rounds with the IM Hospitalist Teaching Service and the RPD or orientation Preceptor to orient the resident to the duties and expectations associated with the IM I experience.
Duration: 4 weeks
Location: BNH
Preceptor: Alex Gray, PharmD, BCPS, BCCP; Mark Albright, PharmD; BCCP; Amy Seither, PharmD
Advanced Heart Failure is a required, 4-week learning experience at TriHealth Bethesda North Hospital and Thomas Comprehensive Care Center. This experience will be a spilt experience between inpatient morning rounds with the team and outpatient afternoon clinics (heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, amyloidosis, ventricular assist devices (VAD)). The resident will gain experience taking care of Advanced Heart Failure patients which includes patients with cardiac amyloidosis, VAD, pulmonary hypertension, cardio-oncology, and advanced/end stage heart failure. The clinical pharmacist/resident works regularly with the advanced heart failure physician, nurse practitioner, other specialist groups (cardiothoracic surgeons), clinical dietitian, case manager, and nursing to identify and resolve medication-related problems, education, transition of care, for all patients.
Duration: 2 weeks
Location: GSH Inpatient wards
Preceptor: Non-pharmacist led experience; Resident Independent.
Coordinated by: Taha Alhayani, PharmD, BCPS
Non-pharmacist contact: Elissa Pleshinger, Diabetes Advisory Team CNP
Residents on the diabetes management rotation will participate on the Inpatient Diabetes Advisory Team. The resident will have the opportunity to broaden their understanding of blood glucose management techniques through their care for patients with insulin pumps, surgical ICU patients on tube feeds, patients with uncontrolled diabetes, and newly diagnosed diabetics. The resident will also gain experience in patient education regarding use of diabetic supplies and insulin injection, use of oral agents, as well as lifestyle and diet modification.
Duration: 4 weeks
Location: GSH Emergency Department
Preceptor: TBD
Duration: 4 weeks
Location: GSH
Preceptor: Colin Fitzgerrel, PharmD, BCPS, BCIDP
The infectious diseases rotation is a 4-week required rotation with three aspects of practice. The resident will provide direct patient care through daily rounding with the infectious diseases medical team. Through this, the resident will refine his/her approach to daily preparation to align oneself with a more narrow focus of practice. Residents will proactively review patients for response to antimicrobial treatment and recommend adjusting care plans based on culture data and other patient factors. Several days per week the resident will participate on the Antimicrobial Advisory Team providing antimicrobial stewardship services. Every patient in the hospital receiving any antibiotic will be reviewed for appropriateness of use (indication, dose, duration, etc.). The resident will meet with an infectious diseases physician to discuss patients and leave progress notes with appropriate recommendations. Additional opportunities exist to advance therapeutic knowledge through topic discussions and case presentations.
Duration: 6 weeks per each rotation
Location: GSH inpatient wards
Preceptor: Corey Wirth, PharmD BCPS; Taha Alhayani, PharmD, BCPS; Amneh Alzatout, PharmD, BCPS
The internal medicine rotations serve as the core of the PGY2 program. Each experience is 5 weeks in length, and each experience focuses on medical care of adult inpatients. The primary responsibility of the resident during these learning experiences is to provide pharmaceutical services to the medical team through interdisciplinary rounds. This rotation stresses the importance of accurate application of therapeutics in patient care, and requires the resident to develop skills in proper drug therapy selection, patient monitoring, pharmacokinetics, patient education, drug administration, and delivery of pharmaceutical care. Core content will be covered by way of patient interactions, discussion of reading material and guidelines, and case presentations. Additional responsibilities include ensuring continuation of appropriate care through transitions of patients through the healthcare system. Each individual IM experience (i.e. I through IV) will have a different focus within the underlying themes of the experience, so as to optimally address residency objectives as depicted in the teach/evaluate grid.
In brief, IM I & II will address the goals related to patient care (Competency Area R1), IM III will focus on teaching, education, and dissemination of knowledge (Competency Area R4), and IM IV will focus on practice advancement, improvement in patient care, and leadership (Competency Areas R2 & R3).
Duration: 4 weeks
Location: Norwood Campus - primary
Preceptor: Mike Friebe, PharmD
The pharmacy informatics rotation is a four-week elective available to PGY1 and PGY2 residents. The goal of this learning experience is to introduce the resident to expand the resident’s understanding of clinical pharmacy management and the medication-use system of TriHealth and its constant evolution by applying pharmacy informatics principles, standards, and best practices. Further, residents will gain basic understanding of the language and concepts of information technology (IT), thereby equipping them to function in the interdisciplinary environment of informatics project teams. Residents will gain insight in the system-level applicability of all pharmacy software and hardware employed at TriHealth.
The resident will have the opportunity to explore common practice areas under the scope of an informatics pharmacist, such as:
Duration: 4 weeks
Location: GSH MSICU
Preceptor: Nancy Wuestefeld, PharmD, BCCCP
The critical care rotation is a 4-week required learning experience for PGY2-IM residents. The experience focuses on providing pharmaceutical care to critically ill surgical and medical patients. The resident’s primary responsibility during this learning experience is to provide pharmaceutical knowledge to the interdisciplinary team through daily rounds. The resident will assess each patient before and after rounds to ensure appropriate care is given so as to provide patients with the best possible outcomes. Through this, residents will develop clinical knowledge necessary to gain confidence in recommending appropriate drug therapy in the critical care setting. Advanced understanding of disease states and treatment modalities will be gained through discussions and projects assigned by the rotation preceptor. Additionally, residents will gain familiarity with the management of medical emergencies through participation on the code response team.
Duration: 2 weeks
Location: GSH
Preceptor: Nancy Wuestefeld, PharmD, BCCCP
Through rounding with the nephrology team, the pharmacy resident will gain better understanding of the anatomy & physiology of the kidneys and the pharmacokinetic effects varying degrees of kidney dysfunction create. Residents will play a key role in the management of fluid and electrolyte imbalance, the proper dosing of renally eliminated medications, and management of parenteral nutrition. Residents may also spend time rounding with the medical ICU team with specific focus on the care of patients requiring different modalities of renal replacement therapy (e.g. hemodialysis, CRRT, etc.), or admitted with acute kidney injury of specific etiologies. In addition to clinical responsibilities, a significant portion of this learning experience is dedicated to educational understanding of the anatomy & physiology of the kidneys, including the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.
Duration: 4 Weeks
Location: GSH
Preceptor: Jacob Cannan, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
The resident will gain experience rounding with the multidisciplinary Neuro-Critical Care team, led by a Neuro-Intensivist. The Neurosurgical ICU is a twelve-bed unit serving an urban, community and/or tertiary-referred patient population. Of note, GSH is recognized as a Comprehensive Stroke Center as of 2019. The PGY2 resident will gain knowledge regarding the pathophysiology and management of the following disease states, among others: Stroke (ischemic, hemorrhagic and TIA), epilepsy and status epilepticus, sodium disorders (SAIDH & Diabetes insipidus), hepatic encephalopathy, central nervous system infections , and venous embolism and thrombosis.
The PGY2 resident will round each weekday with the team and be responsible for reviewing all patient medications, identifying and addressing medication-related problems, facilitating the medication use process when necessary, and optimizing medication therapy. The ultimate goal of the rotation is to facilitate the PGY2 resident to perform the responsibilities of the neurosurgical ICU pharmacist as an independent practitioner.
Duration: 4 weeks
Location: GSH
Preceptor: Non-pharmacist led experience; Resident Independent.
Coordinated by: Corey Wirth, PharmD, BCPS
Physician Contact: Steve Robinson, MD
The resident will gain experience through participation in daily rounds with the Palliative Care Team. Many disease states and settings will be observed, assessed, and managed including end of life care, cancer, substance abuse and addiction, chronic pain, and hospice care. Education to patients, their caregivers, and clinical staff are crucial elements of the rotation as pain management may have a direct impact on a patient’s overall outcome. Perception of pain, definitions of types of pain, patient safety, and hospital performance as they relate to patient outcomes will be an integral theme of the rotation.
This rotation is a four-week elective learning experience at Good Samaritan TriHealth Hospital. This experience is designed to provide the resident with clinical experience in managing patients undergoing a bone marrow transplant or cellular therapy. This includes understanding certain hematologic conditions, chemotherapy preparative regimens and their side effects, supportive care considerations, infectious disease implications, and oncologic emergencies.
During the Inpatient/Outpatient Bone Marrow Transplant & Cellular Therapy elective rotation at Good Samaritan TriHealth Hospital, the PGY2 Internal Medicine Pharmacy Resident will provide clinical pharmacy support to providers caring for inpatients and outpatients with a hematologic disease requiring bone marrow transplant or cellular therapy. This experience will encompass intensive, direct patient care of those on the consultation service with a focus on malignant hematology. The service is comprised of an oncologist, mid-level practitioner, pharmacist, registered nurse(s), social worker, dietician, and may include medical residents.
Duration: 4 weeks
Preceptor: Nate Miller, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP
The Inpatient malignant hematology rotation is a four-week elective learning experience at Good Samaritan TriHealth Hospital. This experience is designed to provide the resident with experience in management of hematologic malignancies including the management of side effects and adverse reactions of treatment and oncologic emergencies. During the Malignant Hematology elective rotation at Good Samaritan TriHealth Hospital, the PGY2 Pharmacy Resident will provide clinical pharmacy support to providers caring for inpatients with a variety of oncologic and hematologic disease states. The experience will encompass intensive, direct patient clinical care of those on the malignant hematology consultation service. The service is comprised of an oncologist, a mid-level practitioner, and may include students and/or medical residents.
Duration: 4 weeks
Preceptor: Nate Miller, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP
The Inpatient medical oncology rotation is a four-week elective learning experience at Good Samaritan TriHealth Hospital. This experience is designed to provide the resident with experience in management of solid tumor malignancies including the management of side effects and adverse reactions of treatment, oncologic emergencies, as well as benign hematologic disease state management. During the Medical Oncology elective rotation at Good Samaritan TriHealth Hospital, the PGY2 Pharmacy Resident will provide clinical pharmacy support to providers caring for inpatients with a variety oncologic and hematologic disease states. The experience will encompass intensive, direct patient clinical care of those on the Med Onc consultation service, with focus on solid tumor malignancies. The service is comprised of an oncologist, a mid-level practitioner, and may include students and/or medical residents.
Duration: August-May
Location: GSH (primary), various TriHealth (secondary)
Preceptor: Colin Fitzgerrel, PharmD, BCPS, BCIDP
This learning experience is designed to give the resident the necessary experience to excel in areas of drug policy development, medication utilization evaluations, and process improvement and initiation. The resident will be assigned one MUE and one monograph. Residents will participate in medication-use management, departmental clinical operations management, continuous quality assessment of the various programs, and many other activities. As this is a longitudinal experience over the course of the residency year, meetings, projects, and discussions may occur while the resident is on other rotations, or during assigned project/longitudinal weeks.
Duration: July - June
Location: GSH Inpatient Pharmacy
Preceptor: Joseph Schum, PharmD, BCPS
Throughout the residency year, pharmacy residents will lead journal club discussions. PGY2 residents will present 4 journal clubs per year. In addition, PGY2 residents will prepare and present 4 Graduate Medical Education lectures, and one Medical Grand Rounds presentation.
Residents are expected to select appropriate articles for an inpatient pharmacy audience, lead presentations, and engage attendees in thought-provoking discussion. The goals of this longitudinal experience are to build primary literature evaluation skills, presentation skills, and knowledge of emerging evidence-based medicine.
Duration: July – June
Location: GSH Inpatient Pharmacy
Preceptor: Amneh Alzatout, PharmD, BCPS
The pharmacy practice/staffing learning experience is a requirement of the PGY2 Program. After the orientation process and once competent in the use of pharmacy software systems, PGY2 residents will provide clinical staffing services up to every third weekend. The PGY2 resident’s weekend staffing responsibilities include:
The learning experience will aid the resident in refining skills required of an independent practitioner, such as communication, collaboration, and therapeutic applications.
Duration: July-June
Location: GSH
Preceptor: Taha Alhayani, PharmD, BCPS plus project-specific advisors
Each resident is required to conduct a year-long project. The project can be of any subject of particular interest to the resident, but it must be submitted to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for approval. The resident will be assigned an advisor based on the subject matter of the project. Residents will choose their research topic during the first month of the residency program and submit it for review by the IRB no later than October. Data collection will begin as soon as IRB approval is gained. The resident is required to submit his/her poster and current findings for presentation at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting. The resident is required to formally present the conclusions from the research project at the Great Lakes Residency Conference in the spring, as well as at GSH Medical Grand Rounds. The resident is required to write a manuscript of the research project suitable for publication to graduate from the residency program.