Our PGY2 residency program in psychiatry is designed to foster competency in the area of clinical psychiatric pharmacotherapy. Residents develop advanced clinical skills through hands-on participation in outpatient and inpatient longitudinal rotations. Selected core experiences include direct patient care responsibilities in an acute inpatient general psychiatry unit, ambulatory care mental health medication management clinics and an inter-professional consult liaison service. Elective rotations are flexible and based on the resident’s interests. Graduates of our program are trained to become knowledgeable, well-rounded psychiatric pharmacy specialists.
Learning Objectives:
Upon successful completion of the program, the resident will be able to:
Serve as an authoritative resource on optimal medication use in individuals with psychiatric and neuropsychiatric disorders
Optimize outcomes for patients with a variety of psychiatric and neuropsychiatric disorders by providing evidence-based, patient-centered medication therapy as an integral member of multidisciplinary treatment teams
Evaluate and improve the medication-use process in psychiatric and neuropsychiatric patient care areas
Conduct psychiatric pharmacy practice and outcomes research
Serve as a psychiatric pharmacy preceptor for advanced pharmacy practice experiences and PGY1 residents
Obtain board certification in psychiatric pharmacy (BCPP)
Unique Features:
Fully integrated mental health pharmacy services, including pharmacist-run medication management clinics for schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, and PTSD. All of our psychiatric pharmacists possess Scopes of Practice that allow them to practice independently as mid-level healthcare providers
Opportunities in acute, ambulatory and specialty care including a multidisciplinary inpatient unit, a Substance Abuse Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (SARRTP), a Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (RRTP) and a Mental Health Intensive Case Management (MHICM) program
Formal inter-professional training in psychosomatic medicine with required clinical experiences in Consult Liaison and Pain Management
Our medical center is home to several specialty research programs, including Mental Illness Rehabilitation, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) and Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health (CESAM)
We are a progressive teaching hospital affiliated with UCSD School of Medicine as well as the UOP and UCSD Schools of Pharmacy. Residents have teaching responsibilities in the UCSD classroom (lectures and small group facilitation) and at the medical center (precept students and residents). Teaching Certificate program is available.
Facilities: The residents’ office will be located at the VA Medical Center in La Jolla, and most activities will be coordinated from this site. Other clinical experiences will be conducted at community based outpatient clinics in Mission Valley and Oceanside as well as a residential rehabilitation treatment program in Old Town San Diego.
APPLICANT QUALIFICATIONS
Register with the ASHP Resident Matching Program accessible at http://www.natmatch.com/ashprmp/
Possess United States citizenship; Naturalized citizens must be able to provide proof of naturalization
Possess a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from an accredited School or College of Pharmacy
PGY2 applicants must be licensed to practice pharmacy from any state at the beginning of their residency program
PGY2 applicants must complete or be in the process of completing an ASHP accredited PGY1 residency OR have equivalent experience
APPLICATION PROCESS
All application materials must be submitted through Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application (PhORCAS):
PHASE I DEADLINE for PGY2 Programs is January 1, 2022
PHASE II DEADLINE for Programs with Available Positions is March 21, 2022
Submitted Materials must include:
Basic Demographics
Verified Transcripts for Schools or Colleges of Pharmacy Only
Personal Statement / Letter of Intent
Curriculum Vitae
Three letters of recommendation using the standardized reference template in PhORCAS
Extracurricular Information
Supplemental Information
Application for Health Professions Trainees (VA Form # 10-2850D) accessible at http://www.va.gov/oaa/archive/VAFORM10-2850d.pdf
Selected applicants will be invited to a personal on-site interview occurring in February. Candidates who are not invited for an on-site interview will be notified via e-mail
VA San Diego Healthcare System
KEY FACTS
Provided high quality health care to 84,712 Veterans in the San Diego and Imperial Valley counties in Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18)
Offers a wide range of inpatient and outpatient health services at the medical center in La Jolla, six community based outpatient clinics located in Chula Vista, Escondido, Imperial Valley, Mission Valley, Oceanside and Sorrento Valley and a residential rehabilitation treatment program
Provides medical, surgical, mental health, geriatric, spinal cord injury, and advanced rehabilitation services
Training site for 1,399 medical interns, residents and fellows, as well as 678 other health professionals from pharmacy, nursing, dental, and dietetics
PROVISION OF CARE – PHARMACY SERVICE
Pharmacy services provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week
Decentralized unit-dose service with Barcode Medication Administration, IV Additive Service, Automated Dispensing Systems, Physician Order Entry and Automated Prescription Filling
Our Ambulatory Care Clinical Pharmacists, Inpatient Clinical Pharmacists, and Clinical Specialists provide a wide range of pharmaceutical care services to veterans in the inpatient a...nd outpatient settings.
OUR STAFF AND PRECEPTORS
74 pharmacists serve as preceptors to our resident trainees
Most have greater than 5 years of experience with serving as a preceptor to residents
Many are Board Certified as Pharmacotherapy Specialists (BCPS), Oncology Pharmacists (BCOP), Psychiatric Pharmacists (BCPP), Ambulatory Care Pharmacists (BCACP), Critical Care Pharmacists (BCCCP), Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (BCIDP) and Geriatric Pharmacists (BCGP)
More than half possess Scopes of Practices which allow for prescriptive authority
OUR TEACHING PROGRAM
Multiple PGY1 and PGY2 residency training programs
Have academic relationships with two Schools of Pharmacy – University of the Pacific (UOP) and University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
Annually provide APPEs to approximately 30 students
