Residency Showcase Program Listings

RESIDENCY PROGRAM PURPOSE

The purpose of the Wellstar Kennestone PGY1 residency program is to build on the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) education and outcomes to develop pharmacist practitioners with knowledge, skills, and abilities as defined in the ASHP educational competency areas, goals, and objectives (CAGOs). Graduates of this program will be skilled in diverse patient care, practice management, leadership, and education and be prepared to provide patient care, seek board certification in pharmacotherapy (i.e., BCPS), and pursue advanced education and training opportunities including postgraduate year two (PGY2) residencies.

RESIDENCY PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The goal of the Wellstar Kennestone PGY1 Pharmacy Residency Program is to provide educational and training experiences for pharmacists at an acute care community teaching medical center in an organized healthcare system. The resident will complete various required, elective, and longitudinal learning experiences throughout the year to meet the ASHP CAGOs outlined in the ASHP Accreditation Standard (The Standard) as well as their personal and professional goals. The major job responsibilities of this position are clinical intervention, continuing education and teaching, drug distribution, leadership, patient care and education, and research. The program is designed to create confident, well-rounded, competent clinical pharmacist leaders able to function and practice in a variety of practice settings.

The PGY1 residency program will utilize the collective assets of Wellstar Health System (WHS) to accomplish the assigned goals and objectives. The Traditional PGY1 residency program is designed to allow the resident to complete the program within a minimum of 52 weeks.  The Nontraditional (NT) residency program is designed to allow the resident to complete the traditional 52-week program over 24-months by participating in the residency program every other month and continuing in a staff position every other month.

LEARNING EXPERIENCES (LEs)

Baseline data collected from each resident identifying their interests and personal/professional goals are used to formulate an initial Development Plan (DP) and residency learning experience (LE) schedule.  Wellstar Kennestone uses three types of learning experiences for the PGY1 pharmacy residency program that include required, elective, and longitudinal experiences throughout the year. 

The residents will spend 4-6 weeks in June-July in orientation. Required patient care LEs are generally 4-5 weeks in length. Each LE has its own goals, objectives, and schedule. Learning experiences often vary regarding daily start and end times, presentation requirements, rounding responsibilities, and other duties. 

Residents will select elective LEs that will be completed primarily during the second half of the residency year and may be developed/offered based on resident interest and preceptor availability.

Required LEs

*anticoagulation/pharmacokinetics

Elective LEs

Other electives may be available based on resident interest and preceptor availability

PHARMACY DEPARTMENT

The Wellstar Kennestone Pharmacy Department team consists of centralized, unit-based, clinical, and operating room pharmacists. The inpatient pharmacy and ED are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. Among the services performed are medication order verification, IV preparation, medication dispensing, compounding of various dosage forms, packaging of bulk medications, and many clinical services. The Pharmacy Department utilizes automated drug delivery units throughout the hospital. The pharmacy team operates out of a central pharmacy, Operating Room (OR) satellite and workstations on patient care units. We also have an Outpatient Infusion Center (OPIC) satellite on our campus.

Pharmacists play an integral role on the healthcare team through participation in physician-led interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary rounds. Clinical consult services provided by pharmacists include but are not limited to anticoagulation therapy management, pharmacokinetic dosing, nutrition support, and pain management. The clinical pharmacy team includes a clinical dietitian and clinical pharmacists specializing in medical areas such as ambulatory care, cardiology, critical care, emergency medicine, infectious diseases, internal medicine, pain management, and pediatrics.

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

To successfully complete the Wellstar Kennestone PGY1 Residency Program, the resident must:

• Obtain Georgia pharmacist license and complete a minimum of 2/3 of the residency year as a licensed pharmacist.
• Fulfill pharmacist staffing requirements outlined in the residents’ schedule.
• Complete all required learning experiences (LEs).
• Receive ACHR (achieved for residency) for 80% (10 of 12) of the ASHP PGY1 Competency area R1 Patient Care objectives.
  
  • Receive Satisfactory Progress (SP) or Achieved (ACH) for all remaining Competency area R1 objectives
• Successfully complete the ACLS and BLS curriculum and participate in codes.
• Complete a research project and a medication use evaluation (MUE) designed to improve the services of the department and/or patient care.
  • Present a poster at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting
  • Present a research project at the Southeastern Residency Conference (SERC)
  • A completed manuscript must be suitable for submission to a peer-reviewed journal
• Complete formulary management task(s) (i.e., annual formulary review, drug monograph) to develop an understanding of the medication use process.
• Participate in the following education and development series, as able:
  
  • Atlanta Pharmacy Resident Information Exchange (APRIE) journal club
  • WK Residency Professional Development Series
  • Wellstar Graduate Medical Education (GME) DEI Dialogues (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion)
• Prepare and present one Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)-accredited one-hour continuing pharmacy education (CPE) grand rounds.
• Precept a Doctor of Pharmacy student on experiential training rotation(s).

APPLICATION PROCESS

Detailed application instructions are available at: wellstar.org/kennestonePGY1rxresidency

Register with the Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application Service (PhORCAS^™) and the ASHP Resident Matching Program through the National Matching Service (NMS).

The Wellstar Kennestone PGY1 pharmacy residency match code is 133413.

The Wellstar Kennestone PGY1 nontraditional pharmacy residency match code is 133421.

Candidate should submit required documents in the PhORCAS^™ System.  See wellstar.org/kennestonePGY1rxresidency for details.

This residency program agrees that no person at this residency will solicit, accept, or use any ranking-related information from any residency applicant.

All application materials are due by 11:59pm on January 3^rd for participation in Phase 1 of the match.

Residency applicants must possess a Doctor of Pharmacy degree and be a licensed pharmacist in the State of Georgia within 90 days of the the start of the program. A completed application, curriculum vitae (CV), pharmacy school transcripts, references, and a formal interview are required (see How to Apply at wellstar.org/kennestonePGY1rxresidency for details).

Non-U.S. citizens must have a "green card" (permanent resident status) or a current visa valid through the entire duration of the residency program. Wellstar PGY1 and PGY2 residency programs are unable to sponsor visas for pharmacy residents.

About Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center

Wellstar Health System, the largest health system in Georgia, is known nationally for its innovative care models, focused on improving quality and access to healthcare. Wellstar consists of Wellstar Medical Group, outpatient centers, health parks, a pediatric center, nursing centers, hospice, homecare as well as 9 inpatient hospitals: Cobb, Douglas, Kennestone, North Fulton, Paulding, Spalding, Sylvan Grove, West Georgia, and Windy Hill. Located just north of Atlanta, Wellstar Kennestone is a 633-bed facility (including more than 85 critical care beds) and the largest hospital in Wellstar Health System's network. As one of the Top 100 hospitals, Wellstar Kennestone offers the most advanced care available for all your surgical, medical, rehabilitative and emergency care needs. The Level II Trauma Center features a new, state-of-the-art emergency department, comprehensive stroke center, and certified comprehensive cardiac center. For more information, visit wellstar.org/locations/hospital/kennestone-regional-medical-center.

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