Residency Showcase Program Listings

Our comprehensive residency program is designed to develop practitioners who

• Provide cost-effective pharmacotherapy to adults and geriatrics patients with common medical disorders in acute and ambulatory care settings.
• Proficient in communicating with and educating pharmacist trainees, pharmacists, other health care providers and the community on drug related topics.
• Eligible (and competitive) for additional post-graduate training.

Program Structure:

• 2-week Orientation at beginning of academic year.
• 10 rotation blocks which are 4 weeks in duration. May extend to 5 or 6 weeks due to anticipated time away from residency training including but not limited to holidays, meeting attendance, personal time off and interviews. These consist of 5 required, 2 selected and 3 elective rotation blocks.
• Longitudinal Experiences run concurrently during the year in addition to the above described rotation blocks

Rotation Scheduling Sequence:

• A specific sequence is not pre-determined but an initial rotation schedule is created with the following general rules:
  • First rotation following Orientation is in an area that the resident self-identified as an area of “medium or greater” comfort either by knowledge or prior experience. This information is collected in our initial assessment.
  • Learning experiences that include a staffing component are delayed until the resident is expected to be licensed to practice as a pharmacist at our facility. The date is estimated based on when a resident is scheduled to sit for pharmacist licensure exams.
  • Areas of expressed PGY2 interest are scheduled to occur prior to the end of November whenever possible.

Learning Experiences:

UNIQUE FEATURE – PGY2 Early Commitment:

Our site offers PGY2 specialty residency programs in Ambulatory Care, Critical Care, Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine, Oncology, Pain Management and Palliative Care, Pharmacy Administration & Leadership, Pharmacy Informatics and Psychiatric Pharmacy. All programs will consider our PGY1 residents for PGY2 early commitment.

Recruitment Brochure: https://vasandiegoresidencyprograms.my.canva.site/

APPLICANT QUALIFICATIONS

• Participation in the ASHP Resident Matching Program
• United States citizenship with proof of naturalization if naturalized 
• Possess (or in the process of obtaining) a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from an ACPE accredited School or College of Pharmacy
• Eligible for licensure to practice as a pharmacist at VA San Diego within 120 days from the beginning of the residency program
• Initial set of licensing exams must be taken within 45 days from the beginning of the residency program
• Must be able to show documented proof for each requirement and must maintain eligibility for the duration of the VA appointment via the Am I Eligible? Checklist for Health Professions Trainees (HPTs) Training at VA Facilities

APPLICATION PROCESS

• All application materials must be submitted through Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application (PhORCAS):
• PHASE I DEADLINE is January 2, 2026 at 11:59PM EST
• PHASE II DEADLINE if positions available is March 23th, 2026 at 11:59PM EST
•   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
• Selected applicants will be invited to a personal virtual or on-site interview.  Candidates who are not invited for an on-site interview will be notified via e-mail.

About VA San Diego San Diego Healthcare System

VA San Diego Healthcare System KEY FACTS Provided high quality health care to 116,500+ Veterans in the San Diego and Imperial Valley counties in Fiscal Year 2022 Offers a wide range of inpatient and outpatient health services at the medical center in La Jolla, seven community-based outpatient clinics located in Chula Vista, Escondido, Imperial Valley, Kearny Mesa, Rio, 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 1,441 medical interns, residents and fellows, as well as 368 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 75 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

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