By Dr. Sharon See, PharmD, FCCP, BCPS<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Sharon See, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPS is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Clinical Pharmacy Practice Department at St. John\u2019s University College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions. In conjunction with her full time appointment at St. John\u2019s University, she is a clinical faculty member in the Beth Israel Residency in Urban Family Health in New York City where she is the coordinator of the inpatient pharmacotherapy curriculum.<\/i><\/p>\n
I have been asked to reflect on my residency experience and offer advice to prospective residency candidates. \u00a0I completed a specialty residency in Inpatient Family Medicine with Deaconess Family Medicine and the St. Louis College of Pharmacy (STLCOP) in St. Louis, MO. \u00a0At that time, there were pharmacy practice residencies (now referred to as PGY-1 residencies) and specialty residencies (now referred to as PGY-2 residencies). \u00a0I graduated from the five-year BS program at Rutgers, and stayed on for a two-year post baccalaureate Pharm.D. \u00a0I was fortunate to have been accepted into a specialty residency without first completing a pharmacy practice residency. Although I had interviewed at several Pharmacy Practice residencies, STLCOP and Deaconess offered me opportunities that fit my career goals. I wanted to go somewhere progressive and very clinical. \u00a0I wanted direct patient care and to collaborate with physicians at the point of care.\u00a0 It turned out to be the perfect setting for me.<\/p>\n
I was part of the Deaconess Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program where my preceptor, Jack Burke, was the Pharm.D. attending for the residency program. \u00a0He was on faculty, along with the other attending physicians, and was in charge of the inpatient pharmacotherapy curriculum. \u00a0We took care of all the patients on the inpatient service. \u00a0This residency program did not have any staffing component. \u00a0My day-to-day work consisted of a sit-down meeting with the team at morning rounds, where we discussed patients admitted the night before. \u00a0We would then go on walk rounds with the attending to see all the patients on our service. \u00a0I followed all of the patients on the service, which usually consisted of about 20 to 30 patients. \u00a0I helped to identify drug-related problems, made recommendations for adding or discontinuing therapy, answered drug information questions, and provided patient education.\u00a0 I rounded with the team on the weekends to provide continuity of care. \u00a0It was a wonderful training environment. \u00a0Oftentimes, the residents would wait to hear what I had to say about a patient\u2019s regimen before they wrote the orders.<\/p>\n
One of the attractive things about STLCOP was the teaching component of the residency. \u00a0In addition to my clinical duties, I had opportunities to precept pharmacy students on rotations, teach in a physician assistant (PA) pharmacology course, give various lectures to family medicine residents, and facilitate workshops at the pharmacy school. \u00a0There were nine pharmacy residents affiliated with STLCOP; we attended weekly resident teaching seminars where we learned the foundations of effective teaching and explored the use of abilities-based education in pharmacy. \u00a0We were each assigned topics in the infectious diseases (ID) elective, and the weekly seminars helped us shape our lectures.<\/p>\n
My year in St. Louis was also the beginning of building my professional network. \u00a0The faculty members at STLCOP were very active in the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP). \u00a0In fact, my former chair at STLCOP is now the executive director at ACCP. \u00a0Their mentoring spurred me to join ACCP. \u00a0My affiliation with ACCP has been invaluable in contributing to my professional development as a clinician and a teacher. \u00a0It has also helped me gain leadership experience and learn from colleagues from across the country.<\/p>\n
Today, in concert with my faculty position at St. John\u2019s University, I am a faculty member with the Beth Israel Residency in Urban Family Health where I am in charge of the inpatient pharmacotherapy curriculum. I help to train family medicine residents who wish to become family physicians. \u00a0I designed my clinical practice and inpatient rotation based on my residency experience in St. Louis. \u00a0We see patients with the team and optimize their drug therapy.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, my residency training directly affected my career path and led me to where I am now. \u00a0Good luck with your journey, and feel free to contact me if you have further questions. \u00a0Thank you for providing an opportunity to share my residency experiences.<\/p>\n
I compiled a few tips for you to consider as you learn more about pharmacy residencies.<\/p>\n
TIP #1 \u2013 Apply to out of state residencies<\/span>. \u00a0If you are not geographically restricted, I highly recommend training in another state. \u00a0This is a great way to gain experience in another part of the country and form a new network of friends and colleagues. \u00a0You can always come back home to implement what you have learned elsewhere. \u00a0It is only one year!<\/p>\n TIP #2 \u2013 Clarify your intent<\/span>. \u00a0Why you are interested in pursuing a residency? \u00a0This is a crucial question because a residency is not for everyone. \u00a0What is the position that you are hoping to get in the future? \u00a0Does it require a residency? \u00a0It is not enough to want to do a residency because it is the thing to do or you cannot decide what you want to do with the rest of your life. \u00a0The economic climate makes residency training attractive; however, is this compatible with your career goals?<\/p>\n TIP #3 \u2013 Obtain letters of recommendation<\/span>. \u00a0If you are thinking about applying for a residency, you should really start the process when you start rotations. \u00a0ASHP midyear occurs in December; so, if you are asking faculty or preceptors to write you letters of recommendation, please do so PRIOR to midyear, ideally in November or as soon as you are thinking about it. \u00a0Your faculty and preceptors need time to write these letters.\u00a0 Keep in mind that they may be writing letters for five to seven students (each who may be applying to five or more programs). \u00a0This takes time.<\/p>\n TIP #4 \u2013 Focus<\/span>. \u00a0What are you looking for in a residency? \u00a0Do you want more managerial or teaching experiences? \u00a0Look for programs that fit your interests or career goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Dr. Sharon See, PharmD, FCCP, BCPS – Sharon See, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPS is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Clinical Pharmacy Practice Department at St. John\u2019s University College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions. In conjunction with her full time appointment at St. John\u2019s University, she is a clinical faculty member in the Beth…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[343,102,13,2227,30,131,314,20,101,363,968,1625,19,2244,11,34,37,1161,225,1061],"class_list":["post-365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advice-opinions","tag-and","tag-december","tag-drug","tag-ebola-virus-disease","tag-faculty","tag-fit","tag-for","tag-health","tag-november","tag-of","tag-one","tag-or","tag-patient","tag-pharmacology","tag-pharmacy","tag-residency","tag-resident","tag-therapy","tag-weekly","tag-with"],"views":846,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhochistj.org\/RhoChiPost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}