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PGY-1/2 Medication-Use Safety and Policy Pharmacy Residency

Medical students in class

The Ochsner Health PGY-1/2 Medication-Use Safety and Policy Pharmacy residency program is a 24-month training program that supports in development of advanced skills in formulary management, drug shortages, medication-use technology, medication safety, and medication-use policy. Our program also provides opportunities for teaching, precepting, and research. Residents are integral members of the Medication Use Safety and Education (MUSE) team within pharmacy leadership which serves as a resource to define, educate, implement and measure the medication use process to facilitate the health system’s ability to provide quality patient care. The program provides training opportunities within numerous service lines throughout the Ochsner Health System with flexibility to adapt to the needs and interests of the individual resident.

Residency Program Goals

  1. Demonstrate excellence in the provision of evidence-based information and education
  2. Contribute to the management of the organization’s medication-use process
  3. Demonstrate leadership and practice management skills
  4. Serve as resource on optimal medication use in a hospital/health-system setting

Program Structure Year 1

Required (4-5 weeks)

  • Orientation
  • Internal Medicine
  • Ambulatory Care
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Critical Care
  • Introduction to Medication-Use and Policy

Longitudinal Experiences

  • Academic Pharmacotherapy
  • Quality Improvement
  • Hospital Pharmacy Practice
  • Pharmacy Administration and Leadership
  • Research

Electives (4-5 weeks)

  • Academia
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Investigational Drugs
  • Introduction to Medication Safety
  • Introduction to Pharmacy Operations
  • Pediatrics
  • Pharmacogenomics
  • Psychiatry
  • Specialty Pharmacy
  • Regulatory/Compliance
  • Sterile Drug Compounding

Program Structure Year 2

Required (4-5 weeks)

  • Orientation
  • Formulary Management I and II
  • Medication Utilization
  • Medication Safety I and II
  • System Pharmacy Operations
  • Finance and Contract Management
  • Mastery Month

Longitudinal Experiences

  • Teaching and Presentations
  • Drug Information and Shortage Management
  • Hospital Pharmacy Practice: Charge Pharmacist
  • Pharmacy Policy Management
  • Committee Leadership
  • Research

Electives (4-5 weeks)

  • Ambulatory Clinic Operations and Formulary
  • Pharmacy Data Management
  • Home Infusion
  • Investigational Drugs

  • Research Project
    Residents will be provided a list of research topics to choose from at which point they will develop a protocol, submit to the Institutional Review Board (IRB), collect data, present their research at ALCALDE, and complete a publishable manuscript. The resident will work under the mentorship of a preceptor to enhance the resident’s skills in study design, data collection, data analysis and results reporting.
  • Continuing Education Presentation
    Resident will present one 60-minute formal continuing education presentation in the fall of their resident year for the pharmacy department.
  • Morbidity, Mortality, and Improvement
    Residents will present a 60-minute formal, live case conference. The goal of the lecture is to expand the resident's communication and presentation skills while also providing them an opportunity to participate in quality improvement initiatives.
  • Physician Lecture Series
    Residents will present one 20-minute pharmacotherapy topic to Internal Medicine resident physicians.
  • Journal Club
    Residents will present one journal club per year to the pharmacy department.
  • Staffing
    • Residents will gain experience learning the drug distribution system by staffing in the central pharmacy every other weekend.
    • Residents will have the Monday following their weekend worked off as a comp day.
    • Residents will also be required to staff one Ochsner observed holiday.

  1. (For the PGY 1 year) 10 days of vacation & 6 holidays - A resident may not be absent from a rotation for >5 days, except to fulfill program-required leave.
  2. (For the PGY 2 year) 15 vacation days & 8 holidays - A resident may not be absent from a rotation for >5 days, except to fulfill program-required leave.

  • Letter of intent
  • Academic transcript
  • Curriculum Vitae (CV)
  • Three (3) Letters of Recommendation
  • Graduate of an accredited College/School of Pharmacy
  • Eligible for licensure to practice pharmacy in the State of Louisiana
  • Must obtain a Louisiana pharmacy intern license by start of the program (if not licensed as a pharmacist)
  • Licensed in the State of Louisiana before the program begins or shortly thereafter.
  • Materials should be submitted via the PHORCAS.

Deadline for completed applications is January 12, 2024.

Only fully completed applications will be considered for a virtual interview.