The PGY1 Pharmacy Residency at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center is an ASHP-accredited, one-year postgraduate training program.
Program Purpose and Goals
The goals of the PGY1 Pharmacy Residency are to:
- Develop highly-skilled clinical pharmacists ready to practice in an acute care setting
- Cultivate teaching and precepting skills
- Prepare residents for PGY2 specialty residency programs or other post-graduate training
About Our Program
The PGY1 Pharmacy Residency takes place at the Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center campus, a 1000+-bed, academic, tertiary care medical center, located within the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world. Within the Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center campus are Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, the Texas Trauma Institute, the Heart & Vascular Institute and the Memorial Hermann | Rockets Sports Medicine Institute. The campus is also home to a Burn Center, Cancer Center, a pharmacist-operated Medication Therapy and Wellness Clinic and Solid-Organ Transplant Center. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center is one of the busiest Level I Trauma Centers in the country, providing Level I trauma care for both adult and pediatric patients, and is home to Memorial Hermann Life Flight®. Our campus is full of growth, and now also oversees the Memorial Hermann Rockets Orthopedic Hospital.
Our dynamic program is continuously evolving to meet the needs of our current and future residents. Residents will work closely with a mentor throughout the year to help them individualize the residency program to achieve their personal goals. Our preceptors work to foster independence and autonomy, while still dedicating a significant amount of one-on-one teaching time. Residents participate in a longitudinal professional development program, and comprehensive wellness and resiliency-focused development program which helps achieve growth personally and professionally. Residents have the opportunity to co-precept pharmacy students who are participating in our Longitudinal Clinical Experiential Program and to complete a Teaching Certificate Program offered in conjunction with the University of Houston College of Pharmacy.
Residents will find that they quickly become an integral part of the medical team. They will work closely with medical students, residents, fellows, and attending physicians from the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth to provide care to a diverse patient population with a high acuity of illness. Additionally, residents gain experience responding to medical emergencies by becoming ACLS certified and participating on the Code Blue team.
Learning Experiences
PGY1 Pharmacy Residents will be exposed to a broad range of experiences and activities intended to build the skills necessary to practice as a clinical pharmacist in an acute care setting. Residents are required to complete at least one rotation in each of the following areas:
Required Learning Experiences
Residents are required to complete 8 core learning experiences. The learning experience that fulfills the requirements are listed below and are scheduled by calendar month. Orientation is completed during the month of July, and December is a project month.
- Orientation
- Ambulatory Care
- Hematology / Oncology Clinic
- Medication Therapy & Wellness Clinic
- Cardiology
- Critical Care
- Cardiovascular Surgery ICU
- Medical ICU
- Neuroscience ICU
- Shock-Trauma ICU
- Transplant Surgery ICU
- Internal Medicine
- Medicine-Specialty
- Infectious Diseases
- Solid-Organ Transplant (Abdominal)
- Cardiothoracic Transplant/Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS)
- Antimicrobial Stewardship
- Pediatrics
- General Pediatrics
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Neonatal ICU
- Practice Management
- Pharmacy Administration
Elective Learning Experiences
Residents can further tailor their residency experience towards their interests by completing 3 elective learning experiences. Elective options include any learning experience listed above which the resident did not complete as a required learning experience, or any of the following:
- Emergency Medicine
- Acute Pain Service
- Pediatric ICU
- Cardiac ICU
- Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Longitudinal Learning Experiences
Residents will gain additional experiences necessary to be a clinical pharmacist through successful completion of several longitudinal activities throughout the year. All of these longitudinal learning experiences are year- long experiences with the specific activities occurring during different times and/or progressing throughout the year. The specific activities included in each longitudinal experience are listed below the individual experiences.
- Drug Information
- Clinical On-Call (Minimum 5 weeks per year)
- Education
- Journal Club (Resident and Service Line)
- Seminar Presentation (ACPE-accredited)
- Short Topic Presentation
- Teaching Certificate (as applicable)
- Staffing
- Every 3rd Weekend Staffing (Alternating between Pharmacy and Clinical)
- Pharmacy Staffing from 07:30 - 16:00 (Minimum of 7)
- Clinical Weekends/Warfarin Dosing Service from 08:00 - 17:00 (Minimum of 7)
- Evening Staffing (1 evening per week with every 6th week off and 1 additional evening off for the year) from 16:00 - 20:30(Minimum of 30)
- Every 3rd Weekend Staffing (Alternating between Pharmacy and Clinical)
- Code Response (minimum of 2 months)
- Quality Improvement Project
- Identifying a potential area for improvement
- Conducting an analysis of the issue
- Developing and implementing a plan for improvement
- Reassessing the impact of the change
- Presenting the final results (Poster)
- Research Project:
- Design of the project and IRB approval
- Performing data collection and analysis
- Presentation of results at the Alcalde residency conference
- Preparation of a written manuscript with final results
- Professional Development
Benefits
| Office: | Dedicated pharmacy resident office space with personal laptop computer, SpectraLink mobile hospital phone |
| Stipend: | $60,320 |
| Certification: | ACLS, BLS |
| Time Off: | 14 days of paid time off (vacation and sick time combined), 1 spiritual holiday and 7 holidays (Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Day) Each Resident will work 1-2 of the major holidays listed above |
| Meetings: | Financial support is offered to attend the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting and the ALCALDE Regional Residency Conference. |
| Health Insurance: | Health, dental and vision plans are available |
| Taxes: | Texas has no state income tax |
Informational Sessions and ASHP Midyear
The PGY1 Pharmacy Residency will be at the Residency Showcase at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting in December. Please connect with us to learn more about our residency opportunities.
Two resident-run virtual informational sessions will be held: the first one will take place on October 19th from 7-8pm CST and the second on November 2nd from 7-8pm CST. To attend either session, please sign up at here no later than 24 hours prior to the event. You will receive a Zoom link via email after registering.
Application Requirements
- A strong academic record and demonstrate a desire for professional accomplishment.
- Graduated from an ACPE-accredited college of pharmacy with a Pharm.D. degree by the start of the residency year (July 1st annually).
- Registered with PhORCAS and the ASHP Residency Matching Program.
- Eligibility for licensure as a pharmacist in Texas
- See the Texas State Board of Pharmacy website for licensure requirements.
- All residents MUST pass their licensure exams within 60 days of the residency start date.
Application Process
To apply for this program, you must submit the following through the Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application Service (PhORCAS):- Supplemental Questions
- Please fill out the worksheet available here and submit in PhORCAS with your application. This is your chance to highlight the unique skills and experiences which set you apart from other residency candidates!
- The worksheet should be 1 to 2 pages, using a 12-point font and 1 inch margins.
- An official letter of intent is not required.
- Please fill out the worksheet available here and submit in PhORCAS with your application. This is your chance to highlight the unique skills and experiences which set you apart from other residency candidates!
- Curriculum Vitae
- Please include a list of all completed and anticipated APPE rotations, along with a brief description of the setting and activities performed on each completed APPE rotation (for example, include information on if you participated in rounds, and if it was with an interdisciplinary team).
- Please provide contact information (either a phone number or email address) for the primary preceptor of each completed APPE rotation.
- If leadership roles are included, elaborate on the role itself and impact you were able to make while serving in that role.
- Three Letters of Reference
- Only the PhORCAS standardized reference form is required.
- Reference letters should be written by APPE rotation preceptors whenever possible. Letters from clinical APPE rotation preceptors are preferred, followed by advanced hospital, administrative, academic, and then advanced community APPE rotation preceptors.
- For nontraditional candidates who are not applying directly following graduation from pharmacy school, letters should be written by individuals who can best speak to current clinical skills, leadership skills and drive to pursue residency.
- Please provide the following informational letter to each recommendation writer, which includes supplemental questions for the writer to answer and submit with the PhORCAS reference form.
- College of Pharmacy Transcripts should be submitted directly to PhORCAS
- The program listing in PhORCAS and the National Matching Service is: MEMORIAL HERMANN/TEXAS MED CTR; NMS Code #127213
- Please note, there are multiple PGY1 residency programs available within the Memorial Hermann Health System. A separate application must be submitted to each residency program that a candidate desires to apply to.
- Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis following the ASHP Midyear meeting. No applications will be accepted after January 2, 2024.
Applicants considered for a position may be invited to participate in a short video conference interview as part of the application process. Following this, selected applicants will be invited for a formal interview with Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center during January or February. Applicants will have a chance to meet with the Residency Program Director and Coordinator, preceptors, and current pharmacy residents. Formal interviews will be conducted in-person for 2024.
Memorial Hermann recognizes the health benefits of a tobacco-free lifestyle as well as the special duty to maintain and promote a healthy and safe environment for our patients, visitors, physicians, and employees. In an effort to further this goal, Memorial Hermann will no longer hire individuals who use tobacco products in any form.
For further information, contact:
Program Director, PGY1 Pharmacy Residency
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center
Phone: (713) 704-0983
E-mail: brittany.pelsue@memorialhermann.org
Program Coordinator, PGY1 Pharmacy Residency
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center
Phone: (713) 704-6226
E-mail: jennifer.cortes@memorialhermann.org