Annual Program Structure [PDF].

At the start of the residency year, residents will undergo orientation and training for University Health (UH), the PGY1 Residency program, and University of Texas College of Pharmacy (UTCOP). Departmental and residency training will include orientation to policies and procedures, electronic medical record and computer systems, inpatient pharmacy operations (including sterile compounding), and select decentralized areas.

Residents will also be oriented to the ASHP Residency Accreditation Standards, Program Design and Conduct, and the required Competency Areas, Goals, and Objectives for PGY1 residency training. In addition, the resident will be oriented to the evaluation process and the PharmAcademic online evaluation system. Residents who are not already certified will also be scheduled for training in Basic Life Support and Advanced Cardiac Life Support early in the residency.

The resident is required to participate in the UTCOP-affiliated residency programs' weekly didactics, including Pharmacotherapy Seminar and Pharmacotherapy Rounds, on Friday afternoons. The resident will lead at least one assigned Pharmacotherapy Seminar and present one formal ACPE-approved Continuing Education program to UH pharmacy staff and at Pharmacotherapy Rounds.

Throughout the residency year, each resident will facilitate pharmacy student labs for UT and UIW. Quantity and assignments will be determined annually based upon school’s needs.

The UTCOP Teaching and Leadership Fellows Program (TLFP) is a learning experience provided to residents participating in UTCOP-affiliated residency programs. The program provides the opportunity for pharmacy residents to gain fundamental knowledge and skills in teaching, learning, and leadership. The skills obtained can be utilized when providing medication and practice-related education to patients, caregivers, health care professionals, students, and the public in an experiential or didactic role. Residents will be required to document growth in teaching skills as well as leadership development throughout the program. There are two tracks for participation - the clinical educator track, and the academia/faculty track. The resident will receive a certificate at the completion of the program.

The resident will staff inpatient operations throughout the year, including order verification, pharmacy-to-dose consults, providing clinical team information to the provider, and nurses, and sterile compounding. Scheduling will be determined annually based on the number of residents and staffing needs, not to exceed an average of 16 hours per two-week pay period.

Eligibility for Pharmacist Licensure in the State of Texas and licensure deadlines must be adhered to as outlined in the Residency Licensure Policy.

The resident may also be required to staff outside of their standard duty in extenuating circumstances, limited to no more than three days per residency year. While there are no specific criteria defining extenuating circumstances, the individual situation is evaluated and efforts are made to minimize time away from the resident’s current rotation. Approval to require a resident to staff must be obtained from the residency leadership.

Successful completion of a research project is required for residency program certificate. The resident must adhere to the established timeline for the project to assure successful completion during the one-year residency. The research topic may be an idea of the resident, from a suggested list, or individually assigned. The project will be directly supervised by the preceptors who have expertise in the topic.

The research project must be approved the UT Health San Antonio Investigational Review Board and the UH Research Committee. Research results will be presented as a platform presentation and as a poster presentation at UT’s “Celebrating Pharmacy Research Excellence Day” in the spring.

The major project must also be submitted in final manuscript form to preceptors and program leadership in order to receive a residency certificate. The resident is strongly encouraged to publish the results of the major project in a peer-reviewed journal.

This longitudinal experience is structured to provide the resident experience in self-evaluation of his or her strengths, progress throughout the residency, areas for improvement and goals. Self-evaluations will be completed and discussed between the resident and residency leadership on a quarterly basis then incorporated into each resident’s personal development plan.

Each resident will complete a core set of required rotations plus additional elective rotations throughout the residency year. The standard rotation length is four weeks, but may be flexible depending on the needs and interests of the individual resident.

Required experiences:

1. Orientation
2. Internal Medicine
3. Critical Care (Medical ICU, Neuroscience ICU, Surgical/Trauma ICU or CV Transplant ICU)
4. Ambulatory Care (extensive variety including primary care, specialty clinics, transitions of care, etc)
5. Pediatrics (Pediatric ICU, Neonatal ICU, Pediatric Congenital Cardiac Unit, or General Pediatrics)
6. Practice Management
7. Advanced Clinical Practice

Additional elective experiences include:

1. Cardiology
2. Emergency Medicine
3. Infectious Diseases
4. Solid Organ Transplant
5. Oncology or Hematology
6. Maternal-Fetal Medicine
7. Anticoagulation Stewardship
8. Inpatient Supportive Care

A resident may not complete more than two off-site (i.e., outside University Health facilities) rotations per residency year.

During patient care rotations throughout the course of the residency year, each resident is required to present a minimum of two patient cases and two journal clubs.