PGY1 Residency FAQ

1. There are six traditional month-long required rotations: Internal Medicine, Specialty Medicine, Critical Care, Pediatrics, Drug Information and Pharmacy Systems.
2. The resident is also required to attend a half-day longitudinal Ambulatory Care Clinic for the entire year. This clinic activity excuses the resident from any activity otherwise scheduled by the assigned monthly rotation. This ambulatory care service component may be split into two different six-month clinic sites.
3. The resident is also required to participate in the on-call program throughout the year. In general, a resident should expect to have 3-5 on-call shifts per month with the exception of July and August when the frequency is increased for training purposes.
4. The resident is required to attend the July orientation activities, which is usually completed after 3-4 weeks. Residents are also expected to complete one full week “staffing” training in hospital pharmacy after orientation

The “Specialty Medicine Rotation” requirement can be met by completing a learning experience in several different clinical areas including cardiology, oncology, emergency medicine, hepatology, neurosurgery stepdown,  ambulatory month block, among others. The resident’s area of interest along with preceptor availability are among the factors that determine scheduling of the learning experience.

Each resident is required to successfully perform in the Pharmacy Systems rotation, which is moderately analogous to an administrative rotation. Currently, this a Hospital Pharmacy Systems rotation; however, there may be opportunities to complete a Primary Care Systems rotation based on past experiences, future career plans, and site availability. The resident will (1) spend time with various pharmacy department leaders to gain an understanding of their roles, (2) attend various committee meetings, both departmental and interdisciplinary, (3) work with pharmacists and technicians to learn about the distributive and operational functions of the department, (4) provide clinical coverage for the total parenteral nutrition (TPN) consult service and the rapid response team (RRT), and (5) complete various projects (e.g., MUE) and other activities.

The residency provides for five months of electives. The remainder of the year is composed of the July Orientation and the six required rotations listed above. Typically, each resident is scheduled to have two required and two elective rotations during August through December (the remaining assignment varies depending on performance and availability) and the remaining required and elective rotations are scheduled during January through June. Resident interests are solicited before the residency begins and a preliminary schedule for the first six months is prepared and distributed after meeting with each resident individually during July Orientation.

There are also three weeklong “research” weeks scattered throughout the year, typically at the end of August, end of November and late February/early March.

They are typically 4 weeks long

There is “staffing” year round when one considers that the in-house on-call program is clinical staffing. Conventionally defined “traditional staffing” occurs during the Systems orientation week and on Saturday and Sunday daytime on-call shifts when the paired PGY1 residents will be based in a hospital pharmacy practice area with the dual responsibilities of reviewing/verifying the intensive care unit areas’ orders and also answering consults from internal medicine and pediatric care teams. This complements the weekend staffing/on-call responsibilities provided by assigned PGY2 residents to the ICU’s, ED and the Organ Transplant Unit.

There is not. When emergencies arise, the residents may be asked to volunteer to cover or assist in service coverage and they are allowed to do so as long as there is no concomitant rotation or on-call assignments. If the emergency persists beyond a single day/weekend, then residents would only participate if there were no conflict with regularly scheduled rotation and on-call assignments.

There are some provisions for “off-site” rotations. These generally are only scheduled if rotation availability at UI Health cannot accommodate the residents’ training needs. For example, an off-site psychiatry rotation may be available at the Jesse Brown VA because this is not a clinical experience offered at UI Health and JBVA is a site with which we have a contracted training agreement.

We are recruiting for 12 residents.

We welcome applicants from all colleges of pharmacy. Our only “preference” is that we find candidates who best fit our program structure and goals. While some years it may appear there is a preference for in-state graduates (particularly from UIC) on the basis of absolute numbers this is more reflective of the total number of applicants from in-state programs. We have actually matched a higher percentage of out-of-state applicants than in-state candidates over the years.

In existence since 1978 at UIC as an in-house overnight duty for pharmacy residents, the purpose of the on-call program is to provide the resident with an independent clinical service activity to assess their individual growth and professional development through the residency. The residents accomplish this by facilitating the on-site provision of clinical pharmacy services 24 hours daily, seven days weekly, 365 days a year. Normal hours are 5PM – 8AM Monday through Friday; the 24 hour days of the weekend are divided into a variety of shifts which are usually determined by the individual residency class. Currently, weekend/holiday shifts are 6:30AM – 5PM and 5PM to 8AM. Weekend and holiday AM shifts are staffed by two residents, the overnight shift by one. This has overwhelmingly been rated the most valuable learning experience during exit interviews by every residency class since 1999.

During July and August while training and awaiting licensure in Illinois, it is about every four days. Once every resident is licensed, each resident averages 3-5 shifts monthly. Until a resident is licensed, they must be accompanied on-call by another licensed resident which has an obvious impact on scheduling frequency.

Residents are not to provide direct patient care services immediately following an overnight call shift. Essentially, every effort is made to assure that no one resident’s work week is scheduled to exceed an average of 80 hours over any rotation of assigned clinical service activity. Please read Resident Duty Hours Policy for more information.

Examples of required responsibilities are attendance to all called “Codes” as a participating member of the Adult and also the Pediatric Code Teams. Residents are also part of the Stroke/Code team. Residents are required to assist in the ordering and initiating of all TPN’s on the AM weekend shifts. Most of the remainder of the responsibilities is answering drug information questions (typically empiric antibiotic selections, pharmacokinetics, adverse drug reaction identification and computerized order entry issues) for all health-care providers in the facilities. On weekend mornings these responsibilities are limited to calls from those areas not being covered by an on-call PGY2 resident.

No. All new training residents are paired up through July and August with another classmate. During July, the pair of new residents are accompanied by a ”Trainer”, this is usually a PGY2 resident or a fellow who has just completed a Pharmacy Practice residency at UIC. There is always a clinical faculty member and a hospital pharmacy administrator on back-up telephone call.

All PGY1 Pharmacy Residents take on-call. PGY2 residents have assigned “clinical staffing activities in varying areas relevant to their specialty training”. In addition, some PGY2 residents (e.g. emergency medicine) participate in the clinical in-house on-call service. At this time Pharmacy Fellows in the Infectious Disease and Academia programs may also take part in the overnight on-call program, typically for one year depending on past experiences (e.g. those who have not previously taken part in an on-call program are required to participate).

All residents must give an ACPE accredited one hour (45-50 minutes with Q and A session) CE seminar during the first half of the year. Residents are provided a list of suggested topics they may choose to select from in Orientation. The resident’s choice, progress and performance are assisted, monitored and evaluated by the Residency Seminar Committee. This group is appointed by the Residency Director and is composed of faculty with a demonstrated excellence and commitment to public speaking and resident education.

All PGY1 residents must give a 45-50 minute lecture in the Pharmacy Grand Rounds class held every spring semester. This is to the first professional year students and is intended to be interesting and motivating while providing a reflection on the individual speaker’s clinical activities and interests.

All PGY1 residents participate in the Topics in Postgraduate Training Elective Class (PMPR 359) that is held both semesters. Interested PGY2 residents can co-coordinate the class in the fall semester. The PGY1s assist with coordinating the class in spring semester. Participation may include interactive classroom discussions with the students but also consistently includes precepting the students during their required shadowing during overnight or weekend on-call hours. There are also opportunities to develop small group facilitation skills when these students attend Resident Report.

All residents are given the academic title “Clinical Instructor” to reflect the common occurrence of fourth year professional students being assigned to the same clinical service site as the resident. Though the primary site preceptor for the resident determines specific resident teaching responsibilities, all residents are expected to contribute to precepting and educating those clerkship students. This is especially likely on the Critical Care, Drug Information, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Primary Care rotation assignments.

Over the past 5 years, 95% of residents who sought a PGY2 residency successfully matched with one. Most recently, 100% of residents who sought a PGY2 residency or fellowship successfully obtained one. The vast majority of the rest have obtained clinical positions.

It’s usually the same unique programmatic feature that fulfills either of these extremes for different candidates. Most of our former residents identified the on-call program as a major strength, but for a few it was far too physically demanding or the responsibility of acting independently was too stressful. Another example is the size of the program; with 12 residents it might be easy to “get lost” or “slip through the cracks”. Most residents, however, have praised the large support network of their classmates, the greater likelihood of finding compatible personalities, and the sense of camaraderie that seems to occur. Another major unique and valued feature is Resident Report held every business day from 12:30-1:30. The majority of these sessions are informal case reviews and discussions of on-call questions and activities. This is second only to on-call in perceived value to residents at year’s end.

The Director’s Office is just outside the Resident’s Office allowing for significant ease of interactions. All residents are required to attend resident report daily; the Director attends the vast majority of these sessions. Also each resident may be assigned a faculty advisor at the beginning of the year with whom they may develop a mentor relationship or who can facilitate the development of such a relationship with another faculty member. Between the Hospital, Clinics and College (which are all immediately adjacent to one another) there are ~90 on-site clinical faculty allowing for a ~8:1 ratio of faculty to resident. Please read Resident Dismissal and Corrective Action Policy  for more information.

Yes.

PGY2 Residencies are offered in Health-Systems Pharmacy Administration and Leadership (combined PGY1/2 program), Ambulatory Care, Cardiology, Critical Care, Drug Information, Emergency Medicine, HIV Care, Infectious Disease, Oncology, Organ Transplant, Pediatrics, and Pharmacogenomics. Each of these programs can elect to participate in early commitment, though there is no universal requirement for offering early commitment. Please see the PGY2 Early Commitment Policy for more information.

Fellowships are offered in Infectious Diseases, Academia and Family Medicine, and Health Economics and Outcomes.

Residents receive 10 days paid vacation (2 weeks) and four “floating holidays”. They also receive 13 sick days. Residents are provided conference leave for the ASHP Midyear, Great Lakes Pharmacy Residents Conference and for interviewing (i.e. residents are NOT required to take vacation days for these professional activities). Please read Residency Benefits and Resident Leave of Absence Policy for more information.

Given current status of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and its application to pharmacy residency programs it is anticipated the stipend will be no lower than $48,000. Residents also receive financial support in the form of meal tickets for their on-call shifts and are provided a variety of other incidentals.

All applications should be submitted through PhORCAS. The application deadline is typically the first Monday of January (unless it is a holiday/day off so that means falling between the dates of January 3rd-9th). Application packets are evaluated for interview selection as soon they are completed. Interviews typically begin within one to two weeks after the application deadline.

Does that include the letters of recommendation or my transcript?
No. Letters may be, and frequently are, received later than the application date. The only penalty a candidate suffers because of a late letter of recommendation is a delay in the evaluation for an interview. Not all applicants are interviewed; on average there will be 60 candidates interviewed for 12 slots. All applicants will be notified after all interview slots are scheduled.

Does that include the transcript?
Yes. Please recognize that the most current transcript may not be necessary. A transcript missing one or two clerkship/clinical rotation grades is easily supplemented by any letters or recommendations that are written by the preceptor/s of those rotations. In addition, a complete transcript can be sent at any time prior to the rank list due date, once the final fall semester/quarter grades are available provided that a recent transcript has already been sent.

Typically July 1st. Pending budgetary approval PGY1 residents may start up to two weeks earlier to facilitate orientation training.

You should discuss the situation with the Program Director.

Residents may miss a portion of the Orientation process with such negotiation but are still expected to fulfill all the requirements of orientation. Some portion, or all of the missed time, will count towards the allotted vacation time. Once a resident exceeds a total of a month’s absence from the program, discussion regarding the circumstances and the need to extend the residency past the usual end date of June 30th into the following July must take place.

YES! By September 1st ideally. Delays resulting in postponing licensure past that date require RPD approval and will limit the rotations and activities of the resident until licensure is obtained. Residents will be terminated following conditions set forth in the offer letter in regards to failure to obtain licensure. Please read Resident Licensure Requirement Policy for more information.