Sharp Grossmont Hospital PGY1 Pharmacy Residency

Helping you enhance your abilities and grow your passion.

Sharp Grossmont Hospital serves the east county area of San Diego. It is the largest not-for-profit, full-service acute care hospital in the region with 542 beds. The hospital has outstanding programs in heart care, orthopedics, rehabilitation, robotic surgery, mental health, stroke care and women’s health. In addition, the hospital’s Emergency and Critical Care Center is among the most technologically advanced in the nation. It is home to one of the busiest emergency departments in California, serving 105,000 patients annually, with 24/7 ED pharmacist coverage. Sharp Grossmont Hospital is a designated Comprehensive Stroke Center and home to the Burr Heart and Vascular Center, offering more advanced cardio and neurovascular procedures. Sharp Grossmont is a nationally recognized MAGNET®-designated hospital for nursing practices.

Sharp Grossmont prides itself in providing a unique and innovative pharmaceutical care program. Clinical programs include pharmacy to dose protocols with certification in pharmacokinetic dosing of aminoglycosides and vancomycin, anticoagulation, renal dosing and antibiotic surveillance. Our floor pharmacists are unit based and decentralized. Our clinical pharmacy programs continue to expand, including the recent addition of our Med-to-Beds program, aimed at ensuring the patient has their medication in hand prior to discharge. Furthermore, Sharp Grossmont has an APPE pharmacy student program, including rotations in general hospital practice, internal medicine, administration, safe medication practice, emergency medicine, critical care, transitions of care and infectious disease/antimicrobial stewardship, which provides an opportunity for pharmacy school affiliation.

About the program.

Electa Stern, PharmD, BCPS, is the residency program director. This ASHP-accredited PGY1 residency program will train pharmacy graduates in general hospital practice with a focus on the acute care setting. The primary training site is located at Sharp Grossmont Hospital. The resident will obtain experience in multiple patient care settings, as well as seeing a diverse patient population. Sharp Grossmont has dedicated clinical pharmacy specialists in behavioral health/psychiatry, emergency medicine, hematology/oncology, infectious disease, medical intensive care unit, surgical intensive care unit, operating room, safe medication practice, investigational drugs and transitions of care. Our residents will be joining a well-established and highly valued pharmacy team who consistently make a positive impact on the lives of our patients.

The pharmacy resident will receive training to accelerate growth and competence in patient care, leadership skills, teaching skills, research and practice management skills through precepting pharmacy students, conducting clinical research projects, and assisting in the integration and utilization of clinical pharmacists to improve patient care. For those interested in further developing their teaching skills, participation in a teaching certificate program is available through the San Diego Pharmacy Residency Leadership Teaching Program.

You will participate in the development of your own residency plan, which will reflect your interests and build upon your previous experiences. Upon successful completion of our program, you will be equipped with the knowledge to become a valuable asset to the pharmacy community.

Learning experiences.

Our unique program aims to personalize your residency objectives and experiences, helping you develop confidence and competence in acute patient care, drug information, disease state management and administrative management.

Residents are encouraged to participate in the development of their own residency plan that reflects personal interests and builds upon previous experiences.

Required core learning experiences.

• Chief resident/leadership (two quarters)
• Critical care (5 weeks)
• Emergency medicine (5 weeks)
• Infectious disease and antibiotic stewardship (5 weeks)
• Medicine (telemetry and surgical units) (5 weeks)
• Orientation (3 weeks)
• Pharmacy practice/staffing (longitudinal)
• Projects/advancing practice (longitudinal)
• Safe medication practice (3 weeks)
• Teaching certification (longitudinal)
• Transitions of care (5 weeks)
• Perioperative pharmacy service (5 weeks)

Elective learning experiences.

• Oncology (5 weeks)
• Women’s and NICU (5 weeks)
• Behavioral health (5 weeks)
• Specialty pharmacy (5 weeks)
• Solid organ transplant (5 weeks)

Practice management and administration*All core learning experiences may also be taken as electives**Residents may develop new electives or reactivate earlier, currently inactive electives as approved by the residency director and preceptors.

Additional activities.

• Committees
  You will actively participate in the Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Safe Medication Practice and other supervisory and multidisciplinary committees as appropriate.
• Compensation
  Your annual base stipend will be an estimate of $47,000 plus benefits. We coordinate with pharmacy managers to tailor all staffing to the needs of the residency program and the pharmacy department. Additional financial support for educational opportunities may be available. And, if there’s a need, we’ll help provide financial support for approved educational opportunities, conferences and travel.
• Educational opportunities
  We’ll provide you with ongoing educational opportunities through professional meetings and conferences (CSHP, ASHP Midyear, Western States Conference), certifications (ACLS, BCPS). Sharp also provides ongoing preceptor training and Six Sigma White and Yellow Belt certification opportunities.
• Leadership
  Each resident will act as chief resident for two quarters (each is a three-month term), which involves coordinating and scheduling tasks for the residency team, maintaining correspondence with pharmacy administration and preceptors, and performing other program duties as necessary.
• Presentations
  Throughout the year, we provide numerous opportunities for our residents to present to medical and nursing staff, pharmacy students and pharmacy staff, in addition to the required rotational and formal seminar presentations.
• Projects
  You are required to collaborate with system and site pharmacy leadership, your residency project preceptor and a co-investigator to select an area of interest also of high priority to Sharp HealthCare. You will complete an in-depth, systematic study suitable for publication and presentation. Additional projects are completed as requested by the resident, preceptors, system and site pharmacy departments and as deemed beneficial for both your development and for Sharp.
• Teaching
  At Sharp, we integrate teaching experiences into patient care activities and through the provision of educational support to pharmacy students and staff, nursing and medical staff members and others. As a resident, you will work closely with pharmacists in precepting pharmacy students on clinical learning experiences from various pharmacy schools — including Touro University College of Pharmacy, Western University of Health Sciences and the Keck Graduate Institute School of Pharmacy. Additionally, through the San Diego Pharmacy Residency Leadership Program, you will obtain a teaching certification upon completion and participate in preceptor development and various workshops.

How to apply.

Applicants must possess a doctor of pharmacy degree (PharmD) and must be self-motivated with good interpersonal and communication skills. A California Internship License is required before the start of the residency. Completion of the CPJE and NAPLEX licensure exams is recommended before residency begins, if possible. Pharmacist licensure must be obtained no later than Nov. 1 of the residency year.

To be considered for an interview, you must complete and submit all application material in PhORCAS by Dec. 30, 2021. If you have any questions, please contact Electa Stern, PharmD, residency director, or PGY1 resident pharmacist:  Megan Levay.

Complete applications should include the following as well as meet any additional requirements by PhORCAS (National Matching Service code 275813):

• School of pharmacy transcript
• Curriculum vitae
• Letter of interest
• 3 reference writers

For more information.

Please review and download the following materials:

• Brochure (PDF)
• General Information Packet (PDF)