Community-Based Pharmacy Residency Program

Community-Based
Pharmacy Residency Program

Our community-based pharmacy residency program’s goal is to develop a pharmacist who can competently provide clinical services in the community (primary care) and ambulatory care settings.  The resident will work in a patient-centered medical home with medical providers, mental health providers, case managers and community health workers to provide whole person care.

Program Overview

The PGY1 Community Pharmacy Residency at North Country HealthCare (NCHC) is a 12-month, full-time program that provides an in-depth experience in a broad area of pharmacy practice. The site is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), which allows the resident the opportunity to work with a variety of patients including rural and underserved populations.  NCHC is also a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) organization.

The purpose of this residency is to develop pharmacist(s) who can competently provide clinical services in the community and ambulatory care settings. The resident will work in a patient-centered medical home with medical providers, mental health providers, case managers and community health workers to provide a solid continuum of care.

The program also provides background, training, and experience in the following areas: development and/or enhancement of FQHC pharmacy services, quality improvement of the medication-use process and clinical services, creation of a business case for pharmacy services, and defining reimbursement mechanisms for existing disease state management programs. The experience will provide a unique opportunity to participate in projects currently impacting North Country HealthCare and FQHC’s locally, statewide and nationally.

Learning Experiences

Learning experiences include transitions of care, medication therapy management, diabetes management and education, anticoagulation, teaching certification, continuous quality improvement projects, and HIV/HEP C medication management.

The settings for the learning experiences will be in tandem appointments with providers, one-on-one patient appointments (in-person, telemedicine, and telephonically), provider and support staff interactions, and group education classes with patients.

The vast majority of clinical learning will be through managing complex medical patients with multiple disease states. This enables the resident to learn how to provide a comprehensive level of care across a wide variety of conditions. Additionally, the program offers focused and in-depth rotations in diabetes and anticoagulation.

The most common disease states residents will encounter in these experiences include:

• Diabetes
• Anticoagulation
• HTN
• ASCVD
• Arrhythmias
• Asthma/COPD
• Pain Management
• Gastrointestinal Disorders

Program Completion Outcomes

Upon completion of the program, the resident should be able to meet and satisfy the following required outcomes:

1. Provide patient-specific medication management and improve the medication-use process
2. Provide evidence-based, patient-centered care in a variety of disease states and collaborate with other healthcare professionals to optimize patient care
3. Exercise leadership and practice management skills
4. Demonstrate project management skills
5. Provide medication and practice-related information, education, and/or training to healthcare professionals, patients, students, community and medical staff on drug-related topics
6. Utilize medical informatics
7. Complete a Continuous Quality Improvement Project Or Research Project
8. Become prepared for a successful career in the profession of pharmacy

Pharmacists completing residency at North Country HealthCare will acquire clinical and managerial skills to become a competent practitioner providing care for patients in a community and/or ambulatory setting while demonstrating professionalism and maturity through self-evaluation and skill development.

Core Experiences

Resident must meet the following requirements to graduate from North Country HealthCare community pharmacy residency program.

Longitudinal Rotations

The residency program is offered in Flagstaff where the resident will be trained. There will be opportunities to travel to NCHC satellite clinics. To meet the community’s needs, the resident is required to have longitudinal rotations in the areas of:

1. Orientation (not longitudinal)
2. Medication Distribution
3. Patient Care Community 1 & 2
4. Patient Care Ambulatory
5. Pharmacy Leadership and Management
6. Teaching
7. Residency Project

The resident will also be exposed to pharmacy management and financial aspects of pharmacy operation, financial justification for new pharmacy services, learn to develop a collaborative practice, participate in Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) and develop patient care in a FQHC community healthcare clinic.

Drug Distribution and Control Systems

Resident will be required to participate in distribution component (staffing) at North Country Pharmacy at least 2 days per week. This experience will expose resident to variety of medications, combination of medications and disease states. Resident will gain experience with pharmacy software Liberty, ScriptPro, telepharmacy, patient counseling, script verification, quality checks & improvement, communication skills, time-management and pharmacy workflow. This resident will have opportunities to participate in satellite pharmacies as well.

Research and Problem Solving

Resident will be required to complete residency project under RPD and preceptor guidance. This project may be a research project, continuous quality improvement project or medication usage evaluation. Resident may choose any project, in conjunction with residency director and preceptors, that entails the following criteria:

1. Design study appropriate for presentation involving a clinical pharmacist role at state and national conferences
2. Data extraction and/or gathering completed prior to presentations
3. Prepare manuscript suitable for publication

Additionally, medical providers may request resident to research drug information (DI).

Teaching Activities

Resident will have opportunities for didactics with patients, medical staff, pharmacy interns and medical students in areas of diabetes management, anticoagulation and general pharmacy services. These educational experiences will be one-on-one and in groups of classroom setting. The program also provides a teaching certificate.