Pharmacy Residency Programs (Hershey)

Pharmacy residents in both the postgraduate year one (PGY-1) program and postgraduate year two (PGY-2) program are immersed in patient care pharmacotherapy opportunities consisting of several different practice areas.

• Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is a large, tertiary care acute adult teaching hospital.

• Penn State Health Children’s Hospital features the region’s highest level neonatal and pediatric intensive care units including a Level I trauma center. Penn State Health Children’s Heart Group offers comprehensive congenital heart care including surgery as well as support with ECMO.

• Penn State Cancer Institute promotes multidisciplinary approaches to cancer care.

• Each year, the emergency department provides services for more than 75,000 visits. Nearly 30,000 patients are admitted to the hospital, and 1 million outpatient clinic visits occur.

Pharmacy residents at Penn State Health are immersed in a supportive and academically rich environment. Our Department of Pharmacy, staffed by over 200 dedicated professionals, delivers comprehensive, patient-centered medication management across a diverse health system. Key highlights include:

• Interdisciplinary Learning

  Pharmacists are embedded in unit-based teams across medicine, surgery, cardiology, pediatrics, and other specialties, working side-by-side with physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers.

• Advanced Pharmacy Services

  The department features decentralized pediatric and adult pharmacy services, outpatient clinics, emergency services with 24/7 pharmacist presence, investigational drug services, and outpatient pharmacy locations.

• Clinical Integration

  Our team of more than two dozen clinical pharmacists and specialists provides services such as therapeutic drug monitoring, disease state management, medication reconciliation, and discharge counseling—all with a strong emphasis on patient-facing care.

• Education and Precepting

  Each year, pharmacy preceptors oversee over 85 pharmacy student rotations, contributing to a culture of teaching and continuous professional development.

• Technology-Driven Practice

  Residents benefit from a state-of-the-art automated drug distribution and medication management system, supporting efficient and safe medication use.

General Application Information

Interested applicants must register with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Residency Matching Program and apply through the Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application Service (PhORCAS).

To be considered for the Pharmacy Residency, a PhORCAS application and online application must be completed by early January. Exact deadline each year can be found on the ASHP Residency Directory.

Applicants must submit all of the following through PhORCAS:

• PGY-1 candidates:

  • A letter of interest, including a statement on diversity, equity and inclusion

  • Copy of curriculum vitae

  • Official copy of college transcript

  • Three (3) letters of recommendation

• PGY-2 candidates:

  • Letter of intent addressing the following:

    • Interests and reasons for pursuing advanced training

    • Strengths and areas for improvement

    • Career goals for the next 5 years

  • Copy of curriculum vitae

  • Official, finalized copy of college transcript (including degree(s) conferred)

  • Three (3) letters of recommendation

Application Review
Each residency program reviews all complete applications submitted by the deadline. Selected candidates will be contacted directly to schedule an interview.

Interview Invitations
Interviews are offered by invitation only and are typically held from mid-January through February. Invitations will be sent via email, and prompt responses are appreciated.

Interview Format
The PGY-1 program generally interviews up to four candidates per day, while tailoring the schedule to provide a personalized experience. A portion of the day is conducted in a group format (including a program overview, presentation, and lunch with current residents), but most interview components are individualized. Interviews may be conducted in person or virtually, depending on availability and candidate preference.

Interview days typically begin between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. and conclude by 3:00 p.m. Activities include:

• Interviews with the Residency Program Director and preceptors

• Lunch and tour with current residents (in-person interviews)

• Break and separate resident session (virtual interviews)

• Pharmacotherapy competency assessment

• “About Me” slide presentation prepared by each candidate to help preceptors get to know you

Questions?
For questions about the application or interview process, please contact the appropriate Program Director.

The activities in the Pharmacy Residency include the following:

• Patient care team-based rounding

• Patient case presentations and topic discussions

• 24/7 clinical on-call, including ACLS response

  • Providers formally consult pharmacy for pharmacokinetic dosing and a wide variety of drug information inquiries. After orientation, each resident serves as "first call" for approximately one day each week in-house, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. (on-call is from home during off-hours overnight) with a clinical preceptor assigned as second call available at all times. We require formal documentation in the electronic medical record for each consult patient.

• Hospital pharmacy staffing

  • Residents are required to staff every third weekend in eight-hour shifts Saturday and Sunday (on-call one of these days), and one evening every three weeks. Four additional 8-hour shifts must be picked up over the course of the residency year. This requirement is typically in the central pharmacy or in the IV room with several technicians and additional pharmacist support present.

• Longitudinal clinics

  • Residents spend an assigned afternoon each week for two-thirds of the year in the anticoagulation clinic, located less than a mile from the medical center. The majority of time is spent in point-of-care direct patient clinic appointments. A specific afternoon of the week is assigned for each one-third of the year.

  • Residents spend an assigned afternoon or morning each week for one-third of the year in an elective clinic, which may be the solid organ transplant ambulatory clinic located at Hershey Medical Center, the primary care clinic located on Cocoa Avenue, the rheumatology clinic in Middletown or the oncology clinic performing specialty pharmacy services at Hershey Medical Center. Additional clinics such as HIV clinic may become available depending on preceptor availability and resident interest.

• Major research project

  • With research project preceptor mentorship, residents complete an original institutional review board (IRB) protocol submission by the end of summer, create an electronic data collection tool and analyze data. Research is presented at the annual Eastern States Residency Conference. The regional conference is typically held each spring in Hershey, and includes residency programs from more than 10 states.

• Medication use evaluation

  • Residents will conduct a selected drug use evaluation during the first six months of the program. Results will be presented in poster format at a national residency session immediately prior to the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting.

• Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee

  • Residents will serve as secretary assistant to the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee for one to two months during the program year. Each resident also will complete at least one drug monograph for a medication being considered for formulary addition.

• Teaching Opportunities

  • Residents prepare and provide a lecture on a pharmacotherapy topic early in the year to students of the Penn State College of Medicine Physician Assistant Program.

  • Residents prepare and deliver an Accredited Continuing Pharmacy Education (ACPE) lecture to the pharmacy department, typically in January, February or March of the program year.

  • Student preceptorship

  • Journal club facilitation

  • Teaching certificate (optional) through Shenandoah University

  • Additional teaching opportunities also exist as optional activities

• Student preceptorship

• Journal club facilitation

• Transition of care

Each of the following learning experiences have a minimum of one rotation each:

• Critical Care (Medical ICU, Surgical/Anesthesia ICU, or Heart & Vascular ICU)

• Medicine (Adult Internal Medicine or Family and Community Medicine Service)

• Advanced Adult Medicine or Advanced Pediatric Medicine

• General Pediatrics (if the resident is a previous pediatric APPE, the possibility exists to substitute NICU, PICU or pediatric hematology/oncology)

• Infectious Diseases

• Pharmacy Administration & Leadership

Each of the following required experiences or training areas continues throughout the program.

• Ambulatory Care

  • Oncology Specialty Pharmacy

  • Primary Care Clinic

  • Pulmonology Specialty Pharmacy

  • Rheumatology Clinic

• Ambulatory Care Anticoag Clinic (two-thirds of the year)

• Drug Monograph, Class Review, or Treatment Protocol

• Hospital Pharmacy Practice

• Major Project

• Medication Safety

• Minor Project

• Teaching, Education, and Dissemination of Knowledge

A number of electives are available in the Pharmacy Residency, including:

• Adult Bone Marrow Transplant

• Adult Hematology/Oncology

• Advanced Pediatric Medicine

• Antimicrobial Stewardship

• Cardiology

• Emergency Medicine

• Family and Community Medicine

• HVICU

• Immunocompromised Infectious Diseases

• Inpatient Psychiatry

• Investigational Drug Service

• Medical Intensive Care Unit

• Neonatal Intensive Care

• Neuroscience Critical Care (NCCU)

• Pediatric Hematology/Oncology

• Pediatric ICU

• Specialty Pharmacy

• Surgical/Anesthesia Intensive Care Unit

• Required rotations:

  • Emergency Medicine

  • Heart and Vascular Intensive Care Unit

  • ICU Float

  • Medical Intensive Care Unit

  • Medical Intensive Care Unit II

  • Neurocritical Care Unit

  • Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

  • Surgical Intensive Care - Anesthesia

  • Surgical Intensive Care - Trauma

  • Surgical Intensive Care - Advanced Anesthesia & Trauma

• Elective rotations:

  • Adult Hematology/Oncology

  • Heart and Vascular Intensive Care Unit II

  • Infectious Disease

  • Medical Intensive Care Unit III

  • Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

  • Neurocritical Care Unit II

• Longitudinal Rotations:

  • Education

  • Hospital Pharmacy Practice

  • Major Project

  • Medication Safety

  • Medication Use Evaluation

• Required rotations:

  • Adult Hematology

  • Adult Stem Cell Transplant/Cellular

  • Inpatient Oncology/Transitions of Care

  • Oncology Practice Management

  • Oncology/Investigational Drug Service

  • Oncology/Sterile Products

  • Outpatient Oncology

  • Pediatric Hematology/Oncology

  • Specialty Oncology

• Elective rotations:

  • Immunocompromised Infectious Diseases

  • MICU/Critical Care Oncology

  • Pain/Palliative Care

  • Pediatric Hematology/Oncology - II

• Longitudinal Rotations:

  • ACPE/Fellow Lectures

  • Drug Use Policy

  • Hospital Pharmacy Practice

  • Medication Safety

  • MUE/Research Project

  • Oncology P&T Subcommittee

• Core rotations:

  • General Pediatrics

  • General Pediatrics II (focus on teaching)

  • Neonatal Intensive Care

  • Pediatric Hematology/Oncology

  • Pediatric Infectious Diseases/Antimicrobial Stewardship

  • Pediatric Intensive Care

• Elective rotations:

  • Medication Safety

  • Neonatal Intensive Care II

  • Pediatric Emergency medicine

  • Pediatric Hematology/Oncology II

  • Pediatric Intensive Care II

  • Pediatric Palliative Care/Hummingbird

  • Pediatric Specialty Services (Pulmonology, Cardiology, Nephrology, Neurology)

• Longitudinal rotations:

  • ACPE Presentation/PA Lecture

  • Clinical On-Call Component (Code response)

  • Hospital Pharmacy Practice

  • Medication Safety

  • Pediatric P&T Subcommittee

  • Project/Research

  • Teaching Certificate (optional)