Pharmacy (Hershey)

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 complete 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

An online application will be required from candidates offered a formal interview. One may be accessed via Penn State Health Careers by searching the job category of “Pharmacy Resident” and the location “Hershey.”

Selection Process

Each program will consider all complete applications received by the deadline, with additional potential benefit of an early offer to interview if all materials are received prior to the deadline for qualified candidates. Candidates chosen for interviews will be contacted as soon as possible to arrange an interview date and time.

Interviews

Interviews are by invitation only, typically conducted mid-January through February. Those invited for an interview will be notified by email and are asked to respond promptly.

The PGY-1 program prefers to interview up to four candidates at a time, yet formal interview times are individualized to create a more personalized experience. Only a small part of the day is done in a joint interview format, during the program overview, presentation and lunch with current residents.

Interview days generally begin between 8 and 9 a.m. and conclude by 3 p.m. The day includes program director and multiple preceptor interviews, lunch and a tour with current residents (for in-person interviews – virtual interviews will include a break for lunch and a separate time to meet with the PGY-1 residents), and a pharmacotherapy competency assessment. Those invited to interview will be asked to prepare a short “About Me” slide presentation for preceptors to get to know each candidate better.

Please contact the PGY-1 or PGY-2 Program Director with any question regarding the interview process:

• PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency: Cory Hale, chale@pennstatehealth.psu.edu

• PGY-2 Critical Care: Ashley Quintili, aquintili@pennstatehealth.psu.edu

• PGY-2 Oncology: Jeffrey Sivik, jsivik@pennstatehealth.psu.edu

• PGY-2 Pediatrics: Lindsay Trout, ltrout1@pennstatehealth.psu.edu

• Pharmacy Administrative Office Phone Number: 717-531-5885

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:

• Adult critical care (medical/pulmonary ICU, surgical/anesthesia ICU or heart and vascular ICU)

• Adult internal medicine (internal medicine or family and community medicine service)

• Advanced medicine (adult or pediatric population)

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

• Infectious diseases

• Practice management

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

• Ambulatory primary care, solid organ transplant clinic, rheumatology clinic or oncology specialty pharmacy (one-third of year)

• Anticoagulation clinic (two-thirds of the year)

• Drug use policy

• Hospital pharmacy practice

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

• Adult bone marrow transplant

• Adult hematology

• Adult oncology

• Advanced internal medicine

• Ambulatory care clinic

• Antimicrobial stewardship

• Cardiology

• Emergency medicine

• Family and community medicine inpatient

• General pediatrics

• Heart and vascular intensive care

• HIV ambulatory

• Immunocompromised infectious diseases

• Medical intensive care

• Medication safety

• Neonatal intensive care

• Neuroscience intensive care

• Pediatric hematology/oncology

• Pediatric intensive care

• Solid organ transplant - ambulatory

• Solid organ transplant - inpatient

• Specialty pharmacy

• Surgical trauma intensive care

Required rotations:

• Anesthesia ICU

• Heart and Vascular ICU

• Medical ICU

• Surgical/Trauma ICU

• Pediatric ICU

• Emergency Medicine

Elective rotations:

• Neuroscience ICU

• Neonatal ICU

• Advanced Infectious Diseases

• Advanced Hematology/Oncology

• Adult Bone Marrow Transplant

Major research project residents are involved in include cost savings initiatives, ACPE accredited CE lectures, ICU quality improvement committees, and additional teaching opportunities.

Residents are highly involved in precepting students and PGY-1 residents.

• Required rotations:

  • Adult Hematology

  • Adult Stem Cell Transplant/Cellular

  • Inpatient Oncology/Transitions of Care

  • Oncology/Infusion

  • Oncology Pharmacy Practice Management

  • Pediatric Hematology/Oncology

  • Specialty Oncology

• Elective rotations:

  • Adult Oncology

  • Immunocompromised Infectious Diseases

  • Pediatric Hematology/Oncology^*

  • Pain/Palliative Care

  • Medication Safety

  • Oncology Pharmacy Informatics

  • Oncology Critical Care (ED/MICU)

  • Specialty Oncology

• Longitudinal Specialty Oncology Clinic (Hematology or Oncology focused)

• Project management, presentation skills, and precepting in our layered learning model are emphasized throughout the program.

• Major research project of publishable quality include presentations, continuing education, and high-quality medication use evaluations.

• Teaching certificate available.

• Other longitudinal activities include: Oncology/Rx To Go Pharmacy Practice, Research Project/medication use evaluation, Clinical On-Call, ACPE Presentation/Fellows Lecture, Oncology Pharmacy Practice Management, Oncology/Investigational Drug Service, Health-system Oncology P&T Subcommittee

• Core rotations:

  • General Pediatrics

  • Pediatric Critical Care

  • Neonatal Critical Care

  • General Pediatrics (focus on teaching)

  • Pediatric Hematology/Oncology

  • Pediatric Pharmacy Practice

  • Research /MUE

• Elective rotations:

  • Emergency medicine

  • Infectious diseases

  • Pediatric specialty services

  • Pediatric solid organ transplant

  • Pediatric oncology or bone marrow transplant

  • Antimicrobial stewardship

  • Pediatric palliative care

• Project management, presentation skills, and precepting in our layered learning model are emphasized throughout the program.

• Major research project of publishable quality include presentations, continuing education, and high-quality medication use evaluations.

• Teaching certificate available.