PGY2 Emergency Medicine

Welcome

Positions for the 2024-2025 residency year have been filled through early commitment.

Cally Chung

Purpose

The UCSF PGY2 residency program builds upon Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) education and PGY1 pharmacy residency training to develop pharmacist practitioners with knowledge, skills, and abilities as defined in the educational competency areas, goals, and objectives for advanced practice areas. Residents who successfully complete PGY2 residency programs are prepared for advanced patient care or other specialized positions, and board certification in the advanced practice area, if available.

Description

The emergency medicine pharmacy residency is a one-year specialty residency that allows residents to practice in a university-affiliated tertiary care, academic teaching hospital with 790 beds. The ED pharmacy team is a well integrated service that has existed for over a decade. The ED is located in an urban setting and has an estimated 45,000 visits per year. Many patients are medically complex and representative of the San Francisco community and UCSF tertiary specialties. UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco, part of UCSF Health, are ranked by U.S. News and World Report within the top 10 best hospitals in the nation. We are a comprehensive stroke center and have 24-hr cardiac catheterization labs. The program is affiliated with the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFGH) and Trauma Center, a Level 1 trauma center, where residents will have the opportunity for offsite rotation experiences. Additional off-site rotation experiences are available based on residents' interest.

The focus of the emergency medicine pharmacy residency is to develop specialty expertise in various emergency care settings, including the emergency department, critical care, mass casualty incident, and disaster response/preparedness. Residents will serve as key members of these interdisciplinary care teams and will work closely with medical residents in the UCSF/ZSFGH EM residency program. Teaching is an integral component of the program as UCSF Medical Center and is closely affiliated with the UCSF School of Pharmacy (SOP). Residents will have the opportunity to teach Doctor of Pharmacy students in SOP courses as well as emergency medicine residents, nurses, and faculty. PGY2 emergency medicine residents will precept Doctor of Pharmacy students and residents on emergency medicine rotations and in high fidelity simulation labs. Residents will also have the option to complete teaching and research certificate programs.

 

General Emergency Department Description:

  • Two ED campuses (Parnassus and Mission Bay)
  • 60 Bed Parnassus ED
    • 16 Bed Accelerated Care Unit (ACU)
    • 10 Bed Clinical Decision Unit (CDU)
  • Comprehensive stroke care center 
  • Age Friendly ED (special focus on unique needs of patients 65 years of age and older)

 

ED Pharmaceutical Services:

  • Bedside direct patient care participation (e.g., resuscitation, intubation, procedural sedation, STEMI, ECMO, stroke, sepsis)
  • Emergent medication procurement, preparation, administration
  • Prospective ED order verification
  • Clinical consultations for all ED/CDU/ACU patients
  • Vaccine screening and administration
  • Discharge culture follow-up
  • Formulary, medication safety, and quality improvement projects
  • Emergency care of unique patient populations (e.g., transplant, oncology, psychiatry, substance use disorders, toxicology, pulmonary hypertension)

 

Learning Experiences

Rotations

Rotation Schedule

At a minimum, each resident will spend two-thirds of their time involved in direct patient care activities. Longitudinal learning experiences include research, teaching, quality improvement project, and operational staffing. The resident may also choose up to 3 elective rotations each year.

Sequencing of Learning Experiences

Learning experiences are sequenced such that residents completes onsite core learning experiences prior to electives and teaching focused learning experiences. Various electives are offered, including repeating one of the core rotations with greater autonomy and more advanced learning opportunities towards the end of the residency year.

Core Rotations

  • Emergency Medicine (Longitudinal 12 months)
  • Poison Control Center (6 weeks)
  • Trauma and Surgical Intensive Care (4 weeks)
  • Pediatric Emergency Medicine (6 weeks)
  • Adult Infectious Disease (4 weeks)
  • Research (Longitudinal 12 months)
  • Teaching (Longitudinal 12 months)
  • Quality Improvement (Longitudinal 12 months)
  • Operational Staffing (Longitudinal 12 months)

Electives

  • Pediatric ICU/Neonatal ICU (4 weeks)

  • Medical/Surgical ICU (4 weeks)

  • Neurocritical Care (4 weeks)

  • Emergency Medical Services (2 weeks)

  • FEMA Mass Casualty Incident Training (1 week)

  • Off-site Emergency Medicine/Trauma (1 week)

Staffing

Operational Training

All residents receive comprehensive training in each of the operational areas during orientation, including formalized training in sterile compounding and aseptic technique. At the beginning of the residency year, residents are paired with an experienced preceptor who will oversee their operational staffing learning experience through the year and provide residents with summative feedback.

Staffing Areas

Operational staffing occurs longitudinally and takes place approximately every third weekend spanning throughout the residency year for a total of 17 weekends, in addition to one major holiday and two minor holidays. Residents staff in 2 areas:

Role Weekends
IV satellite 6
Emergency Medicine Clinical Service 11

Research

Project Selection

The Residency Program Director collects project proposal submissions from clinical pharmacists for consideration as a resident research project on an annual basis in the Spring. Projects are reviewed for feasibility, appropriateness of timeline, potential value that may focus on clinical pharmacist services, quality improvement initiatives such as drug safety, optimal medication use, cost effective drug use, and efficient, safe and effective medication preparation, delivery and administration. Projects may also focus on practice of emergency medicine pharmacy and diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Residency Program Director will reach out to the residents in early summer to start discussion of project selection.

Research Training

PGY2 residents participate in the UCSF Research Certificate Program and will gain skills in: adhering to a research timeline, creating an appropriate study design and methodology, completing data collection and analysis and summarizing research findings. Residents are enrolled in the Designing Clinical Research course that is part of the Summer Clinical Research Workshop. This inter-professional curriculum within the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics guides residents through modification of their research proposal and creation of a version suitable for submission to the UCSF Institutional Review Board. Residents will have access to research advisors and statistical computing software (STATA). For projects requiring more advanced statistics, residents also receive support to work with the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) in order to complete analysis.

Residents will participate in a research certificate whereby they attend structured research sessions throughout the year in guiding the successful completion of the research project.

Poster & Platform Presentations

All projects are of a scope suitable for publication. Projects are presented as posters at the UCSF Department of Clinical Pharmacy Spring Research Poster Session and UC Collaborative Meeting. They are also presented as posters at the Vizient residency session that precedes the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting. The final research project write up is prepared in a format suitable for journal submission.

Teaching

Teaching Instruction

Teaching is a focus of the residency at UCSF, and residents receive a Teaching Certificate upon program completion if they complete the required elements of the program. The certificate recognizes the significant contributions and skills that are attained during the residency year. Residents receive training in teaching methodology, precepting and small group conference facilitation through a variety of educational seminars that are planned during the year.

Teaching Experiences

Teaching opportunities may include the following:

  • Precepting of PGY1, APPE, and IPPE students on clinical rotations and project-based work
  • Precepting of PGY3 and PGY4 Emergency Medicine physician trainees
  • Inter-professional education through Emergency Medicine conference
  • Large group teaching
  • Small group teaching
  • Simulation lab

Code Response

Overview

Pharmacy residents are integral members of the inter-professional emergency response care team. All pharmacy residents will become certified in Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), and receive hands-on code training by the Emergency Medicine Pharmacy team. Residents respond to Code Stroke, Code Sepsis and Code Blue to ensure appropriate drug selection and administration, timeliness of medication retrieval and preparation, adjusting medication dosages and monitoring for response.

Simulation

The UCSF Residency Training Program has developed and implemented a longitudinal simulation curriculum for PGY1 Pharmacy residents to increase confidence and competence during various emergent situations. The program utilizes the Kanbar Center for Simulation and Clinical Skills, a high-fidelity simulation center within UCSF. Throughout the residency year, residents participate in 4 simulation lab sessions, each covering 4 cases. The clinical case scenarios become increasingly complex as the residency year progresses, and is intended to meet the advancing skill set of the residents. A clinical pharmacist content experts are invited to the sessions to lead the residents through a debrief of the simulation session and allow for discussion of advanced clinical topics.

Throughout the residency year, PGY2 residents will participate and then lead a total of 4 simulation lab sessions, each about 4 hours in length. The first session is an introduction for PGY2 residents while the remaining three sessions is co-coordinated by the PGY2 residents. During the last session, PGY2s are responsible for writing a new case and also facilitating the debrief session.

Salary & Benefits

Salary

$63,525 annually, paid biweekly

Insurance

Medical/Dental/Vision Plan and Professional Liability Insurance

Vacation / Professional / Sick leave

All residents will participate in the UCSF Health Paid Time Off (PTO) program. Residents accrue PTO and Extended Sick Time (EST) based on the appointment type, number of hours on pay status, and years of qualifying service. Residents will earn approximately 21 days of PTO per year and approximately six days of EST. Additionally, residents receive 10 days of paid professional leave which may be used to attend professional meetings or professional job interviews.

Travel Stipend

All residents are provided with a stipend to support travel, lodging, and registration fees for the purposes of professional conferences. The amount of the travel stipend is determined each year and may not cover all travel expenses.

Additional Benefits

Residents will be provided with a UCSF white coat, scrubs, personal phone extension (Voalte device), iPad, and access to the resident office workspace. Meal cards are provided with a value determined by the number of staffing hours assigned.

Application

General Information

Appointment

Monday, July 8, 2024 to Friday, July 11, 2025 (53 weeks)

Positions Available

PGY2 Emergency Medicine - 1 position

Recruitment

The Residency Program Director, Program Coordinator, and residents recruit potential residency applicants at the following events:

  • American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Clinical Meeting
    • Residency Showcase
    • Personnel Placement Services (PPS)
      • Applicants are encouraged to participate in PPS if possible

Requirements

Requirements for Admission

Applicants must be eligible for licensure in California, possess a PharmD degree, completed or in the process of completing a PGY1 Pharmacy Residency program that is ASHP accredited, or in the process of accreditation (i.e. candidate or preliminary accreditation status).

Non-US and US Citizens from Foreign Schools of Pharmacy

Non-US citizens must be eligible to work and live in the US by obtaining an appropriate visa and must be eligible to work as a licensed pharmacist in California. We do not sponsor visas for foreign pharmacy residency applicants. Non-US and US citizens who graduate from a foreign school of pharmacy must first be certified by examination before the process of licensure in the US can begin. The Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Committee ™ (FPGEC®) certificate program operates under the auspices of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy®. The NABP® provides the FPGEC Certification Program as a means of documenting the educational equivalency of a candidate's foreign education, as well as the license and or registration to practice pharmacy. More information about this entire process is provided in these NABP® links: nabp.pharmacy.

How to Apply

  1. Match: All applicants must register for The Match – ASHP Resident Matching Program.
  2. PhORCAS: Applications will be accepted through PhORCAS (Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application Service), a web-based pharmacy residency application system. The application deadline is Saturday, December 31st, 2022.
  3. Cover Letter: A cover letter describing why you decided to pursue emergency medicine pharmacy, how a residency at UCSF will aid in your career, elements of the program that most interest you and how each element relates to your personal goals.
  4. Letters of Recommendation: We request a minimum of one (two is preferred) of your three references should come from a preceptor who you have worked with in a clinical setting, related to an APPE in acute or ambulatory care. The clinical preceptor should be able to comment on your scope of responsibility, total patient load, level of autonomy, clinical abilities, and organizational and time management skills. All 3-reference writers should use the standard PhORCAS template to submit their candidate recommendation. An uploaded letter of recommendation is optional and not required.

Interviews

Application Reviews

Each PGY2 applicant packet is screened and scored by members of the Emergency Medicine pharmacy team. Screeners assess the following: communication skills, clinical experience (breadth, performance, scope of activity), personal/environmental factors (maturity, appropriate level of confidence, motivation, and adaptability), and work experience, aggregate letters of recommendation, leadership/initiative, teaching (interest and/or experience), research (interest and/or experience), extracurricular involvement and academic performance. The screening score is used to determine if an on-site interview will be extended.

Virtual Interviews

The interview process is a full day which consists of panel interviews with program preceptors, a personal interview with a pharmacy administrator and a personal interview with the Residency Program Director. Applicants are also asked to present a 30-min PowerPoint presentation.

PGY2 Emergency Medicine interviews will be held virtually.

Contact

Zlatan Coralic, PharmD, BCPS

Residency Program Director, PGY2 Emergency Medicine
Emergency Medicine Clinical Pharmacist, UCSF Medical Center
Associate Clinical Professor, UCSF School of Pharmacy

Assistant Clinical Professor, UCSF Department of Emergency Medicine

 

Education and Post-Graduate Training

Doctor of Pharmacy, University of Southern Nevada (2008)
PGY1 Pharmacy Practice, University of California San Francisco (2009)

Contact

UCSF UC Hall Box 0622
533 Parnassus Ave
San Francisco CA 94143
FedEx only: use zip 94122

tel: 628-248-7112
[email protected]


Gina Stassinos, PharmD, DABAT (she/her/hers)

Residency Program Coordinator, PGY2 Emergency Medicine

Emergency Medicine Clinical Pharmacist, UCSF Medical Center

Assistant Clinical Professor, UCSF School of Pharmacy

Clinical Toxicologist

 

Education and Post-Graduate Training

Doctor of Pharmacy, University of the Pacific (2013)

PGY1 Pharmacy Practice, Swedish Covenant Hospital (2014)

Fellowship, Clinical Toxicology, University of Maryland (2016)

Contact

UCSF UC Hall Box 0622
533 Parnassus Ave
San Francisco CA 94143
FedEx only: use zip 94122

tel: 628-248-6939
[email protected]


Paul Takamoto, PharmD, BCCCP

Residency Program Coordinator, PGY2 Emergency Medicine

Emergency Medicine Clinical Pharmacist, UCSF Medical Center

Assistant Clinical Professor, UCSF School of Pharmacy

Simulation Training Coordinator, UCSF School of Pharmacy

 

Education and Post-Graduate Training

Doctor of Pharmacy, University of California San Francisco (2010)

PGY1 Pharmacy Practice, Stanford Healthcare (2011)

Contact

UCSF UC Hall Box 0622
533 Parnassus Ave
San Francisco CA 94143
FedEx only: use zip 94122

tel: 628-248-7112
[email protected]