PGY2 Specialized Residency: Ambulatory Care

Rotations

At a minimum, each resident will spend two-thirds of their time involved in direct patient care activities. During your rotations, you will be an integral member of the care team and provide patient care through scheduled in person and virtual visits.

Sequencing of Learning Experiences

Learning experiences are intentionally sequenced to provide residents with a progressive pathway toward independent pharmacist practice. The program begins with rotations in primary care, where residents gain comprehensive exposure to a broad range of common chronic and acute disease states. This early focus allows them to develop a strong clinical foundation, refine core patient care skills, and understand the complexities of managing patients with multiple comorbidities. Building on this base, residents then transition into more specialized clinics where they apply and expand their foundational knowledge. This progression ensures that residents not only develop confidence in direct and team-based care but also acquire the depth of expertise necessary to function as independent clinical pharmacist specialists.

Core Rotations

• Orientation (2 weeks)
• Primary Care 1 (8 weeks)
• Primary Care 2 (8 weeks)
• Cardiology 1 (8 weeks)
• Cardiology 2 (8 weeks)
• Anticoagulation (4 weeks)
• Rheumatology (4 weeks)
• Ambulatory Care Management (4 weeks)

Longitudinal Experiences

• Operational Staffing (52 weeks)
• Teaching Certificate Program (52 weeks)
• Research Certificate Program (52 weeks)
• Ambulatory Care Pharmacist Committee (52 weeks)
• Small Group Teaching (6-8 weeks)
• Ambulatory Care Practice Management and Quality Improvement (52 weeks)
  • Quality Improvement Projects, Leadership Outcomes Reports

Operational Training

All residents receive comprehensive training in each of the operational areas during orientation. 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 16 weekends, in addition to one major holiday and two minor holidays.

The staffing areas may change but will likely be within our integrated Specialty Pharmacy and Outpatient Pharmacy.

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 and quality improvement initiatives. 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. 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.

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. Residents are encouraged to submit their research for consideration at national pharmacy meetings and/or specific disease state meetings.

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
• Inter-professional education in team-based care clinics
• Large group teaching
• Small group teaching

Appointment

July 6, 2026 to July 11, 2027 (53 weeks)

Positions Available

PGY2 Ambulatory Care (NMS # to come) - 1 position

Recruitment

This program participates in the University of California, System-Wide Early Commitment Process. 

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

• American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Clinical Meeting
  • Residency Showcase

Requirements for Admission

Applicants must be eligible for licensure in California, posses 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.

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. 
3. Cover Letter: A cover letter describing the elements of the program that most interest you and how each element relates to your personal goals is required.
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 ambulatory care. If you have not completed an APPE in ambulatory care to date, then please note in your application. 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.

Application Reviews

Each PGY2 applicant packet is screened and scored by members of the ambulatory care team. Screeners assess the following: communication skills, clinical experience (breadth, performance, scope of activity), personal/environmental factors (maturity, confidence, motivation, and adaptability), 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.

Interviews

The interview process consists of panel and personal interviews with ambulatory care pharmacists and a personal interview with the Residency Program Director.