Rotation Schedule

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
• Roundtable Topic Discussions and Journal Clubs (52 weeks) 

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 throughout 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
• Interprofessional education in team-based care clinics
• Large group teaching
• Small group teaching