Pharmacy Resident (PGY1) - Cobb Hospital Pharmacy

Wellstar Health System • Austell, GA

5d • Onsite

About The Position

The Pharmacy Department has an exciting opportunity for a Pharmacy Resident (PGY1)! This role involves drug distribution, clinical intervention, education, administration, drug information, and research. The resident will maintain competency in all aspects of drug therapy for patients of all age groups and provide pharmaceutical care by assisting other healthcare providers or providing direct patient care. This includes assessing patient demographics, reviewing medication history, developing pharmacotherapeutic and drug monitoring plans, implementing new drug regimens, documenting medication-related issues, interpreting laboratory data, and reviewing patient medication profiles. The resident will also make patient care rounds, monitor drug therapy for appropriateness, provide pharmacokinetics consultations, participate in drug therapy management during codes, maintain patient profiles, discuss medication order clarifications with prescribers, reconcile medication records, provide on-call coverage, and identify cost avoidance opportunities. Additionally, residents will contribute to drug distribution by staffing approximately 20 hours per month, promoting formulary use, and gaining knowledge of hospital pharmacy operations by working in the Central Pharmacy or Resource Zone. They will check unit dose medications, verify medication orders, ensure accurate preparation of pharmaceutical products, dispense drugs and solutions, provide drug information, review physician orders for potential issues, perform computer order entry, ensure controlled substance compliance, and practice in various pharmacy areas as needed. The role also includes precepting Pharm.D. clerkship students, providing educational presentations, participating in continuing education, and educating patients on medications. Residents will participate in the Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee, monitor patient outcomes, conduct drug use evaluations, detect and report adverse drug events (ADEs) and medication errors (MEs), assist in formulary maintenance and developing drug clinical practice guidelines. Administrative duties include documenting clinical interventions and cost avoidance, assisting with regulatory compliance, participating in committees, meeting with pharmaceutical sales representatives, attending director meetings, and coordinating clinical pharmacy activities. The resident must comply with all WellStar Health System policies, standards of work, and code of conduct.

Requirements

• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Computer Skills: Microsoft Office suite including Word and PowerPoint.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Licensed by or eligible for licensure with the Georgia State Board of Pharmacy required upon hire.
• If not licensed at the start of residency, the candidate must be licensed by August 31st of their residency year.

Nice To Haves

• Pharmacy is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Maintains competency in all aspects of drug therapy for patients of all age groups.
• Provides pharmaceutical care by assisting other health care providers or providing direct patient care.
• Assesses patient demographics.
• Reviews patient medication history.
• Develops pharmacotherapeutic plans.
• Develops drug monitoring plans.
• Implements new drug regimens.
• Documents medication related issues.
• Interprets laboratory data.
• Reviews patient medication profiles and making recommendations for drug therapy management.
• Makes patient care rounds focusing on drug therapy issues.
• Monitors drug therapy to evaluate appropriateness of use, dose, dosage form, regimen, route, therapeutic duplication, and drug interactions.
• Provides pharmacokinetics consultations as required, specifically addressing drugs with narrow therapeutic indices.
• Participates in drug therapy management during codes.
• Maintains and updates a patient profile with demographics, diagnosis, allergies, and current medications.
• Discusses medication order clarifications with the prescriber, document changes in patient and pharmacy records.
• Reconciles pharmacy and nursing medication records daily.
• Provides on-call coverage for pharmaceutical care as requested.
• Identifies and proceeds with cost avoidance in drug therapy by promoting more cost effective regimens, drugs, and by reducing waste.
• Provides the equivalent of approximately 20 hours per month (excluding orientation and transition rotation) of pharmacy practice staffing during the residency program.
• Promotes use of WHS formulary by converting non-formulary orders to formulary when possible.
• Is scheduled to work required shifts primarily in the Central Pharmacy or Resource Zone to gain a working knowledge of hospital pharmacy operations.
• Checks unit dose medications for accuracy.
• Reviews and verifies medication orders for appropriateness and checks first doses of IV admixtures and unit dose medications prepared by technicians.
• Ensures proper technique and accurate preparation of all pharmaceutical products, including oral, IV admixtures, chemotherapeutic, and investigational agents.
• Ensures the timely and accurate dispensing of drugs and solutions from the pharmacy area.
• Responsible for the accurate filling and dispensing of medication orders used by inpatients.
• Provides drug information to health care professionals and to patients.
• Reviews physician orders for possible therapeutic problems, contraindications, interactions, allergies, and formulary status of the drug.
• Provides computer order entry for IVs and other computer entry as needed.
• Ensures compliance with controlled substance distribution and maintenance system.
• Is able to practice in a variety of areas within the pharmacy as required by workload.
• Precepts Pharm.D. clerkship students consistent with academic credentials and clinical experience.
• Provides presentations, publications, and other informative activities on drug-related topics to the health care community and general public.
• Participates in continuing education programs, meetings, training programs and related activities.
• Educates patients on admission or discharge medications as necessary or requested.
• Participate as a member of WHS Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee.
• Monitoring patient outcomes in relation to medication use.
• Conducts target drug programs and medication use evaluations as needed.
• Detects, prevents, monitors, documents, and reports ADEs and MEs.
• Provides drug information to health care professionals and to patients.
• Assist in formulary maintenance by critiquing new entities, comparing medication classes, and developing therapeutic interchanges, when applicable.
• Assist in developing drug clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) as needed.
• Complete a research project designed to improve the services of the department.
• Documents clinical interventions (pharmacokinetic consultations pharmacotherapeutic consultations, anticoagulation consultations, patient consultations) and cost avoidance as part of the Pharmacy Services and hospital documentation programs.
• Assist in preparing for and maintaining compliance with regulatory agency (e.g. The JC) standards/requirements.
• Participate on committees, teams, or task forces relating to area of preceptors individual practice.
• Meet with pharmaceutical sales representatives to obtain/assess clinical data.
• Attend Directors meetings (e.g. Pharmacy Directors, Partners).
• Assist with coordinating clinical pharmacy activities, schedules, programs and projects.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• Complies with all WellStar Health System policies, standards of work, and code of conduct.

Benefits

• Support to do more meaningful work—and enjoy a more rewarding life.
• Connect with the most integrated health system in Georgia, and start a future that gives you more.
• Nationally ranked and locally recognized for our high-quality care and inclusive culture.
• Wellstar is one of Georgia’s largest and most integrated healthcare systems.
• Every day, 24,000+ of us work together to provide personalized care for patients at every age and stage of life – and our team members are the foundation of that care.
• Wellstar remains committed to exceeding patients’ and team members’ expectations, while transforming healthcare delivery.
• We serve with compassion.
• We pursue excellence.
• We honor every voice.
• System-wide practice of safety principles, assessing and addressing errors and seeking feedback from our patients and customers continually earns recognition for advances in safety and quality.
• Featured on the FORTUNE “100 Best Companies to Work For” list and Seramount 100 Best Companies list.
• Foster the culture of Wellstar as a Great Place to Work.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: High school or GED