PGY2 Pain Management & Palliative Care Pharmacy Residency

Program Purpose:

Post-graduate year two (PGY2) pharmacy residency programs build on Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) education and PGY1 pharmacy residency programs to contribute to the development of clinical pharmacists in specialized areas of practice. PGY2 residencies provide residents with opportunities to function independently as practitioners by conceptualizing and integrating accumulated experience and knowledge and incorporating both into the provision of patient care or other advanced practice settings. Residents who successfully complete an accredited PGY2 pharmacy residency are prepared for advanced patient care, academic, or other specialized positions, along with board certification, if available.

Program Goals and Objectives:

1. Develop clinical skills necessary to provide safe and effective pain management
2. Demonstrate effective verbal and written communication skills
3. Effectively integrate with interdisciplinary teams to influence positive outcomes in patient care
4. Develop leadership and management skills
5. Provide education to patients, caregivers and other health care professionals
6. Conduct quality improvement study and/or medication use evaluation to improve medication use processes  

Program Description:

The PGY2 Pain Management and Palliative Care Pharmacy Residency at the San Francisco VA Health Care System is a one-year specialty residency designed to prepare a pharmacist to practice as a pain management and/or palliative care Clinical Pharmacy Specialist. The program is designed in accordance with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacist (ASHP) required competency areas, goals, and objectives for PGY2 Pain Management & Palliative Care Pharmacy Residencies. Direct patient care experiences, case-based application, and elective experiences are designed to involve the resident in a variety of content areas: acute pain management, chronic pain management, psychiatric disorders, palliative care, hospice, interventional medicine, and integrative medicine.

Required Rotations:

• Orientation
• Chronic Pain Clinic
• Integrated Pain Team
• Perioperative Pain Clinic
• Surgery
• Hospice
• Palliative Care
• Substance Use Disorder Clinic
• Home Based Primary Care

Longitudinal Rotations:

• Ambulatory Palliative Care Clinic
• Residency Project
• Opioid Safety Initiative Committee
• Teaching Certificate

Elective Rotations:

• Hematology and Oncology
• Repeat of core rotation, with advanced practice