PGY2 Medication-Use Safety & Policy Residency

The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Medication-Use Safety & Policy Residency program is a PGY2 training program that provides advanced training in medication safety, with additional exposure in medication-use policy and clinical informatics.  The complex and high risk nature of treatment provided at St. Jude provides a unique learning environment for patient safety and quality that can be later applied to any health care setting.  The resident will gain experience in medication error and adverse drug event reporting processes, lead medication safety assessments and improvement efforts to prevent future events and reactions, and work to maximize the patient safety benefits of the electronic medical record.  Other activities may include newsletter writing, policy and guideline development, newsletter writing, assistance with pharmacy investigational services, and experience with a fully integrated electronic medical record.  The resident will participate in Root Cause Analyses, serve on the Medication Use Safety Team, and attend Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee meetings.  Experience in teaching is acquired through providing lectures, in-services, and precepting pharmacy students.  An independent project focused on medication safety will be carried out during the course of the residency, with presentation at a regional or national meeting.  Experiences during the residency will enable the resident to seek a career focused on medication safety, medication-use policy, or clinical informatics.

The resident will undergo an orientation/training period.  The core longitudinal rotations are focused on medication-use safety improvements with emphasis on informatics, medication-use policy, and quality management.  A variety of elective rotations, including other organizations, are available.