PGY-2 Critical Care Pharmacy Residency

Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis

Welcome!

Thank you for your interest in our PGY2 Critical Care Pharmacy Residency Program. We are excited to welcome passionate, driven pharmacists who are eager to advance their clinical expertise and become leaders in the field of critical care.

Our program is designed to provide a rigorous and supportive environment where residents gain experience managing a wide variety of critically ill patients in a diverse array of intensive care settings. Through close collaboration with the multidisciplinary team, our residents develop the clinical skills, critical thinking, and confidence necessary to provide high-quality, evidence-based care in high-acuity environments.

As a resident, you’ll be challenged to grow both personally and professionally. You’ll work alongside experienced preceptors who are dedicated to your development, engage in meaningful research and quality improvement projects, and allow you to take on increasing responsibility throughout the year to prepare you for a successful career as a critical care specialist.

We are proud of the culture of excellence, collaboration, and mentorship that defines our program. We look forward to helping you achieve your goals and contribute to the future of critical care pharmacy.

Warm regards,
Kristine Swank, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
PGY2 Critical Care Residency Program Director

Contact me at: kristine.swank@ascension.org

Philosophy

The philosophy of the critical care pharmacy specialty residency at St. Vincent Indianapolis is to provide the residents with the opportunity to expand their knowledge and skills to provide comprehensive pharmaceutical care to critically ill and emergency department patients. This opportunity will be provided through active participation in evidence-based disease state management, medical staff education, medication safety, and outcomes-based research. Experiences will provide the resident the ability to function independently as a specialist by conceptualizing, integrating and transforming accumulated experience and knowledge into optimal drug therapy for patients. 

Purpose Statement

The purpose of the PGY-2 pharmacy residency programs is to build on the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) education and the PGY-1 pharmacy residency programs to contribute to the development of clinical pharmacists in specialized areas of practice. PGY-2 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 PGY-2 pharmacy residency are prepared for advanced patient care, academic, or other specialized positions, along with board certification, if available.
 

ABOUT THE HOSPITAL

Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis is a 500+ bed community teaching hospital and the largest healthcare facility in the Ascension Health network. The hospital campus comprises St. Vincent Indianapolis, Peyton Manning Children's Hospital, and St. Vincent Women's and Infants. The resident will gain a wide range of experience caring for critically ill patients across the 100+ beds in the burn, medical, neonatal, neuroscience, pediatric, trauma, and cardiovascular units. Additionally, by servicing an emergency department with over 50,000 visits per year as a Level I Trauma Center and Comprehensive Stroke Center, the resident's exposure to emergency medicine will complement his/her training in critical care pharmacotherapy. The hospital has an active Medical Education Department supporting medical residents and fellows in Pulmonary/Critical Care, Cardiology, Family Practice, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Transitional Medicine, Neurosurgery, Anesthesia, Podiatry, and General Surgery. The Pharmacy Department provides post-graduate training programs for pharmacists and maintains affiliations with Butler, Purdue, and Manchester universities. 

Critical Care Features

  • 32-bed Medical Intensive Care Unit
  • 32-bed Cardiovascular and Thoracic Intensive Care Unit
  • 24-bed Neuroscience, Surgical, and Trauma Intensive Care Unit
  • 14-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
  • 8-bed Pediatric Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit
  • 8-bed Burn Intensive Care Unit
  • 24/7 in-hospital Critical Care Unit coverage by medical residents and students in training
  • Multidisciplinary team approach to patient care
  • Code response 24/7 by pharmacy staff
  • 109-bed Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Emergency Medicine Features

  • 39-bed Adult Emergency Department
  • 22-bed Pediatric Emergency Department
  • St. Vincent StatFLIGHT air transportation providing 24/7 services within 150-mile radius
  • Verified Level I Pediatric and Adult Trauma Center, treating entire families on one campus
  • Comprehensive Stroke Center
  • STEMI Receiving Services
  • Pediatric and Adult Burn Center with direct access to specialized care

PROGRAM AT A GLANCE 

This is an ASHP-accredited residency program in critical care. The critical care pharmacy resident will actively participate in rotational, longitudinal and annual learning experiences. The residency preceptors will provide written learning objectives for each learning experience that specify the skills and knowledge the resident will gain upon successful completion of each experience. The resident will be evaluated regularly throughout the year. In addition, the residents will be expected to evaluate themselves, preceptors and the strengths and weaknesses of each aspect of the residency program.

Required Learning Experiences

Emergency Medicine

The emergency medicine rotation is designed to provide the resident with the opportunity to participate in the delivery of emergency care to patients and gain an appreciation for how the Emergency Department pharmacist can enhance the quality of care delivered. Residents will have the opportunity to provided direct bedside patient care in the Emergency Department, formulate drug therapy plans, provide drug information, screen for drug interactions, and counsel patients with coaching and facilitation by the preceptor.


Infectious Disease

The Infectious Diseases / Antimicrobial Stewardship rotation is designed to provide the resident with advanced knowledge of antimicrobial therapy against a broad array of pathogens including bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. The resident will have the opportunity to shadow the microbiology laboratory, round with the Infectious Diseases physicians, promote Antimicrobial Stewardship utilizing our clinical support tool, and contribute to Infection Prevention efforts.


Medical ICU

The Medical ICU rotation is designed to provide the resident with the opportunity to develop the foundational knowledge and skills about the clinical course, manifestations and therapy of common critical care disease states. The resident will accomplish this through active participation during rounds with our teaching service and other multidisciplinary activities during this extended learning experience. 


Pediatric ICU

The PICU rotation is designed to provide the resident with the opportunity to develop the knowledge and skills about the clinical course, manifestations and therapy of common pediatric critical care diseases. Residents will provide recommendations to attending physicians during multi-disciplinary team rounds and actively participate in Code/ ECMO situations. Focused projects such as formal drug information responses and educational in-services to nursing and physicians may also be required. 


Trauma/Neuro ICU

The Trauma/Neuro Critical Care rotation is designed to provide the resident an opportunity to build upon foundational knowledge of common prophylactic and supportive medication management for the adult critically ill patient. Through observation, modeling by the preceptor and readings, the resident will be introduced and develop a knowledge base of the clinical course and therapy of critically ill patients with traumatic injuries, stroke and other neurologic conditions, as well as surgical complications. Residents will have the opportunity to apply this knowledge through active participation with the multi-disciplinary team.

Longitudinal Learning Experiences 

Teaching

  • If not achieved during Post-Graduate Year 1 Pharmacy Residency (PGY-1), the resident will have an opportunity to participate in the teaching certificate program offered through Butler and Purdue universities.
  • The resident will be required to:
    • Present one formal lecture to a multidisciplinary audience.
    • Present one noon conference lecture for the pulmonary/critical care fellows.
    • Present nursing education at two nursing staff meetings.
    • The resident will have the opportunity to precept pharmacy students and PGY1 residents throughout the year. The resident will gain experience in developing a rotation learning experience description, assigned readings, calendars and schedules, and practice providing formal feedback for midpoint and final evaluations.

Practice Management

  • The resident will provide formal and informal drug information in the form of newsletters and in-services to pharmacists, nurses and physicians.
  • The resident will have the opportunity to complete and present a residency project to a local, regional or national meeting. The project will be tailored around the interests of the resident as well as the organization.
  • The resident will actively participate in the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, local medication safety committee, and ad hoc participation with relevant committees.

Residency Project

  • The resident will be expected to complete a residency project to be presented at the Ascension St. Vincent Research Symposium and Ascension National Virtual Residency Research Symposium and develop a manuscript suitable for publication. The project will be tailored around the interests of the resident as well as the needs of the organization.

Special Populations

  • The resident will be following patients in the Burn ICU and on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO) as well as attend Code OB medical emergencies.

Staffing

  • The resident will be required to staff the intensive care units every third weekend and one evening shift per month. 
  • The resident will attend in-house medical emergencies to facilitate appropriate medication use as well as preparation and administration of medications.

Past Residents- Where are they now?

Katherine Teare, PharmD, BCCCP completed the Ascension St. Vincent PGY-2 Critical Care residency program as chief resident in 2016. Katherine received her PharmD degree from Butler University prior to completing a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at Ascension St. Vincent. Katherine is now a clinical pharmacy specialist in the medical ICU at St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital in Murfreesboro, TN. 

Ken Trinh, PharmD, BCCCP completed at Ascension St. Vincent PGY-2 Critical Care residency program in 2017. Ken earned his PharmD degree from Temple University prior to completing a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at Reading Health System in Reading, Pennsylvania. Ken is now a critical care specialist for PinnacleHealth in Harrisburg, PA. 

Hira Khan, PharmD, BCCCP completed the Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis PGY-2 Critical Care residency program as co-chief resident in 2020. Hira received her PharmD from Butler University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in 2018 prior to completing her PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at Ascension St. Vincent. Hira is now an ICU clinical pharmacist at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, TX.

Sarah (Lenahan) Marett, PharmD, BCCCP completed the Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis PGY-2 Critical Care residency program in 2021. Sarah earned her PharmD degree from Butler prior to completing a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at Memphis VA Memorial Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee. Sarah is now a Emergency Medicine Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at Ascension St. Vincent. 

Margie Peck, PharmD, BCCCP completed the the Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis PGY-2 Critical Care residency program in 2022. Margie earned her PharmD degree from the University of Iowa prior to completing a PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency at Franciscan Health in Indianapolis, IN. Margie is now the Adult Critical Care Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at Franciscan Indianapolis. 

Sydney (Dobson) Kochheiser, PharmD, BCCCP completed the Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis PGY-2 Critical Care residency program in 2023. She completed her Doctor of Pharmacy at the University of Toledo in 2021 and PGY-1 pharmacy residency at ProMedica Toledo Hospital/ Russell J Ebeid Children's Hospital in Toledo, Ohio. Sydney is now a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist serving the Trauma/Neuro Intensive Care Unit at Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis.

Matthew Shotts, PharmD completed the Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis PGY-2 Critical Care residency program in 2024. Matthew earned his PharmD degree from Purdue prior to completing his PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency at Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis. Matthew is now a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Critical Care at Ascension St. Vincent Anderson. 

 Current Resident

Becky Mann is the current PGY2 critical care pharmacy resident from O'Fallon, Illinois. She graduated from Purdue University in May 2024 and completed her PGY1 at Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis in 2025. Becky’s research project this year is on DKA management. In her free time, she enjoys pilates, baking, and napping with her roommate’s cat, Dunkin. You can contact her at rebecca.mann@ascension.org.

Preceptors

Sara Barnstable, PharmD, BCPS, BCIDP, is an Infectious Diseases / Antimicrobial Stewardship Clinical Specialist. Sara  received her PharmD from Butler University in Indianapolis. She completed her PGY-1 Residency at Lutheran Health in Fort Wayne, Indiana and her PGY-2 Infectious Diseases Residency in Springfield, IL. 

Jamalyn Casey, PharmD, BCPPS, is a Neonatal Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at Ascension St. Vincent Women’s. Jamalyn received her Doctor of Pharmacy from Butler University in 2012. She completed a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at Community Health and a Pediatric PGY-2 Specialty Residency at Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis. After her residency, Jama worked as a Neonatal Clinical Pharmacist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH, andcame to St. Vincent Women’s in October 2016. Jamalyn is a board-certified Pediatric Pharmacotherapy Specialist and her current interests include infectious disease, surgical disease states, nutrition, and pulmonary hypertension.


Kristine Swank, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP, is the PGY-2 Critical Care Residency Director at  Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis. She received her PharmD from Butler University prior to completing her PGY1 pharmacy residency at St. Joseph East in Lexington, Kentucky. She completed a PGY2 in Internal Medicine at the Richard Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, IN. 
Sarah Hittle, PharmD, BCCCP, is a board-certified clinical pharmacist specializing in critical care. Sarah received her PharmD degree from Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, prior to completing a PGY-1 pharmacy practice residency and PGY-2 critical care specialty residency, both at IU Health in Indianapolis. Sarah’s current interests are PAD, sepsis, medication safety and pulmonary critical care.
Drew Johnson, PharmD, BCCP, is a board certified cardiology pharmacist. Drew completed pharmacy school at Butler University in Indianapolis. Subsequently, Drew completed his PGY1 pharmacy residency at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, GA, and his PGY2 cardiology pharmacy residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. Drew's professional interests include anticoagulation, heart failure, and mechanical circulatory support.
Sarah (Lenahan) Marett, PharmD, BCCCP serves as the current PGY-2 Critical Care Residency Program Coordinator and Emergency Department Clinical Pharmacy Specialist. She earned her PharmD degree from Butler University prior to completing a PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency at the Memphis VA Memorial Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee. Sarah returned home for her PGY-2 in Critical Care at Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis.
Vishal Ooka, PharmD, BCCCP, is a Trauma-Neuro Critical Care Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at Ascension St. Vincent.  Vishal received his PharmD from Butler University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in 2013 and he completed his PGY-1 and PGY-2 Critical Care specialty residency at Ascension St. Vincent. Vishal is Board Certified Critical Care Pharmacist and current interests include pain and sedation, delirium, neurosurgery, and stroke. 
Maria Whitmore, PharmD, BCPPS, is a Pediatric Critical Care/Emergency Department Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent and a PGY-2 Pediatric Pharmacy Residency Director at St. Vincent Indianapolis. Maria received her Bachelor of Pharmacy from University of Toledo and Doctor of Pharmacy from University of Kentucky. She completed a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice residency at Indiana University and a Pediatric PGY-2 Specialty Residency at Riley Children’s Hospital, both in Indianapolis. Maria is a board-certified Pediatric Pharmacotherapy Specialist. Current interests include analgesia and sedation, infectious disease, congenital heart disease and ECMO.