Ascension Saint Thomas Ambulatory 
Care Pharmacy Residency

About Us

Ascension Saint Thomas’ PGY2 Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Residency was established in 2020 and is currently accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).  The PGY2 Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Residency provides residents with the skills and knowledge required to enter a contemporary practice environment as a clinical specialist with expertise in ambulatory care.   The residency program includes training in a variety of pharmacist-managed and multidisciplinary clinical settings within the Ascension Saint Thomas health system. The resident is an integral part of the interdisciplinary team at Ascension Saint Thomas by providing comprehensive medication management to patients with chronic disease throughout the continuum of care.   Though this will primarily encompass the evaluation and management of chronic conditions in the ambulatory care setting, the program also equips the PGY2 resident for other common ambulatory care roles including transitions of care, academia, and population health. 

Purpose Statement

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.

More Information

Program Structure

The program is a twelve month, post-graduate training experience.  All residents are required to complete Learning Experiences in core subject areas including:
  1. Orientation (1 month)
  2. Internal Medicine (1 month)
  3. Internal Medicine II (1 month)
  4. Family Medicine (1 month)
  5. Inpatient Family Medicine (1 month)
  6. Outpatient Antimicrobial Stewardship (1 month)

The 4 week experience of Orientation will include a health-system, department, and residency orientation. There will be concentrated efforts on assessing resident readiness for autonomy in core disease states encountered in primary care.  This experience is also when the resident’s entering knowledge will be assessed and documented in the resident’s development plan. 

Extended year-long Learning Experiences aimed at producing a well-rounded pharmacy practitioner include: 

  1. Family Medicine (1 day per week)
  2. Resident-Managed Clinic (1 day per week x 9 months)
  3. Medication Therapy Management Staffing (1 day per week x 3 months)
  4. Scholarship and Teaching
  5. Research
  6. Practice Management and Advocacy

Several elective experiences are available to permit the resident flexibility in attaining individual goals, including:

  1. Academia
  2. Heart Failure
  3. Pain Management
  4. Outpatient Mental Health
  5. Specialty Pharmacy (new, anticipated for Spring 2022)
  6. Anticoagulation (new, anticipated for Spring 2022)

Application

Application Process:

To qualify as an applicant, each candidate must:

  • Be a graduate of an ACPE accredited pharmacy degree program (or one in the process of pursuing accreditation) or have a Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Committee (FPGEC) certificate from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP).
  • Eligible for licensure in the state of Tennessee.
  • Have completed or be in the process of completing a PGY1 ASHP accredited or candidate status accreditation residency program. Applicants from non ASHP-accredited PGY1 programs will not be eligible unless they have been granted an ASHP granted PGY1 exemption.  Residents accepted into the program will submit a copy of their PGY1 certificate to verify completion no later than 30 days after the program date. 

Applications for the PGY-2 Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Residency are accepted beginning December 1st and no later than January 5th.

Early Commitment Process:

A current PGY1 resident in the Ascension Saint Thomas health-system may be offered early commitment as outlined in the Ascension Saint Thomas Early Commitment Process Policy. 

Initial Screening of Applicants:

If the early commitment process is not completed, applicants from other ASHP-accredited PGY1 program (or one with candidate or preliminary accreditation status) can apply. Those applicants are required to submit a completed application via PhORCAS which will include: 

  • A letter of intent
  • A curriculum vitae 
  • An official transcript from an ACPE-accredited Doctor of Pharmacy Program, and 
  • Three letters of recommendation (prefer letters completed by colleague or preceptor who can assess clinical skills). 

Only applications listed in PhORCAS as complete and pending will be considered in the initial screening process. Each applicant will be evaluated by the Resident Advisory Committee. The initial evaluation will result in a pre-interview score which will be used to determine if an invitation to interview will be extended. Areas that will be evaluated by all involved in the evaluation and ranking of applicants will include work experience, clinical rotations, fit with Ascension Saint Thomas Health’s Core Values as evidenced from an internal rotation, reference letters, GPA, leadership activities, letter of intent, publications and presentations, and research experience, if applicable.