PGY-2 Emergency Medicine Residency | Department of Pharmacy Services | UC Davis Health

Residency Program Director

Program Purpose

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 Overview

The goal of this emergency medicine specialty residency is to provide the acute care pharmacist with adequate skills, in both adult and pediatric emergency medicine, necessary to become an independent and proactive practitioner able to work in collaboration with physicians, nurses and ancillary staff in a Level 1 Trauma and academic medical center emergency department (ED).

The resident will be responsible for ensuring safe and effective medication use for all patients in the ED, including active participation in all codes and trauma activations; collaboration with centralized and decentralized pharmacists to ensure timely medication availability; education of patients and their family members, as well as physicians, nurses, and other pharmacy trainees. The resident will also participate on organizational, pharmacy department and nursing unit-based medication policy and continuous quality improvement committees.

Day in the Life of an Emergency Medicine Resident

“As a PGY2 EM Resident at UC Davis Health, each day brings new challenges in the form of a variety of patient acuity and unique disease states. From gunshot wounds and stabbings to STEMIs and stroke codes, the resident’s clinical abilities are tested in a fast-paced environment every day.”
Daniel Lau, PharmD – 2020 graduate

“One of the greatest aspects of this residency is that there is no “typical” type of day. At any point of any day, high acuity medical, trauma, or burn patients can present themselves requiring a pharmacist’s attention and assistance in care. Not to mention, the most random of questions can be asked of you for the diverse patient populations that we see in the ED.”
James Catlin, PharmD BCCCP – 2017 graduate

“A typical day for me would be filled with trauma activations and a plethora of medical emergencies such as cardiac arrest, stroke, sepsis, and STEMIs. As the EM resident, I was bedside with the team making recommendations and preparing medications but also helping out in any way possible.”
Brian Dang, PharmD BCCCP – 2016 graduate

UC Davis Health and Pharmacy Services

UC Davis Health is a major academic health center located in Sacramento, California. Pharmacy services recruits, hires and trains caregivers to provide progressive pharmacy services as collaborative team members to support optimal patient outcomes.
More about the Department can be found on our Webpage

Program Design

The PGY2 Emergency Medicine Residency is accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). Its goals, objectives, and evaluation procedures are consistent with the goals and objectives established by ASHP.

Educational Outcomes Required by the Accreditation Standard:

R1. Patient Care
R2. Advancing Practice and Improving Patient Care
R3. Leadership and Management
R4. Teaching, Education, and Dissemination of Knowledge
R5. Management of Medical Emergencies
R6. Management of Toxicology Patients
Electives may be added based on available resources and resident interest

The major area of focus is emergency medicine pharmacy services including adult and pediatric trauma and acute care medicine. Emergency medicine is a multidisciplinary field and residents will have the opportunity to interact with clinical pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, physicians, nurses, social workers, respiratory therapists, emergency medical services personnel, as well as patients and their families. Daily activities will include bedside consultation for both physicians and nursing staff regarding therapy management, drug interactions, adverse drug reactions, and intravenous drug compatibility, among others. The resident will respond to all medical and trauma codes that arrive in the emergency department and will be responsible for providing appropriate, timely, and accurate drug delivery to patients. The UC Davis Health PGY2 Emergency Medicine Pharmacy Residency is designed to meet the educational goals and objectives as outlined by the ASHP PGY2 Emergency Medicine Residency Accreditation Standard.

Program Structure

The PGY2 Emergency Medicine Pharmacy Residency is a full-time, one-year commitment, beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30. Clearance to start work s must be completed prior to July 1.

Proposed Calendar of Activities:

UC Davis Health PGY2 Emergency Medicine Pharmacy Learning Experiences:

The residency learning experiences will primarily be divided into block rotations and longitudinal learning experiences.  The majority of rotations will be 4 weeks in duration.  Rotation schedules will be determined based on availability and resident interests and will be designed to include all required CAGOs as well as a variety of clinical experiences and environments.

UC Davis Health PGY2 Emergency Medicine Pharmacy Resident’s Role in Teaching:
UC Davis Health offers many opportunities for both clinical and didactic teaching. The resident will be responsible for assisting preceptors with clerkship teaching for University of California, San Francisco pharmacy students, University of the Pacific pharmacy students and UC Davis Health PGY1 pharmacy residents. The resident will assume the primary preceptor role for UCSF pharmacy students during their rotations in the latter part of the residency.

The resident will be required to prepare an ACPE accredited pharmacy grand rounds presentation or department competency on an Emergency Medicine or Preceptor development topic, based on the resident’s interests and a department needs assessment. In addition, the PGY2 Emergency Medicine Pharmacy Resident may choose to participate in academic teaching, as requested by regional schools of pharmacy, with the approval of the PGY2 Emergency Medicine Pharmacy Residency Director.

Residency Research Project:
All UC Davis Health PGY2 residents are required to complete a research project and present their research in a podium presentation at the UC Collaborative Pharmacy Conference or other Regional meeting. In preparation for conducting their research project, the resident will be complete UC Davis Health IRB-required training and certification. The resident will prepare a project proposal, which will be reviewed and approved by the UC Davis Health Pharmacy Residency Research Oversight Committee (PROC). The resident will also submit their project to the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee. They will submit to IRB for review, before embarking on their research. Upon completion of the project, the resident will be required to summarize their research project for the Departmental newsletter and prepare a manuscript. PGY2 residents will submit their manuscript for publication and to prepare an electronic poster suitable for submission.

Committee Assignments:
The PGY2 Emergency Medicine Pharmacy resident will participate in various committee activities, as assigned by the PGY2 Emergency Medicine Pharmacy residency director. Assignments will be determined based on current department initiatives. The purpose of the resident’s committee involvement is to ensure the resident gains exposure to the Emergency Medicine pharmacists role in activities related to quality-improvement, medication safety, safe handling of hazardous drugs, guideline development and assessment/implementation of technology and automation within the institution and pharmacy department. Committees in which Emergency Medicine pharmacists play a key role at UC Davis Health include: Emergency Department Performance Improvement (EDPI), Geriatric Emergency Medicine, Substance Use Disorders (SUD), Stroke Performance Improvement, Trauma Systems and Multidisciplinary Committee, ED Emergency Response Team and Emergency Preparedness.

Professional Development:
The PGY2 Emergency Medicine Pharmacy resident is encouraged to maintain an active role in pharmacy professional organizations. The resident is strongly encouraged to become a member of the California Society of Health Systems Pharmacists (CSHP), American Society of Health Systems Pharmacists (ASHP) and the American College of Clinical Pharmacists (ACCP) and attend their annual meetings. The resident will be provided with some financial support from the institution and professional leave time to facilitate participation in professional development activities.

Pharmacy Department Service:
The PGY2 Emergency Medicine Pharmacy resident will be expected to provide pharmacy department service hours. This expectation will be met primarily by providing evening staffing, weekend staffing within the Emergency Department, plus one of the major holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s Day). It is anticipated that the PGY2 resident will offset a staff pharmacist once competency is established.

Required Competencies:
Residents function as licensed pharmacists in patient care activities. As such, minimum knowledge in a variety of areas must be assured. Within one month of starting the Residency, the resident must complete competencies required of all clinical pharmacists. Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certification is required.

Resident Portfolio:
Each resident must maintain a portfolio containing all information from the residency year including yet not limited to: copies of papers presentations or projects done during rotations, lectures given, research project manuscript, P&T drug monograph, and MUE. The portfolio shall be maintained in Pharm Academic and on the Pharmacy Department shared drive.

Fringe Benefits:
Health, Dental and Vision insurance for resident and dependents; vacation, sick leave and professional leave, as outlined in the Pharmacy Resident Manual, usually 21 days of PTO, 14 paid holidays, 6 extended sick days and 4 days of professional development leave. Use of leave must be arranged in advance with the RPD. Travel funds (~$3000) are included in the base salary. There is a stipend for Pharmacy Department scrubs.

Resident Personnel Policies:
The following policies can be located in the Pharmacy Resident Personnel Manual

• Resident Qualifications
• Early Commitment Policy
• Pre-employment drug testing
• Health insurance and Benefits
• Licensure requirements
• Moonlighting
• Duty hours
• Tracking of duty hours
• Professional, family, and extended leave policies
• Dismissal policy and consequences of failure to progress

Requirements for successful completion of the residency:

• California Pharmacist Licensure per Pharmacy Resident Manual Policy
• Pharmacy Grand Rounds presentation (or equivalent)
• Emergency Medicine Academic Forum presentation
• Successful completion of all required learning experiences and associated assignments
• Achieved 80% of residency learning experience goals and objectives (100% of Patient Care Competency Area R1)
• Completion of a research project
• Presentation of research project at UC Pharmacy Conference (or equivalent)
• Preparation of manuscript for a research project, submit for publication
• Completion of staffing contribution as outlined by the program description
• Completion of the PGY-2 Emergency Medicine Pharmacy Resident Clinical Repetitions Appendix to the minimum standard
• Completed end-of-year self-assessment and residency program assessment
• Resident closeout completed in PharmAcademic with portfolio attachments uploaded
• A minimum of 52 weeks of training inclusive of vacation, professional and sick leave
• Completion of deliverables for Competency Area Goals and Objectives (CAGO) requirements (see table, below):

Pharmacy Residency training programs at UC Davis Health are conducted under the licensed entity within UC Davis Health which is UC Davis Medical Center.