In addition to the scheduled clinical rotations, residents will also participate in other educational and service activities throughout the year. These include:

Clinical Pharmacy Meetings

Clinical meetings are scheduled Tuesdays from noon-1 p.m. These meetings are comprised of various pharmacy-related discussions, presentations and activities — including residency-related presentations, feedback sessions, preceptor development and educational reviews or updates. This time may also be used for operational and safety issues that need to be addressed or reviewed by the clinical pharmacy team (i.e., EPIC concerns, policy review, system- and department-related decision support system management). The calendar with meeting times and scheduled agenda items is available in the Microsoft Teams Clinical Group folder. Meeting locations will be provided through Outlook calendar appointment scheduling.

Service Commitment

The resident will be required to provide approximately 32 hours of staffing per month. This will be comprised of one 4-hour evening shift per week (4-8 p.m.) and a service commitment every fourth weekend. Residents are not scheduled for days off during the week to compensate for weekend service.

Residency Research Project

The resident will be responsible for conceiving, designing and conducting a residency project during their year. The project will be completed under the guidance of research mentor and preceptor content expert. Additionally, the resident will be given the opportunity to complete an administrative project over the course of their year. A wide variety of projects are acceptable for a PGY1 resident (administrative projects, drug-utilization reviews, quality improvement projects, retrospective clinical studies, etc.). PGY2 residents should undertake a more robust research project related to their specialty or area of interest. A list of current department initiatives and a list of preceptors and their areas of specialty will be provided in July to assist the resident in developing a research project topic. Completion of a manuscript is required and submission to a reputable journal for publication is highly encouraged.

Teaching Opportunities

Based on level of interest and career path, PGY1 residents may be involved in varying degrees of co-precepting rotating Doctor of Pharmacy students during elective pediatric clerkships. PGY2 residents will be required to co-precept one set of students during elective pediatric clerkships. St. Louis Children’s Hospital Pharmacy Department supports rotations from various local pharmacy schools including, but not limited to, the St. Louis College of Pharmacy and Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville School of Pharmacy. Residents can also be involved in a Pediatric Pharmacotherapy Elective course at a local College of Pharmacy, currently team-taught by the St. Louis Children’s Hospital clinical pharmacists. Additional didactic teaching opportunities may exist at both local colleges of pharmacy.

Resident Education Academy (REA)

Residents will be given the opportunity to participate in an 18-hour teaching certificate program with other Metro Area pharmacy residents. The STLCOP Resident Education Academy (REA) is a didactic teaching workshop series conducted during the fall semester by faculty at the College. The fall REA sessions focus on training the residents in abilities-based instructional methodology and active learning strategies. These didactic teaching workshops prepare the residents for the spring semester, during which time the residents are responsible for conducting a lecture and discussion section in a team-taught therapeutics-based elective at the College. A certificate of completion is given to each resident that participates. Participation in this program is required for all PGY1 residents. PGY2 residents may opt out if a teaching certificate program was completed during their PGY1 year.

Committee Involvement

During their residency year, residents will be exposed to a variety of hospital committees to experience the integral role that pharmacists play throughout the organization. Participation in the Pharmaceuticals, Diagnostics & Therapeutics (P&T) Committee, Adverse Drug Event Hospital Acquired Conditions (ADEHAC) Committee and Pharmacy Unit Based Joint Practice is required for all residents. PGY2 residents will get additional committee experience including Pediatric Clinical Decision Support and Resuscitation Committee for the Critical Care track resident.

Research/Statistics Course

Under the tutelage of pharmacy preceptors from Barnes-Jewish Hospital, residents are lectured on research design, various statistical topics and the use of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Supplemental meetings may be provided by research preceptors at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The course is designed to complement the design and analysis of the resident's residency project. Topics include study design and methodology; an overview of the hospital's informatics database; institutional review board (IRB) submission process and review; an introduction to SPSS and setting up an SPSS database; basic statistical tests; multivariate analysis; and survival analysis. Other statistical topics commonly found on Board-Certified Pediatric Pharmacy Specialist (BCPPS) board certification exams are also covered and include adjusting for multiple comparisons; sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic tests; and analysis of non-inferiority and equivalency trials.

Travel

PGY1 and PGY2 residents attend the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Clinical Meeting in December and are requested to assist with recruitment activities including Residency Showcase. Both residents also attend the Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group (PPAG) annual meeting in the spring of their residency year where they present the findings of their research project.

Medical Conferences

Additional learning opportunities may be available through St. Louis Children’s Hospital, BJC HealthCare and Washington University Medical Center. These include Pediatric Grand Rounds (Fridays at 9:15 a.m. in Clopton Auditorium), Department of Pediatric Medicine Noon Conferences (St. Louis Children’s Hospital’s third floor auditorium) and numerous specialty conferences. These learning experiences are not required but are opportunities to gain additional knowledge and training when applicable and when experience does not conflict with other residency-related responsibilities.

ACLS/PALS

Residents having an interest in additional training in the management of medical emergencies will have the opportunity complete BJC HealthCare’s Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and/or Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS). Residents would need to have current Basic Life Support (BLS) certification prior to taking ACLS. It is the resident’s responsibility to assure that they can document current BLS certification. This is not a requirement of the program and would be scheduled by the resident if interested.