Virginia Licensure
Candidates are strongly encouraged to obtain pharmacist licensure in the state of Virginia by July 1 of the incoming residency year.
Orientation
All new residents are expected to attend a formal orientation program during the first 8 weeks of the new residency year. The orientation program covers the following aspects: Inova Health System orientation, general computer training, hospital orientation, pharmacy operation and training.
Clinical Rotations (typically 5 weeks in duration)
Core Rotations
- Internal Medicine
- Critical Care I (Medical/Surgical ICU)
- Infectious Disease (ID)
- Medication Safety
- Leadership
- Emergency Medicine
Elective Rotations
5-Week Electives
- Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
- Surgical Services
- Critical Care II (Cardio/Neuro ICU)
- Internal Medicine II
- Infectious Disease II
- Juniper HIV Clinic (off-site)
- Informatics
Other elective learning experiences may be developed based on resident interest and preceptor availability.
Longitudinal Pharmacy Practice Experience
- At the beginning of the residency year, residents staff every other weekend to build confidence through repetition. Following midyear, the resident staffing schedule changes to every third weekend.
- Participation in Inova Alexandria Hospital and Inova Health System committees (P&T Committee, Clinical Pharmacy Team, Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee, Medication Safety, Critical Care Committee, Readmissions Committee, Stroke Team).
Wellness Longitudinal
On a monthly basis, the Inova Alexandria residents partner with residents from Inova Mount Vernon Hospital to focus on wellness while doing fun activities together outside of the hospital.
The residents greatly enjoy the wellness longitudinal. They appreciate getting to know their preceptors better in a more relaxed setting. They also benefit from sharing their experiences and realizing that they share many of the same challenges throughout the residency year. This helps them to bond as a regional residency class and better support each other as co-residents. Additionally, each resident creates a personalized wellness plan which is shared with the residency program director (RPD). Wellness and how the resident is doing with their personalized wellness plan are then consistently included during check-ins with the RPD throughout the residency year.
Additional Activities for PGY1 Program
I. Presentations
- Journal Club
- Case Presentation
- ACPE-accredited Continuing Education Seminar
II. Projects
- Residency Research Project
- Poster presentation at ASHP Midyear Conference
- Platform presentation at a regional residency conference
- Manuscript submission to a peer-reviewed journal
- Drug Formulary Review
- Medical Use Evaluation
- Presentation to Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee
III. Teaching Opportunities
- Precept advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs)
- Participation in VCU School of Pharmacy Foundations Course (i.e. skills lab)
- Enrollment in a Teaching and Learning Certificate Program (optional)
IV. Conferences
- ASHP Mid-Year Clinical Meeting (December)
- Regional residency conference (April-May)
- Site visitation to ASHP headquarters (if available)
How to Apply
Apply to the PGY1 Pharmacy Residency Program at Inova Alexandria Hospital