The PGY2 Emergency Medicine Residency

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.

Additional Program Description

The PGY-2 Emergency Medicine Residency Program is designed to develop the necessary skills to become an independent and proactive practitioner able to collaborate with a variety of health care providers. The MUSC Health Charleston campus is composed of three Emergency Departments: University Hospital (51 beds; 50,000 visits/year), Ashley River Tower (18 beds; 13,000 visits/year), and Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital (20 beds). MUSC Health is a designated Level 1 Trauma and Burn Center (adults and pediatrics), Comprehensive Stroke Center, and Heart & Vascular Center. Training will focus on a wide variety of therapeutic areas including (but not limited to) critical care, trauma, surgery, infectious diseases, preparation/management of mass casualty events, toxicology, and pediatrics.

Program Design

Required Learning Experiences

  • Pharmacy Orientation (1 month)
  • Emergency Medicine (with varying foci)
    • Introduction to Resuscitation and Emergency Management (1 month)
    • Trauma and Surgery (1 month)
    • Critical Care (1 month)
    • Infectious Diseases (1 month)
    • Mass Casualty Response and Preparation (1 month)
    • Advanced Topics in Resuscitation and Emergency Management (1 month)
  • Pediatric Emergency Department (1 month)
  • Toxicology (1 month)
  • Emergency Medicine Practice Management and Quality Improvement Initiatives (1 month)

Required Longitudinal Learning Experiences

  • On-Call coverage (12 months)
  • Medication Use Evaluation (6 months)
    • The resident will participate in small-group medication use evaluations to evaluate and implement measures to improve the quality of the medication-use process.
  • Research Project (12 months)
    • The resident will complete a research project during the residency year. Project ideas will be generated by care team members of MUSC Health or the resident to address clinical and operational needs for Pharmacy Services and patients at MUSC Health. The resident will present the results of their project at a local, state, regional, or national meeting, and they must write a manuscript suitable for publication describing the results of their project.
  • Emergency Medicine Staffing (12 months)
    • Residents will gain clinical experience providing autonomous coverage throughout the year as the clinical pharmacist in the Emergency Department. The resident will staff 12 weekends throughout the year and cover the Emergency Department at University and Ashley River Tower. Activities include, but are not limited to, order verification, culture follow-up, providing bedside care, responding to emergency codes, strokes, traumas, and STEMIs, and delivering patient education.
  • Emergency Medicine Teaching Experiences (12 months) 
    • Residents will present four required presentations with the option of giving additional elective presentations throughout the year. This learning experience will track the resident’s progress in public speaking throughout the experience.
    • Required presentations include (30-60 mins): ACPE-accredited Seminar, Research Project, Critical Care Lecture Series (minimum of one), Medication Use Evaluation
    • Optional presentations may include (30-60 mins): MUSC EM Physician Conference, Resident On-Call Case Conference, EM or Acute Care elective at MUSC College of Pharmacy

Elective Learning Experiences

  • Intensive Care Unit (must choose 2)
    • Medical Surgical Intensive Care Unit (1 month)
    • Surgical Trauma Intensive Care Unit (1 month)
    • Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit (1 month)
    • Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (1 month).

Core Preceptors

Emergency Medicine Clinical Pharmacist

Kelsey Billups, PharmD, BCPS
billupsk@musc.edu

Daniel Fischer, PharmD, BCCCP
fischeda@musc.edu

Abby Pollander, PharmD, BCCCP
pollande@musc.edu

 

Pediatric Clinical Pharmacist

Liz LaScala, PharmD, BCPS
lascala@musc.edu

Current Resident

PGY2 Emergency Medicine Pharmacy Residents