Transcription:
Riverside's Pharmacy Residency Program

Sean: So imagine you've been in a hospital once or twice, or maybe visiting a family member who is ill in the hospital, and you might be wondering where does all that medication come from anytime a prescription is called up or anything?

Well, in each hospital, there is an actual on-site pharmacy. And so we're here to talk about the training that goes into those programs and how people get to become an in-house pharmacist. I'm Sean O'Connor, and I am a marketing and communication specialist here at Riverside Hospital. And I'm joined today by Whitney Pelletier who is the pharmacist at Riverside. What is your official title?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: So, I am the pharmacy director here at Riverside.

Sean: Alrighty. And what does BCPS stand for?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist.

Sean: Excellent. And so what went into that? Did you just go to pharmacy school or did you have any type of afterschool training? Not like an afterschool special, but a post-graduate training. What does that entail?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: So, what I did is I went to pharmacy school and got my license to be a pharmacist. Once I was licensed, after three years of training, you are able to sit for additional board certifications. And you have to meet certain qualifications to be able to sit for those exams. Not everyone is able to meet those. But once you are able to, you're then able to sit for those specialty exams.

Sean: And did you do a residency program of any sort?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: I did not do her residency program. I'm kind of the untraditional path, the path that takes a little bit longer since I did not do a residency. But I found that we had an opportunity. So therefore, we actually created a residency program here at Riverside.

Sean: That's excellent. And what goes into creating a residency program?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: So, there is a list of requirements that is put out by the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists. What they do is they look at the type of community and hospital setting that we have here. And they look to see what opportunities we have to offer within the hospital setting. If we meet those certain requirements, we're then able to submit to have a residency program. If you're then able to submit for it, you then have to build a curriculum around the program to be able to teach and provide education to our resident coming in.

Sean: Okay, that's fascinating. So, what is your role within the residency program here?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: So, my role is the RPD, which is the residency program director. What I do is I work with both the residents and our current pharmacy preceptors to ensure that the program goals and objectives are met, that training is then optimized and that everyone is heavily involved in patient care.

Sean: And what did it take to start a residency program here? Why did Riverside decide that was a path to go forward on?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: So, we saw there was a need and opportunity within the pharmacy community itself. In 2019, when our residency program actually started, there was over 5,000 individuals that just graduated pharmacy school that applied for a residency program. Two thousand of those people did not match with the program. So, we saw that there was an opportunity, there was a need in the pharmacy world.

Now, in 2022, there was again over 5,000 people that also apply for residency. And there was only 1,400 people that did not match with the residency. So the community within pharmacy, we see the need for it, and that the need is expanding and we're just doing our part to help with that education and training.

Sean: How many residents does the pharmacy program take in a given year?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: So, we currently take one. But actually, in 2023, we will be expanding to two.

Sean: And how long is the program?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Our program is a one-year program here.

Sean: Okay. So, it's just one year at a time.

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Yeah.

Sean: And so what are the different tracks that are available for a resident going into our program?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: So, for our program here, we are an inpatient hospital program. There is also secondary community programs that if someone would like to go through the community path, they're able to. But what ours does here at Riverside allows you to be able to expand the inpatient knowledge of a pharmacy. They are then able to then venture out after the residency and do work in areas such as cardiology, oncology, pediatrics, anything that's really specialized.

Sean: How does a residency program benefit a pharmacy school graduate?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Yeah. So, residency program is not required for all pharmacists once they graduate. It really depends on what your career path, what you want it to look like. Those that want to work in the retail community setting, it's not required to do a residency. Those that want to do more clinical hospital-based, residency is becoming the new requirement for those. So if they want to be able to be at the bedside with the providers doing patient care, they will have to have a residency.

Sean: Do you wish you had done a residency program?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Since I was untraditional, I was able to get the requirements and education training just on the job. There is always benefit. But since it's becoming the new norm, unfortunately, new pharmacists will have to do it.

Sean: Yeah, I definitely get that. And that's what most people don't realize, is that Riverside is a teaching hospital as well, correct?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Yeah.

Sean: And so, Riverside provides an exceptional learning environment that prepares residents and fellows to enter into practice with confidence in their clinical abilities. To learn more about graduate medical education at Riverside, visit riversidehealthcare.org/gme.

Now, back to the podcast with Whitney. Can you talk a little bit about the role of a pharmacy resident versus an attending pharmacist?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Absolutely. So when we get a new resident, they're deemed still in training. They have to meet certain milestones throughout their course here. And typically, halfway through their one-year time here, they're deemed what's called independent. Once they are independent, they don't need an attending pharmacist to co-sign their notes anymore. They are really acting as that actual pharmacist at that point. So, it is a good six months of training. That first six months, they have that attending pharmacist right there next to them, really teaching them and providing different skills they may not have yet.

Sean: Yeah. And I think a lot of people outside of the hospital construct sometimes get confused by what a residency and a fellowship looks like. So can you kind of describe what the difference between the two is?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Yeah. So our residency for pharmacy world is very general. It's a little bit of a lot of things. You're going to be learning leadership skills. You're going to be learning critical care skills, general medicine skills, oncology. Where if you go into the fellowship for pharmacy, it's specialized. You therein are just learning one area of pharmacy, such as just pediatrics or just oncology.

Sean: Okay. How many pharmacists do we have on staff here at Riverside?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: So, pharmacists, we have 22 pharmacists here on staff.

Sean: Wow. That's incredible. And that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Correct?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Three sixty-five. Yes.

Sean: People don't realize that the hospital never shuts down, never stops. It is always going.

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: It is always going.

Sean: I always describe it as a living, beating entity that it's alive in a way and it takes a full staff all the time. And even in the dead of night, there's always a need for medicine, correct?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Absolutely. Down to the last Tylenol tablet.

Sean: So, it's really beneficial when those residents get to that independent status.

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: It is. So, it really then becomes an additional member of our team that they are able to act and participate and provide that excellent patient care just along with our other pharmacists.

Sean: So, what does a day look like for a pharmacy resident?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: So, it will depend on what rotation they're on since, again, we are doing a lot of little areas. So, if they are on an area within the hospitals in the morning, there you are going through their patient charts. They are reviewing, looking for opportunities. They then go and meet with physicians or even patients and ask them questions. And they're providing those opportunities for improvement to their care back to the team. If they are on, say, their anticoagulation clinic rotation, they're seeing patients in the clinic. They're taking their INR numbers. They're providing that patient care direct face-to-face.

Sean: And what kind of support does Riverside provide for our pharmacy residents? Is it mentoring opportunities? Is it potentially job stability coming out of school?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Yeah. So, we've actually have been able to retain two out of our three residents so far, leaving once they were done with their residency program. Our resident last year actually went on to do more specialized training at another location that she is currently working at. What we are able to provide is really that partnership with our current pharmacist here. And it's a really a lifelong bond that they're able to provide.

Sean: Are there any goals for the program going forward in the next couple of years?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Yeah. So since we have just the one resident right now, we are expanding to two residents starting in June next year. In addition to that, we're going to now offer additional rotations in specialty pharmacy and ambulatory pharmacy. And that will be new and a great addition.

Sean: And for those on the outside world, what does ambulatory mean?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Ambulatory means in a clinic such as your diabetes office or you're just going to your regular doctor's office in the community.

Sean: Growing up, did you ever think you were going to be heading up a pharmacy residency program?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: I did not.

Sean: No? That was not on the list of like life goals that you set out to?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: It was not. Actually, I was thinking I was going to be an accountant previously, so pharmacy is a totally different realm.

Sean: Yeah. At a young age, like at like four or five where you'd like...

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Absolutely.

Sean: Really. When other kids were thinking they were going to be firefighters or princesses or the Little Mermaid, you were like, "I'm going to be an accountant."

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: It runs in the family.

Sean: There you go. That's good stability. That's a focus on the future. So what led you to pharmacy then?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: It actually was when I was in college, I got a job at Walgreens as a pharmacy technician, and I loved the part of helping people. And I then decided I really wanted to get into any type of medical field and I really enjoyed pharmacy. So, I started to look down that path.

Sean: That's very interesting. Anything else you want to share with me about the residency program or just life in general or to listeners?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: So, if there's anybody interested in the residency program, they then would apply through the ASHP Match Program. And that will close the first week of January.

Sean: Okay. And that closes the first week of January every year. Correct?

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Roughly, yeah.

Sean: Roughly. Give or take.

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Give or take.

Sean: Right after Christmas, don't forget, new year, new you, get your residency.

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Yes.

Sean: Alrighty. Thank you so much, Whitney.

Whitney Pelletier, PharmD, BCPS: Thank you so much for having me.

Sean: All right. Thank