Mission
The purpose of the Geriatric Pharmacy Residency is to train highly motivated, team-oriented pharmacy residents on advanced patient care skills, teaching techniques, and practice-based research methods, preparing them to be leaders of change in the medical and academic community. The focus is on independent pharmacy practice, allowing the specialty resident advanced practice opportunities in the areas older adults receive care including the hospital, skilled and personal care home sites, and outpatient clinics.
Description
The postgraduate year two (PGY2) Geriatric Pharmacy Residency at UPMC St. Margaret offers a two-year residency program in which the UPMC St. Margaret PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency continues to a PGY2 specialty residency in geriatrics. Continuity in learning environment and interprofessional relationships built in the first year allows for a rich and independent practice during the second year.
Residents will provide direct patient care in the various levels of the health systems in which older adults are cared for and live in, including: inpatient, outpatient, personal and skilled nursing care, rehabilitation and home visits. UPMC St. Margaret is a 250-bed community teaching hospital with a diverse patient population, including a large geriatric contingent. The resident will be based out of one of the two outpatient UPMC St. Margaret Geriatric Care Centers where they will provide longitudinal care alongside the interprofessional team including the pharmacist, physician, geriatric psychiatrist, neuropsychologist, licensed clinical social worker, as well as geriatric trained nurses and support staff. The PGY2 resident will also provide longitudinal care at the Presbyterian SeniorCare Campus, which includes The Willows (skilled nursing facility), Westminster Place (personal care), and Woodside Place (personal care – dementia). As our older adults transition through various levels of care (home to hospital, hospital to skilled nursing facility, hospital to home), our PGY2 resident is part of the well-established collaborative team at UPMC St. Margaret, with a truly impactful direct patient care role. Our team is eager to work together to educate eager learners and provide excellent patient care.
Practice-based research experiences are numerous and afford high-quality outcomes with the expectation for presentation at a national meeting for the primary research project as well as peer-reviewed publication of other scholarly activities. The Faculty Development Fellowship Program at UPMC St. Margaret is a longitudinal curriculum in which family medicine physicians and pharmacy residents collaboratively learn teaching strategies, leadership, mentorship, and research design. In addition to our core faculty at St. Margaret, fellowship sessions are led by local experts from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh in communication and teaching design along with national figures in areas such as health-system advocacy and leadership. Pharmacy residents at UPMC St. Margaret also have numerous opportunities to give formal and informal presentations to health care professionals, precept PGY1 pharmacy residents and pharmacy students, and teach at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Pharmacy.
Learning Experiences
Longitudinal Experiences
- Geriatric Care Center Outpatient
- Skilled Nursing Facility Clinical Rounds
- Faculty Development Fellowship
- Research
- Palliative Care
- Medication Safety
- Teaching and Learning
- Private Practice Initiative
- PK/Clinical Resource Pharmacist
Block Core Rotations
- Orientation
- Inpatient Geriatrics
- Geriatric Psychiatry
- UPMC Enterprises
- Elective
Electives
- Global Health
- Medication Safety
- Cardiovascular Risk Reduction
- Pharmacist Practice Development
- Additional time in required sites depending on the resident's career goals
Teaching Experiences
- Presentations at the Geriatric Medicine Core Curriculum and noon conferences for geriatric fellows, medical students, and residents, as well as nursing in-services, throughout the training program
- UPMC St. Margaret Clinical Controversy Series
- Participate in Family Medicine Faculty Development Fellowship
- Participate in the precepting of pharmacy and medical students
- Teaching at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy; didactic, practical, and Silver Scripts lecture and precepting