The PGY2 Psychiatric Pharmacy Residency is an American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP) accredited twelve-month program that transitions the PGY1 Pharmacy Practice resident to a specialized practice area within psychiatry. This program provides structured experiences in acute care adult psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, neurology, and ambulatory psychiatry settings to develop the knowledge, skills, leadership, and attitudes to competently participate with a multidisciplinary behavioral health team. The psychiatric pharmacy resident will participate in quality improvement projects, institutional committees, didactic lectures, and other educational activities designed to prepare the resident for practice with adjunct faculty responsibilities.
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.
Applicants must be Doctor of Pharmacy graduates from an ACPE-accredited school or college of pharmacy; have completed an accredited PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency; be licensed or eligible for pharmacist licensure in Virginia; and possess requisite patient care training or experience. The successful applicant must possess exceptional knowledge, clinical problem solving, communication skills, and leadership qualities.
Visit our Application Process page for more information on our virtual sessions and ASHP showcase and Personal Placement Service participation.
The program is comprised of six required and three elective acute care learning experiences and three required longitudinal ambulatory learning experiences and one longitudinal elective learning experience. The acute care learning experiences are generally five weeks in duration and the ambulatory care learning experiences are longitudinal one-half day per week for 10 weeks. The longitudinal ambulatory care learning experiences may be extended based on resident preference and preceptor availability. The staffing/operational rotation is longitudinal over the course of the year and occurs in the main hospital pharmacy and psychiatric satellite pharmacy. Additional longitudinal projects include completion of a quality improvement project, completion of one medication use evaluation project, service on an institutional committee, didactic teaching and clinical precepting, and response to psychiatric emergencies. Longitudinal experiences are completed in conjunction with required and elective rotations. The primary practice sites are the acute psychiatry units at VCU Health and Virginia Treatment Center for Children. Additional sites include affiliated clinics including, but not limited to, child and adolescent psychiatry and substance abuse.
Required Rotations (minimum 6/year, duration: 5 weeks)
Acute Care Psychiatry I – Medical Psychiatry
Acute Care Psychiatry II – Schizophrenia
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Geriatric Psychiatry
Neurology
Experiential (APPE) Teaching
*Staffing/Operations (longitudinal, approximately every third weekend))
*Ambulatory Clinics (longitudinal, one half day every week)
*Institutional Committee (longitudinal, approximately one meeting/month)
Elective Rotations (minimum 3/year, duration: 5 weeks)
Acute Care Psychiatry III – Affective DisordersAmbulatory Clinic Rotations (longitudinal, one-half day every week. Duration: 10 weeks)
RequiredElective
The PGY2 Psychiatric Pharmacy Resident is given an academic faculty appointment as a Clinical Instructor in the VCU School of Pharmacy and will have opportunities to provide didactic instruction (e.g., lectures, team-based learning and skills lab sessions, case conferences) and experiential training (e.g., APPEs) for Doctor of Pharmacy students from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy. Residents may participate in an elective teaching and learning certificate program.
Each resident is responsible for initiating and successfully completing a research or quality improvement project, with presentation at an internal residency research symposium and at a national meeting. Residents are encouraged to submit their projects for publication. An advisor and additional team members guide the resident through the process. Potential psychiatric research projects are presented to the resident at the start of the residency program.
This program is accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and participates in the ASHP/NMS PGY2 Matching Program and PhORCAS. http://www.ashp.org/phorcas
| Program Director Sandra Mullen, PharmD, BCPPClinical Specialist, Psychiatry Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy and Psychiatry PharmD, Wilkes University Residency in Pharmacy Practice, CJW Medical Center Residency in Psychiatry at VCU Health System |
Coordinator, Pharmacy Residency Programs
Craig Kirkwood, PharmD
Assistant Director, Pharmacotherapy Services
Associate Professor of Pharmacy
BS, University of Buffalo
PharmD, University of Buffalo
Residency in Hospital Pharmacy, Buffalo General Hospital
Residency in Drug Information, North Carolina Memorial Hospital at University of North Carolina
Director, Department of Pharmacy Services
Rodney L. Stiltner, PharmD, MS
Director, Department of Pharmacy Services
Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy
PharmD, Mercer University
MS, University of Wisconsin
Residency in Management Pharmacy Practice, University of Wisconsin Medical Center
Application Process
Application is made through the PhORCAS process. The application deadline is January 3, 2025. For application instructions, please visit the Application Process section of this website.
Number of Positions
1
Salary and Benefits
The salary for PGY2 pharmacy residents at VCU Health System is $60,000.
Duration of Appointment
The pharmacy resident's contract at VCU Health System will begin on July 1 of the program year. The pharmacy residency will be completed on June 30 of the subsequent year.
Vacation and Holiday Leave
Two weeks (10 days) are granted for paid vacation or personal leave. This may be taken during rotations throughout the year. At least 10 days of paid holiday leave are provided during the year. Discretionary leave (personal or vacation leave) is pre-approved by the resident's rotation preceptor, the residency program director, and the residency programs coordinator. In general, the resident will be absent no more than five days during any rotation.
Sick Leave
Five days of paid sick leave are provided as baseline leave. After complete use of sick and vacation leave, unpaid leave is utilized and the need to extend the residency is considered.
Educational and Professional Leave
Twelve days are provided for educational and professional leave. This includes but is not limited to, attendance at professional meetings (e.g., ASHP, ACCP, SCCM, NCS), interviews, licensure or board exams, visitation to other medical center(s) or national pharmacy organizations, or participation in a medical mission.
Health Benefits
The VCU Health System provides a health insurance policy, to each pharmacy resident. Coverage includes outpatient physician visits and laboratory tests. Prescription, dental, vision, and family coverage are available through payroll deduction with the respective co-pay and vary with the level of coverage desired.
Liability Insurance
VCU Health System is self-insured and provides professional liability (malpractice) insurance, subject to policy limits, for each pharmacy resident. Insurance covers professional service when on-duty within the institution. It does not cover professional services (e.g., moonlighting or consulting activities) provided at other facilities or institutions. This malpractice insurance will cover all acts of alleged medical negligence while a resident is at VCU Health System. Residents may choose to enhance the professional liability insurance with a personal liability policy.
Moonlighting
Residents are permitted to seek additional, paid staffing as a pharmacist upon approval of their program director. For convenience, the additional staffing usually occurs within VCU Health System. Moonlighting, in general, will not extend to greater than 16 hours weekly. Additional staffing which conflicts with residency requirements is not permitted.
Office Space and Resources
The Department of Pharmacy Services provides office space for the residents. Residents may access patient information and drug information throughout VCUHS and from home via remote access.
Health and Recreation Facilities
Residents have access to VCU recreational facilities, including exercise equipment, weight rooms, aerobic activities, basketball courts and swimming pools, at a reduced membership fee.
Parking
Parking is provided on the VCU Medical Center campus through payroll deduction at the reduced, house staff rate.