Implementation of a multi-organizational PGY2 educational pharmacy residency coalition

BackgroundFor postgraduate year two (PGY2) pharmacy residency programs, there are required topics in the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists competency areas, goals, and objectives that are defined as either direct or non-direct patient experiences. For critical care and emergency medicine pharmacy residencies, many of these topics overlap not only in subject matter but designation of direct or non-direct patient experiences. In an attempt to introduce these topics at a higher level and with less redundancy per residency program, the PGY2 Educational Pharmacy Residency Coalition was developed. AimsLimited data evaluates the impact of a regional collaboration to provide PGY2 critical care and emergency medicine residents with topic discussions to meet residency graduation completion requirements. This coalition focused on pairing topics with institutions that have self-reported designated excellence or high experience within a specific patient population subset, as well as determining the impact to the program and the residents. Materials and MethodsA total of eight programs were identified for participation based on a geographic region. An initial questionnaire was sent to the programs to determine which patient populations they identified as having strong exposure versus which they had limited. Based on these results, topics were distributed as live presentations amongst the collaborative. A baseline, interim, and final assessment survey was sent to evaluate foundational knowledge and disease state management of each topic area. ResultsBoth residency program directors/preceptors and residents reported an increase in foundational knowledge and disease state management for all presentations that were conducted through the coalition. Residency program director/preceptor respondents (n = 12) reported that 100% of the topics provided were sufficient to meet expectations for the completion of a non-direct patient care topic for the PGY2 resident. ConcluisonThis article discusses the successful implementation, structure, goals, and outcomes of a PGY2 Educational Pharmacy Residency Coalition. It includes the strategies used for the development of topic areas and discusses the growth of the program to include residents, preceptors, and program directors. Learning from this collborative will help other programs adopt a similar program, avoid pitfalls, and apply lessons learned to their own program.