The PGY1 managed care pharmacy residency offers an opportunity to gain a clinical and administrative perspective in the management of pharmacy benefit plans for a wide variety of clients. Multifaceted experience will include both on-site and off-site learning experiences, including involvement with the formulary management process, client management, health plan operations, mail service, research, health management, clinical program development, and specialty pharmacy. Additionally, through an affiliation with the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, the resident will participate in the Resident Research Series and, if elected, the Teaching Mastery Series.
Through the Resident Research Series, residents identify a practice-related research project and learn about study design and implementation, as well as complete a residency manuscript suitable for publication. The Teaching Mastery Series allows residents to learn about various teaching methods, as well as develop their skills as pharmacy educators and clinical preceptors. Flexibility is provided to meet the individual resident's goals and objectives.
Residency program objectives include: (1) describe the structure and function of the formulary management process in the managed care setting; (2) describe how medication usage can be evaluated and influenced on a macro level involving large outpatient populations; (3) perform outcomes analysis and pharmacoeconomic studies; (4) develop effective clinical prior authorization programs; (5) develop strategies used to drive formulary utilization; (6) understand claims processing systems and benefit design in order to launch clinical activities; (7) analyze and develop pharmacy benefit designs customized to client needs; (8) analyze claims data for solving problems related to cost and utilization; (9) analyze medical and pharmacy literature to effectively solve clinical programs; (10) describe the operations of a mail service pharmacy; and (11) perform direct and indirect patient care activities.

Residents come to the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy programs from far and wide, representing more than 25 US States and foreign countries. All residents must be eligible for pharmacist licensure in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Applications for Pharmacist License and Intern Registration are available.

Pennsylvania requires 1500 registered intern hours in order to be eligible for licensure. Of the 1500 hours, only 750 hours can be obtained through an academic program. That is, 750 intern hours must be obtained outside of school. These 750 intern hours must be registered with a state board of pharmacy to count toward licensure in Pennsylvania. If you have not yet started registering hours with your state board of pharmacy, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible in order to be eligible for Pennsylvania licensure. We also encourage you to review your own state's rules regarding the registration, reporting and transfer of intern hours. Please do not hesitate to discuss any questions you have regarding licensure with individual program directors.

Application deadline: January 6, 2012.
For inquiries, contact Mike Safranyos, PharmD
Phone: 412-967-2300 ext 75295
Email: michael.safranyos@caremark.com

Pharmacists completing this residency will be competent and confident practitioners in a dynamic PBM environment. They will be accountable for understanding the role of a pharmacist in a PBM and the individual departments that operate within the PBM. In addition, they will be accountable for functioning independently as a member of the clinical team, but at the same time recognize the importance of teamwork. The resident will develop and demonstrate current and future job skills, including time- and project-management. Finally the resident will demonstrate professional maturity by following a personal philosophy of practice, monitoring their own performance and exhibiting commitment to the profession of pharmacy.

Duration: 12 months
Number Positions: 1
Starting Date: July 1
Estimated Stipend: $40,000
Benefits: Comprehensive medical plan, life insurance, 2 weeks paid vacation, no weekends (excluding national meetings), holidays, flexible spending account programs for health and dependent care expenses, CVS Caremark employee stock purchase program, travel expense budget for national meetings, memberships and required travel
Training Site Type: Pharmacy Benefit Management Firm
Owner/Affiliates: CVS Caremark
Model (type): Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM)
Professional Staff: 45

Required Learning Experiences
• Analytic Consulting Services
• Client Benefits Clinical
• Clinical Management
• Clinical Programs
• Health Management
• Mail Service
• Managed Care (Health Plan)
• Medicare Part D - Clinical
• Specialty Pharmacy
Required Longitudinal Learning Experiences
• Drug Information
• Professional Development
• Resident Research Series
Select Elective Learning Experiences
• Ambulatory Care (VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System)
• Community Care Pharmacy Practice
• Drug Information
• Education/Teaching
• Family Medicine
• Industry (Pfizer)
• Infectious Diseases
• Pharmacy Management
• Transplantation
Other elective rotations are available based on resident interest and preceptor availability.

Maureen Castner, PharmD
Susan Esper, RPh
Jayme Gornick, PharmD
Jocelyn Hain, PharmD
Melissa Jay, PharmD
Michele Khosah, PharmD
Julie Legal, PharmD
Patrick Legal, PharmD
Jason Markuss, MSc, PharmD
Jeff Popovic, PharmD
Brian Roman, PharmD
Michael Safranyos, PharmD
Judy Weitzman, MSc, RPh
Mary Winek, RPh