Director: Rima A. Mohammad, PharmD, BCPS
The PGY2 residency in internal medicine at UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside is designed to transition PGY1 resident graduates from generalist practice to specialized practice that meets the needs of internal medicine patients. It is defined as an organized, directed, accredited program that builds upon the competencies of PGY1 of pharmacy training. This residency is focused in internal medicine pharmacotherapy, clinical research, and academia and is meant to increase the resident's knowledge, skills, attitudes, and abilities to raise the resident's level of expertise in medication therapy management and clinical and academic leadership.
Program objectives include: 1) serve as an authoritative expert on the optimal use of medications used in the care of patients with acute and chronic disease; 2) optimize the outcomes of internal medicine patients by providing evidence-based, patient-centered medication therapy as an integral part of an interdisciplinary team; 3) demonstrate leadership and practice management skills; 4) contribute to the body of internal medicine pharmacotherapy knowledge; 5) demonstrate excellence in the provision of training and educational activities for health care professionals, health care professionals in training, and the public; 6) demonstrate skills required to function in an academic setting; 7) conduct outcomes research.
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.
Eligible candidates will have completed an ASHP accredited PGY1 pharmacy residency program and must submit the standard application requirements via PhORCAS by December 31st. An on-site interview is required.
To prepare pharmacists to assume any of the following roles:
• Internal medicine pharmacy clinician
• Clinical Educator
• Clinical Researcher
Our residency graduates exit equipped to be fully integrated members of the interdisciplinary internal medicine team, able to make complex pharmacotherapy recommendations in this fast-paced environment. Training focuses on developing resident capability to deal with range of diseases and disorders that occur in the internal medicine population.
Graduates are experienced in short-term research and writing in the area of internal medicine and excel in their ability to teach other healthcare professionals and those in training to be healthcare professionals. A strength of our program and a significant focus is on academic pharmacy practice.
