Clinical Rotation: Transplant
Preceptor: Lindsay Alloway, PharmD

This rotation will expose residents to the practice of transplant pharmacotherapy. Residents will be expected to work closely with the health care team to provide timely, safe and effective pharmacy services in an academic health system environment. Residents will complete the learning objectives of this rotation by attending daily clinical rounds, reviewing and assessing patient medication profiles and communicating pharmacotherapy plans with health care providers and the patients.

Clinical Rotation: Cardiology
Preceptor: Stacey Lavsa, PharmD

This rotation will expose residents to the practice of pharmacotherapy in a cardiology and cardiovascular surgical setting. Residents will be expected to work closely with the health care team to provide timely, safe and effective pharmacy services in an academic health system environment. Residents will complete the learning objectives of this rotation by attending daily clinical rounds, reviewing and assessing patient medication profiles and communicating pharmacotherapy plans with health care providers and the patients.

Clinical Rotation: Neurology/Neuro ICU
Preceptor: Joe Durkin, RPh

This rotation will expose residents to the practice of pharmacotherapy in neurology within the setting of the neuro ICU. Residents will be expected to work closely with the health care team to provide timely, safe and effective pharmacy services in an academic health system environment. Residents will complete the required learning objectives by attending daily clinical rounds, reviewing and assessing patient medication profiles and communicating pharmacotherapy plans with health care providers and the patients.

Clinical Rotation: Cardiothoracic ICU
Preceptor: Roman Gokhman, PharmD

This rotation will expose residents to the practice of pharmacotherapy within the CTICU setting. Residents will be expected to work closely with the health care team to provide timely, safe and effective pharmacy services in an academic health system environment. Residents will complete the required learning objectives by attending daily clinical rounds, reviewing and assessing patient medication profiles and communicating pharmacotherapy plans with health care providers and the patients.

Clinical Rotation: Surgical ICU
Preceptor: Kimberly Maslonek, PharmD

This rotation will expose residents to the practice of pharmacotherapy within the SICU setting. Residents will be expected to work closely with the health care team to provide timely, safe and effective pharmacy services in an academic health system environment. Residents will complete the required learning objectives by attending daily clinical rounds, reviewing and assessing patient medication profiles and communicating pharmacotherapy plans with health care providers and the patients.

Clinical Management I/II
Preceptors: Rafael Saenz, PharmD, MS; Bryan Yourich, PharmD

The clinical management rotations are designed to expose the resident to a broad number of topics concerning the management of pharmacy services. The resident will be involved with the daily oversight and management of decentralized clinical services, operating room pharmacy services, and an ambulatory anticoagulation clinic at both an academic medical center and a community hospital. The resident will work closely with the preceptors to provide direction and guidance to pharmacy staff. Daily activities include but are not limited to assessing workflow, monitoring employee performance, coaching and motivating staff, tracking service metrics, and problem analysis and resolution. The resident can expect to be exposed to the following topics while on rotation: leadership styles, succession planning, change management, communication styles/tools, coaching staff and time management skills.

Drug Use Disease State Management (DUDSM) Program
Preceptors: Sue Skledar, RPh, MPH, FASHP; Shelby Corman, PharmD, BCPS; Colleen Culley, PharmD, BCPS

The mission of DUDSM Program, consistent with that of the Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics, is to improve the quality of life of our patients, health care partners and staff by promoting the safe, effective, and evidence-based use of medications; and the advancement of research, education, and policy related to medication information. Components of effective literature retrieval, analysis, and synthesis as well as effective verbal and written communication skills are utilized to develop, design, and implement formulary decisions through the DUDSM Program, provide patient safety initiatives, and provide evidence-based pharmacotherapy recommendations.

The DUDSM Program is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary inpatient clinical program with the goals to optimize pharmacotherapy regimens using evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, evaluate patient therapeutic and economic outcomes, ensure promotion of safe medication practices, and integrate continuous quality improvement (CQI) principles into initiative design. A systematic approach to clinical initiative design, implementation, and evaluation has been developed, with emphasis on improving healthcare quality while promoting positive economic outcomes. All DUDSM Program initiatives are approved by the Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee (Presbyterian, Shadyside, and Health System). Clinical faculty and practitioners in this program are well-versed in the strategies used in designing cost-containment health care programs and principles of evidence-based medicine. Understanding the impact of preventative and cost-effective health care management in today’s environment is also part of program experience. Components of designing a DUDSM initiative/guideline, including recognition of ongoing initiative opportunities, development of new ideas, strategies for implementation, consensus-building techniques, and mechanisms for outcomes monitoring and initiative analysis are part of participation in the program.

Specialty-trained clinical faculty in DUDSM are experts in the development of strategies for evaluating evidence-based medicine as it relates to creating formulary decisions and providing optimal drug information responses and education. Understanding the impact of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research relating to such areas are necessary with today’s rapidly expanding armamentarium of medications. Employing effective means of evaluating current literature and anticipating potential formulary agents is also needed to provide up to date and proactive formulary reviews.

Finance/Budgeting and Inventory Management Rotations
Preceptor: Vince Oriolo, RPh

The Finance/Budgeting and Inventory Management rotations are designed to provide the resident with a solid foundation in health system pharmacy asset management and budgeting.

During the Inventory Management rotation, residents will develop a thorough understanding of the principles and standards of asset management, drug distribution systems and the technology used to support these systems. This includes, but is not limited to: understanding the asset management plans for the health system hospitals and the pharmacy departments; an understanding of the policies and procedures for purchasing pharmaceuticals and related products within UPMC; an understanding of the relationships, policies and asset management principles between the UPMC, HC Pharmacy and the Department of Pharmacy; understanding of the software programs and automated technology used to support purchasing and inventory control systems; understand the methods and criteria that the UHC and other buying groups use to evaluate multi source drugs and vendor bid responses. Be able to describe the “bid” process for pharmaceuticals; understanding of the asset management principles involved in inventory control such as cycle counts, audits, physical inventory, turnover rate, days on hand, etc; Attend an asset management meeting and other meetings related to purchasing; an understanding of the laws and rules related to own use and non own use contracts and how the different elements of the integrated health system are regulated by these definitions.

The Finance Rotation will provide the resident with a thorough understanding of the financial management process used to develop and monitor a budget for pharmaceuticals and related expenses. The rotation will include (but will not be limited to) exposure in: Budget Calendar and planning, responsibilities of the Pharmacy Department in the budget process, budget objective setting, personnel requests/determining manpower requirements, expenses, revenue, capital equipment, reimbursement systems, development and maintenance of a pharmacy cost accounting system, budget variance reporting, cost containment programs and documentation and cost/benefit analysis of programs.

Pharmacy Operations Rotation I
Preceptor: Thomas E. Kirschling, PharmD, MS; Katie McMillen, PharmD, MPH; Kelley Wasicek, RPh; Matthew Eberts, PharmD, MBA;

The intent of this rotation is to serve as an introduction to pharmacy operations. The resident will learn about leadership styles, effectiveness and risk-taking. Included in this rotation will be a comprehensive overview of personnel management which will include disciplinary actions, conflict resolution, performance evaluation, staff motivation, delegation and empowerment. Key labor regulations will be covered including the Fair Labor Standards Act, the ADEA, the ADA, FMLA, NLRA, along with the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures. General pharmacy governance will be covered including span of control, span of influence, span of accountability and span of support. Operational efficiency experiences will include appropriate scheduling, customer service, operational metrics, and employee-workload matching. The use of effective negotiation skills will also be covered along with the difference between leadership and management. An overview of regulatory bodies including the JCAHO and the Department of Health will also be provided.

Clinical Rotation: Trauma ICU
Preceptor: Jennifer Belavic, PharmD

This rotation will expose residents to the practice of pharmacotherapy within the setting of the Trauma ICU. Residents will be expected to work closely with the health care team to provide timely, safe and effective pharmacy services in an academic health system environment. Residents will complete the required learning objectives by attending daily clinical rounds, reviewing and assessing patient medication profiles and communicating pharmacotherapy plans with health care providers and the patients.

Clinical Rotation: Oncology
Preceptor: Paul Sumic, RPh

This rotation will expose residents to the practice of pharmacotherapy within the setting of an Oncology Satellite Pharmacy. Residents will be expected to work closely with the health care team to provide timely, safe and effective pharmacy services in an academic health system environment. Residents will complete the required learning objectives by attending daily clinical rounds, reviewing and assessing patient medication profiles and communicating pharmacotherapy plans with health care providers and the patients.

Clinical Rotation: Nutrition Support
Preceptor: Linda Zandier, RPh

This rotation will expose residents to the practice of nutrition support within the setting of a multidisciplinary nutrition support team. Residents will be expected to work closely with the health care team to provide timely, safe and effective pharmacy services in an academic health system environment. Residents will complete the required learning objectives by attending clinical rounds, reviewing and assessing patient medication histories and laboratory data and communicating treatment plans with health care providers and the patients.

Pharmacy Information and Informatics
Preceptor: Lynn Bates, RPh

The intent of the IT/Informatics rotation at the Shadyside Campus will be to expose the resident to the unique IT challenges inherent in a tertiary care teaching hospital providing automated pharmacy services, multi-site robotic cart-fill, and an integrated electronic health record. The resident will learn the challenges presented by the interlinking of disparate databases and formularies, as well as how to meet the clinical, operational and regulatory expectations of our customers.

Teaching, Education and Professional Development Rotation
Preceptor: Rafael Saenz, PharmD, MS

The Education and Development rotation is a multi-faceted rotation designed to provide the resident with a variety of experiences pertaining to pharmacy department staffing, staff educational requirements, technical operations process design and the coordination of department staffing requirements with training and educational needs. Residents will be given the opportunity to critically evaluate the department’s staffing and propose new staffing models for meeting department needs.

Furthermore, residents will evaluate and design new educational modules for pharmacists and technicians, which will facilitate their competency requirements for employment with UPMC Health System. Innovative training techniques will be reviewed and staff development plans will be created, reviewed and implemented. The underlying purpose of the rotation is to promote creative and analytical thinking on behalf of the resident with an overarching focus of patient care and quality improvement through education and training.

Purchasing and Distribution Rotation
Preceptor: Phil Nerti, RPh

The Purchasing and Distribution rotation is designed to provide the resident with a thorough understanding of health system pharmacy purchasing and contract management. Residents will be given the opportunity to participate in contract negotiations with vendors and department of pharmacy administrators. An understanding of negotiation tactics, contract language and contract performance will be key skills residents will gain during this rotation.

Advanced Operations Management Rotation
Preceptor: Scott Mark, PharmD, MS, M.Ed., FACHE, FASHP, FABC

The intent of this rotation is to serve as a continuation of the Operations I Rotation. Key elements of focus will be the setting of a Departmental vision and direction. Included in this will be instructions on team building, team dynamics and balance as well as the need to account for diversity. Team alignment with the Departmental mission and the need for a systems view will be stressed. The resident will also gain a better understanding of organizational structure and the ability to influence people outside the reporting structure. This will include a discussion on the role of pharmacy in the health-system and academic environments and the corresponding missions. On this rotation, operational challenges are expanded to include ambulatory and retail integrations. The resident will learn how to develop a comprehensive Departmental marketing strategy which focuses on the value of pharmacy and the contributions that are made to patient care. An overview of quality, competency and proficiency and development will be provided. This will include a discussion on succession planning, departmental goal setting and prioritization.

UPMC Shadyside Pharmacy Management
Preceptors: Lindsey R. Kelley, PharmD, MS; Brian Tuttle, PharmD, MBA; Dennis Schilling, PharmD; Bryan Yourich, PharmD

UPMC Shadyside is a 517-bed tertiary care hospital that has been serving the residents of Pittsburgh and the tristate area since 1866. UPMC Shadyside offers primary medical care; physician and nursing education; and a broad range of specialties that include cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, geriatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, vascular medicine, endocrinology, and more. UPMC Shadyside's medical staff includes nearly 1,000 primary care physicians and specialists, many of whom have offices at the hospital and throughout the community.

The intent of this rotation is to provide further training in pharmacy management in the community hospital setting. The resident will gain additional experiences in clinical services management, informatics, and operations management.

Central Pharmacy
Preceptor: Brian J. Sesack, RPh, MBA

Description: This rotation is designed to provide an opportunity for the Pharmacy Practice Management Resident to identify and develop their leadership style, and when applicable; gain an understanding of change in management practices. The Resident will also gain a deeper understanding of the Central Pharmacy Practice Model and its place in a rapidly changing, progressive academic health system environment..

Clinical Rotation: General Medicine
Preceptors: Van Nguyen, PharmD; Shantera Davis, PharmD; Kristen Shimko, PharmD; Jennifer Joyce, PharmD

This rotation will expose residents to general pharmacotherapy principles and practices. Residents will be expected to work closely with the health care team to provide timely, safe and effective pharmacy services in an academic health system environment. Residents will complete the required learning objectives by attending daily clinical rounds, reviewing and assessing patient medication profiles and communicating pharmacotherapy plans with health care providers and the patients.

Clinical Rotation: Surgery / Rehabilitation
Preceptor: Dan Fritz, PharmD

This rotation will expose residents to the practice of pharmacotherapy in the post-surgical setting with a focus on continuing care into the rehabilitation period. Residents will be expected to work closely with the health care team to provide timely, safe and effective pharmacy services in an academic health system environment. Residents will complete the required learning objectives by attending daily clinical rounds, reviewing and assessing patient medication profiles and communicating pharmacotherapy plans with health care providers and the patients.

Community Hospital Pharmacy Operations Management Allegheny General Hospital Operations Rotation
Preceptor: Laura Mark, PharmD, MS, FASHP

The intent of this rotation is to provide a general overview of pharmacy management in the community setting. This environment presents some challenges that are vastly different from that encountered in the large academic setting. In addition, this rotation will provide a better understanding of how external corporate structures are organized and how they integrate into the predominant UPMC health care market. The resident will have the opportunity to explore project areas outside of the Pharmacy and will collaborate extensively with other departments as well as select UPMC entities.

Corporate Pharmacy Administration Rotation
Preceptor: Robert Weber, MS, FASHP

The goals of the Corporate Pharmacy Administration rotation are to give the resident a thorough understanding of the operational aspects of the UPMC Health System and the role of the Executive Director within the Health System. The resident will learn the strategies involved in coordinating academic issues and pharmacy operations within the Health System and the role of the Pharmacy Director as part of these services. The resident will learn the roles of key Department Directors, Administrators, Vice Presidents and Medical Directors within a Health System and how each relates to the care of patients and potential synergies with the Pharmacy Services. The resident will be expected to actively participate in the decision making processes at the corporate level and gain an understanding of how resources are managed across multiple departments.

Medication Use Safety Rotation
Preceptor: Joanne Kowiatek, RPh, MPH

The intent of the Medication Use Safety rotation is to provide an educational and administrative experience comprised of involvement in the processes related to review, reporting, investigation, analysis and trending of medication event/errors and development or recommendation of actions for error prevention. This may involve use of root cause analysis (RCA) failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA), and/or other continuous quality improvement tools. The pharmacy resident will be involved in developing educational interventions and process changes and may assist with their implementation to prevent medication errors. The rotation involves interaction with multiple health care disciplines, from administrative to staff level, and with various hospital departments. This rotation also includes involvement and education related to pharmacy and hospital regulatory compliance activities (eg. JCAHO, Department of Health..), policy and procedure preparation and development, ensuring appropriate medication safety, security and control in all patient care areas where medications are stored and review and involvement with the pharmacy emergency medication exchange processes. This rotation provides the opportunity for the resident to be actively involved in the UPMC Presbyterian medication safety program as well as introduction to the UPMC health system goals for medication use safety and patient safety, related to medication error prevention. The resident will be exposed to in-depth review of medication errors, determination of root cause, appropriate corrective actions, how to measure effectiveness of those actions.

Investigational Drug Service
Preceptor: Karl J. Crevar, RPh

The Investigational Drug Service (IDS) rotation will expose residents to the unique challenges of the operation and management of a research pharmacy servicing the needs a major medical center and university. These needs include inpatient and outpatient services, coordination of services between UPMC hospitals, drug budget analysis for major projects, dealing with regulatory issues, staff training, and interactions with investigational drug study sponsors.

Clinical Rotation: Medical ICU
Preceptor: Brian Simpkins, PharmD

This rotation will expose residents to the practice of pharmacotherapy within the diverse setting of a medical ICU. Residents will be expected to work closely with the health care team to provide timely, safe and effective pharmacy services in an academic health system environment. Residents will complete the required learning objectives by attending daily clinical rounds, reviewing and assessing patient medication profiles and communicating pharmacotherapy plans with health care providers and the patients.