About This Program
Purpose
Our PGY1 pharmacy residency program builds upon a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) education and outcomes to develop pharmacist practitioners with knowledge, skills, and abilities as defined in the educational competency areas, goals, and objectives. Residents who successfully complete our PGY1 residency program will be skilled in patient care, practice management, leadership, and education, and be prepared to provide patient care, seek board certification in pharmacotherapy or ambulatory care (i.e., BCACP), and pursue advanced education and training opportunities including postgraduate year two (PGY2) residencies.
Description
The University of Utah Hospital is a 489-bed level 1 trauma center that serves critical and acute care patient’s regional referral hospital for five intermountain states. Decentralized pharmacists are responsible for providing pharmaceutical care on all patient care areas and are supported by automated dispensing, centralized IV admixture and unit-dose order entry. The University Community Clinics include 14 ambulatory care centers with 11 pharmacies, employing embedded primary care pharmacists, including a manager of this service and clinical technicians. Specialty clinics at the University of Utah Medical Center employ specialty ambulatory care pharmacists, and pharmacists in the thrombosis center. In addition, the Pharmacy Ambulatory Care Support Services center has pharmacists providing refill and prior authorization services, as well as specialty pharmacy support and transition of care support.
Residents will provide clinical pharmacy services for at least two Primary Care clinics within the University of Utah Community Clinics. Service staffing will be done at one of the retail pharmacies within our outpatient clinics. Each required and elective rotation will be 4-6 weeks for the residency year 2024-2025 and 3-5 weeks for the residency year 2025-2026, and the residents will select the electives that are the best fit to their customized training plan. Elective rotations include cardiology, gastroenterology, rheumatology, psychiatry and many others.
The resident’s program will be individualized based on his or her previous experience. Residents are required to be involved in structuring their experience by helping the residency director schedule rotations and decide on projects and electives.
Program Goals
- Residents develop the knowledge and skills needed to enable them to provide a high level of clinical service and pharmaceutical care throughout their careers.
- Residents are trained in ambulatory care, acute care, transitions of care, drug information, practice management, and supervise quality improvement projects in order to become well-rounded practitioners and practice leaders.
- Residents participate in the medication-related care of a diverse group of patients.
- Our program develops competent clinical pharmacists eligible for board certification and postgraduate year two (PGY2) residency training.
Highlights of Experience
PGY1 residents at University of Utah Health have flexibility in selecting from many rotation options in a wide variety of practice areas. The experience of each resident may be modified as career plans progress throughout the year. Residents develop skills as a clinician, project manager, writer, instructor, preceptor, and presenter. The residency preceptors and medical teams view the resident as both a learner and a colleague.
Qualifications
Candidates must graduate from an ACPE-accredited pharmacy program with a doctor of pharmacy degree (or equivalent combination of education and clinical experience) with a minimum GPA of 3.1 on a 4.0 scale. Candidates applying from pharmacy programs without GPAs shall provide an indication of academic performance through official documentation from their college. Applicants must be eligible for Utah licensure, obtain either a full or a temporary license 2 weeks prior to the first day of residency, and obtain full licensure as a pharmacist in Utah within 90 days of the program's start date.
Recruitment and Selection
All residency programs at University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics use the Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application Service (PhORCAS). No paper applications will be accepted. The following information must be submitted by the date specified on the residency application for the applicant to be considered for an onsite interview:
- Completed PhORCAS application
- Curriculum vitae
- Letter of intent
- College of pharmacy transcripts (for applicants from schools with no GPA, a class rank must be submitted to the program director)
- Write a statement addressing how you have seen social determinants of health affect patient care in 300 words or less. Upload the statement to PhORCAS.
- Three letters of recommendation using the PhORCAS standard form – at least 1 letter needs to be from a clinical preceptor
- Please submit your application through PhORCAS as early as possible! Completed applications in PhORCAS are reviewed, and competitive applicants will be invited to participate in a VIRTUAL interview in February 2024. The program participates in the Resident Matching Program of ASHP.
Early Commitment to PGY2 Program
PGY1 residents in good standing may apply for early commitment to all University of Utah PGY2 residencies with the exception of Emergency Medicine which requires residents go through the national matching process.
Video Tours:
Program Director
Eve Van Wagoner, PharmD, BCACP
Primary Care Clinical Pharmacist
801-213-4979
Eve.VanWagoner@hsc.utah.edu
Bio
Eve was born and raised in Utah. After graduating from the U of Utah in Broadcasting Communications and marrying her high school sweetheart, she lived in several states and overseas before returning to Utah to raise their three daughters. Once her daughters were teenagers, she went back to school to get her Doctor of Pharmacy degree. She fell in love with ambulatory care during her P4 clinical rotation year. So, she did the PGY1 Community Practice residency then took the Primary Care pharmacist position at the U of U Health - South Jordan clinic.
In her free time, she spends time with her daughters, reads, and travels with her husband. Their goal is to hit every continent before they are too old to travel any longer.
Program Coordinator
Nick Cox, PharmD, BCACP
Clinical Pharmacist, Associate Professor (Clinical)
801-585-7266
Nicholas.Cox@pharm.utah.edu
Bio
Nick graduated from the College of Eastern Utah (go Eagles!) with his undergraduate degree before going to pharmacy school at the University of Utah. He completed a PGY1 residency followed by a PGY2 Ambulatory Care residency at University of Utah Health. He is an ambulatory care, primary care pharmacist at the UofU Health - Westridge clinic and also a faculty member.
In his free time, he loves playing sports and board games with his wife and 5 young kiddos!