Candidate
Program Director: Michelle Howerton, PharmD, BCACP, BCGP
Positions: 1
Application Due: January 2, 2026
Starting Date: June 29, 2026
Estimated Stipend: $53,000 + benefits
Purpose Statement
PGY1 residency programs build upon 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 PGY1 residency programs will be skilled in diverse patient care, practice management, leadership, and education, and be prepared to provide patient care, seek board certification in pharmacotherapy (i.e., BCPS), and pursue advanced education and training opportunities including postgraduate year two (PGY2) residencies.
Program Overview
PGY1 Ambulatory Care Setting residents at WVU Hospitals will be provided the opportunity to accelerate their growth beyond entry-level professional competence in patient-centered care and in pharmacy operational services, and to further the development of leadership skills that can be applied in any position and in any practice setting. PGY1 Residents will acquire substantial knowledge required for skillful problem-solving, refine their problem-solving strategies, strengthen their professional values and attitudes, and advance the growth of their clinical judgment. The instructional emphasis is on the progressive development of clinical judgment, a process begun in the advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPE) of the professional school years but requiring further extensive practice, self-reflection, and shaping of decision-making skills fostered by feedback on performance. Their residency year provides a fertile environment for accelerating growth beyond entry-level professional competence through supervised practice under the guidance of model practitioners. Residents will exhibit a commitment to the profession of pharmacy and be able to develop their own personal plan for professional development. Residents completing this program will have the knowledge, skills, and abilities that are highly marketable.
This program is a twelve-month, postgraduate training experience composed of six major elements:
- Ambulatory Patient Care
- Inpatient Care
- Medication Management
- Practice Management
- Practice-Related Education/Training
- Practice-Related Research
The program varies for each resident based upon their goals, interests, and previous experiences. In accordance with current ASHP standards, all residents are required to complete learning experiences in core subject areas considered to be essential to the practice of pharmacy. Elective learning experiences are available to permit flexibility in pursuing individual goals. Upon successful completion of the requirements, PGY1 residents are awarded a residency certificate.
PGY1 Learning Experiences
The program consists of block rotations (required, selective, and elective) and longitudinal rotations. The block rotations are generally 5 weeks in duration. The elective rotations are based on the resident’s professional interests.
Hospital Pharmacy Orientation
5 weeks
Required Rotational Experiences (3)
- Ambulatory: IM Primary Care
- Medicine – Hospitalist/Surgery
- Management: Ambulatory Clinical Pharmacy
- Alternative management rotation may be built based on resident interest, pending availability
Selective Ambulatory Rotational Experiences (2)
- Ambulatory: Cardiology (Advanced Heart Failure/Pulmonary Hypertension, General)
- Ambulatory: Endocrinology
- Ambulatory: Family Medicine
- Ambulatory: Gastroenterology
- Ambulatory: Neurology
- Ambulatory: Oncology (Solid Tumor)
- Ambulatory: Pediatrics (General)
- Ambulatory: Rheumatology
- Ambulatory: Specialty Pharmacy
- Ambulatory: Transitions of Care
- Ambulatory: Weight Management
Elective Rotational Experiences (4, minimum one inpatient)
- Any not previously selected Selective experience
- Academic Teaching
- Ambulatory: Pediatrics (Cystic Fibrosis)
- Ambulatory: IM Primary Care II
- Antithrombotic Stewardship
- Infectious Diseases
- Inpatient: Cardiology (Advanced Heart Failure/Pulmonary Hypertension, CV Surgery Stepdown, General)
- Inpatient: Critical Care (CVICU, MICU, NCCU, SICU)
- Inpatient: Internal Medicine
- Inpatient: Neurology and Stroke
- Inpatient: Oncology (Solid Tumor)
- Inpatient: Pediatrics (CVICU, ID, Medicine, NICU, PICU)
- Inpatient/Ambulatory: Oncology (Benign Hematology)
- Inpatient/Ambulatory: Pediatrics (Hematology/Oncology)
- Medication Safety
Longitudinal Learning Experiences
- Longitudinal: Anticoagulation On-Call
- Longitudinal: Continuing Education (CE)
- Longitudinal: Formulary Management
- Longitudinal: Medication Use Evaluation
- Longitudinal: Pharmacy Practice (Staffing - Inpatient Operations)
- Longitudinal: Pharmacy Practice (Staffing - Discharge Pharmacy)
- Longitudinal: Research
- Longitudinal: Teaching and Precepting
- or Longitudinal: Teaching Certificate Program [optional; replaces & encompasses Teaching and Precepting if selected]
Pharmacy Practice Component
- PGY1 pharmacy residents practice inpatient operations shifts every third weekend (two 8-hour shifts) and 8 total hours every two weeks in the outpatient discharge pharmacy.
- Resident will work one minor holiday (Memorial Day, Labor Day) and one major holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s) in the outpatient discharge pharmacy
- Residents may opt to work additional pharmacist shifts and will be compensated at the standard pharmacist rate, including shift differential. Residents are reminded that the primary objective of the residency year relates to the residency program objectives, and other activities should not hinder the achievement of these objectives.
Additional Expectations
- eP&T Subcommittee minute taking responsibilities
PGY1 Residency Program Director
Michelle Howerton, PharmD, BCACP graduated from the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy in 2016. Following graduation, she completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Residency at Charleston Area Medical Center and a PGY2 in Geriatrics at UPMC Presbyterian-Shadyside. She joined WVU Medicine in 2018 and currently serves as the Lead Ambulatory Clinical Specialist. She provides pharmacy services in the internal medicine Transitions of Care Clinic.
PGY1 Residency Program Coordinator
Anastasia (Anna) Digman, PharmD, CTTS graduated from the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy in 2020. Following graduation, she completed a PGY-1 Community-Based Pharmacy Residency at Fruth Pharmacy/University of Charleston School of Pharmacy in Charleston, WV (2020-2021). She completed a post-doctoral academic fellowship at West Virginia University School of Pharmacy in Morgantown, WV (2021-2022). She joined WVU Medicine in the summer of 2022 and currently provides pharmacy services in the outpatient gastroenterology and hepatology clinic, with an emphasis in inflammatory bowel disease care.