Pre-Candidate

Program Director: Michelle Howerton, PharmD, BCACP, BCGP
Email: mahowerton@wvumedicine.org
Positions: 1
Application Due: January 2, 2025
Starting Date: June 30, 2025
Estimated Stipend: $49,800 + 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 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. Additional requirements include the development and completion of practice-related research, the development of oral/written communication skills, the completion of a Medication Use Evaluation, the presentation of ACPE Accredited Continuing Education seminars, the participation in various hospital committees, operational practice in various pharmacy satellites, and teaching components. Elective learning experiences are available to permit the resident 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 and elective) and longitudinal rotations. The block rotations are generally 4-6 weeks in duration. The elective rotations are based on the resident’s professional interests.

Required Rotational Experiences

  • Hospital Pharmacy Orientation
  • Ambulatory Primary Care (1)
  • Practice Management (1)
  • Medicine – Hospitalist/Surgery (1)

Selective Ambulatory Rotational Experiences (2)

  • Cardiology: General
  • Cardiology: Heart Failure
  • Endocrinology
  • Family Medicine
  • Gastroenterology
  • Neurology
  • Oncology: Solid Tumor
  • Pediatrics
  • Specialty Pharmacy
  • Transitions of Care
  • Weight Management

Elective Rotational Experiences (4, minimum one inpatient)

  • Ambulatory experiences as listed in selective
  • Academia
  • Antithrombotic Stewardship
  • Infectious Diseases (Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy and/or Antimicrobial Stewardship)
  • Primary Care II
  • Solid Organ Transplant
  • Inpatient
    • Cardiology (General, CV Surgery Stepdown, Heart Failure)
    • Critical Care (MICU, SICU, CVICU, NCCU)
    • Internal Medicine
    • Neurology
    • Oncology (Benign Hem, Solid Tumor, TCT/HM)
    • Pediatrics (Medicine, PICU, NICU, NICU Stepdown, CVICU, ID, Oncology)

Longitudinal Learning Experiences

  • Anticoagulation On-Call
  • Formulary Management
  • Pharmacy Practice Component (Staffing)
  • Medication Use Evaluation
  • Practice-Related or Quality Improvement Research Project
  • Teaching and Precepting
  • WVU Teaching Certificate (optional)

Pharmacy Practice Component

  • PGY1 Pharmacy Residents practice clinical inpatient shifts every third weekend (two 8-hour shifts) and 8 total hours every two weeks in the outpatient discharge pharmacy.
  • All residents work one summer holiday (Memorial Day, Labor Day) and one winter holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s).
  • 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.

PGY1 Residency Program Director

Michelle Howerton, PharmD, BCACP, BCGP 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 as a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist and currently provides pharmacy services in the internal medicine Transitions of Care Clinic.