Pharmacy Residency Programs

The 52-week PGY1 residency program is designed to provide ongoing clinical pharmacy activities while promoting individual resident's needs. The program provides clinical experience with a broad range of patients and disease states in various rotation settings while working collegially with physicians and nurse practitioners. The learning experiences during the PGY1 program include:

• Medicine acute care.
•  Primary care.
•  Critical care.
•  Pharmacy operations.
•  Longitudinal primary care clinic.
• Medication management.

Three electives specific to the resident’s identified areas of interest are provided.
The PGY2 oncological pharmacy residency program offers one residency position and is 52 weeks of education and experiences on oncology-focused pharmacy practices designed to provide ongoing pharmacy clinical activities. The resident’s experiences throughout the program include:

• Outpatient oncology.
• Surgical oncology.
• Inpatient oncology.
• Administrative oncology.
• Hospice/palliative care.
• Therapeutic drug monitoring. 
• Drug information.
• Drug policy development.
   

Additional electives are provided that are specific to the practice of oncology pharmacy.
The 52-week PGY2 psychiatric pharmacy residency program offers one residency position. The program aims to provide residents with a multitude of learning experiences that encompass all mental health practice settings and levels of acuity. These learning experiences include:

• Primary Care – Mental Health Integration (PCMHI).
• Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP).
• Acute Care – Psychiatry.
• Acute Care – Substance Use Disorders.
• Geriatric Psychiatry/Memory Care.
• Outpatient Substance Use Disorder Clinic.
• Patient Safety (adverse drug event monitoring and population health).
• Formulary Management.
   

The psychiatric pharmacy resident may choose two additional electives to explore additional interests and round out a comprehensive skill set to care for patients with psychiatric and neuropsychiatric disorders.
At SAVAHCS, we are committed to fostering and sustaining an environment that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion in our pharmacy service. We embrace our differences as individuals and unite as a pharmacy team with a common goal: deliver safe, optimal, patient-centered care for our nation’s Veterans.

Since 1928, SAVAHCS has provided—and continues to provide—comprehensive, world-class health care to Veterans. SAVAHCS is an integrated Veterans Affairs health care system consisting of over 250 hospital beds, multiple ambulatory care and specialty clinics, two urban community outpatient clinics, and five community outpatient clinics across southern Arizona that, together, serve 60,000 Veterans annually. A wide range of inpatient and primary care services are provided in the medical center, including acute care medicine, surgery, neurology, infectious diseases, nephrology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, rheumatology, pulmonology, cardiology, oncology, mental health and emergency medicine. The 90-bed Community Living Center (CLC), located on the Tucson campus, provides advanced rehabilitation and transitional care services, including hospice, palliative care, interim care, medical rehabilitation, neurogeriatrics, geripsychiatric and respite care. SAVAHCS is an Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) Polytrauma Amputation Network Site (PANS), specializing in post-acute polytrauma rehabilitation and case management. SAVAHCS has the Southwest Blind Rehab Center a residential program providing skill training assisting blinded Veterans to increase their level of independence. SAVAHCS also offers Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC), a comprehensive in-home primary care program provided by a physician-supervised interdisciplinary service, including heavy involvement by Pharmacy Services, for both long-term chronically ill Veterans and those needing short term services. SAVAHCS has an active Institutional Review Board supporting research.

SAVAHCS Pharmacy Service is a highly integrated and progressive clinical practice model that encompasses approximately 130 pharmacy staff members, including 61 Clinical Pharmacy Practitioners (CPP) in a variety of practice settings.  Additionally, the Pharmacy Service is a technology and patient safety leader assisted by the extensive use of robotics and automation.  As a principal academic affiliate for the University of Arizona’s Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health and Pharmacy, more than 700 physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals receive training at SAVAHCS annually.

SAVAHCS's residency programs pride themselves on matching with well-rounded applicants who demonstrate passion and enthusiasm for providing high-quality Veteran health care.

Please join us either in person or virtually at the following events to learn about our team and our residency programs.  For details please see the Recruitment PDF below.

Virtual Pharmacy Residency Showcase Events

ASHP Midyear Residency Showcase on Monday, December 9th, 2024, at Booth 5461