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Forbes and West Penn Pharmacy Residency

About the program

Program Director: Jenifer Blasinsky, PharmD
Forbes Hospital Site Coordinator: Nikki Verkleeren, PharmD
Program Length: 1 year
Residents per year: 4

Program description

The Forbes and West Penn Hospitals PGY1 Pharmacy Residency Program has operated as an ASHP-accredited, multi-site residency since 2017.  Beginning with the incoming 2024 residency class, each hospital will begin operating a single-site residency.  For information on the individual site residency programs, please navigate to the individual hospital program links on the left of this page.

Forbes and West Penn Hospitals PGY1 Pharmacy Residency Program is focused on developing skills in acute patient care, teaching, practice management, and leadership.

The resident will train in 2 hospital settings, thus providing the opportunity to select learning experiences in a variety of specialty areas including Bone Marrow Transplant, Hematology/Oncology, Trauma, Burn, Emergency Medicine, and Neonatal Intensive Care. Both Forbes and West Penn are teaching hospitals for medicine and other allied health professions, which enables the resident to work and learn in a collaborative academic environment.

Mission and purpose

The one year multi-site program is designed to build on the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) education and outcomes to contribute to the development of clinical pharmacists responsible for medication-related care of patients with a wide range of conditions. Pharmacists who have successfully completed the program will be eligible for board certification and postgraduate year two (PGY2) pharmacy residency training.

Rotations

The 12-month postgraduate training experience is composed of a variety of required and elective rotations. The program experience for each resident will be customized based upon the resident’s goals, interests, and previous experience. However, all residents must complete the following core rotations:

  • Orientation
  • Acute Care
  • Critical Care
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Infectious Disease
  • Pharmacy Management
  • Longitudinal: Inpatient Anticoagulation
  • Longitudinal: Inpatient pharmacy staffing/clinical on-call
  • Ambulatory Care

Electives

  • Acute Care: Internal Medicine - Clinical Practice Development
  • Acute Care: Hematology/Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplant
  • Trauma
  • Burn
  • Neonatal Intensive Care
  • Care Partners MTM Clinic
  • Outpatient Clinics: Hematology/Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplant
  • Chronic Care Specialty Clinic
  • Inpatient Heart Failure/Transitions of Care

Accreditation status

The PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency conducted by Forbes Hospital, Monroeville, PA and West Penn Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA, is accredited by ASHP.