Mission Statement

The PGY2 Emergency Medicine pharmacy residency program builds on the Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) education and the PGY1 pharmacy residency program to contribute to the development of clinical pharmacists in the specialized areas of Emergency Medicine. The PGY2 Emergency Medicine residency provides residents with opportunities to function independently as practitioners by conceptualizing and integrating accumulated experience and knowledge and incorporating both into the provision of patient care or other advanced practice settings. Residents who successfully complete the accredited PGY2 Emergency Medicine pharmacy residency are prepared for advanced patient care, academic, or other specialized positions, along with board certification, if available.

Program Overview

With 64 emergency medicine beds and over 95,000 visits annually, TGH is fertile ground for the training of well-equipped leaders in emergency medicine pharmacotherapy. Areas of excellence at TGH include, but are not limited to the following:

• Regional level 1 trauma serving West Central Florida

• Comprehensive and Primary Stroke Center

• Regional burn center verified by the American Burn Association / American College of Surgeons (ACS)

• Fully functional cardiovascular center and cardiac institute

• Poison Information Center

• Regional Aeromedical Transport Program* with six helicopters covering 23 counties

The PGY2 Emergency Medicine resident will be an integral part of the health care team providing comprehensive pharmaceutical care services, including pharmacotherapy consults, pharmacokinetic analysis, drug information, and intensive monitoring of patients on service. The resident will gain a true competence in the management of medical emergencies through active involvement with traumas, cardiac alerts, stroke alerts, resuscitations, toxicology consults, and procedural sedation within the emergency department. The resident will also have the opportunity to enhance their precepting/teaching skills while serving as the primary preceptor for both rotating students and PGY-1 residents and while working hand-in-hand with the medical emergency medicine residency group. The program director, core preceptors, and elective preceptors involved in the training of the PGY2 Emergency Medicine resident have a proven commitment to training pharmacists in the management of the emergently ill. Their backgrounds represent a diverse mix of experiences and training:

• Board certification

• American College of Critical Care Medicine (AACM) Fellowship Induction

• Emergency medicine, solid organ transplantation, pediatrics, and infectious disease specialists

• Pharmacy practice residency training

In addition to a focus on direct patient care, preceptors are involved in scholarly activities such as scientific journal peer review (e.g., Pharmacotherapy, Critical Care Medicine), active textbook and journal publication, platform and poster presentations, and research in the management of acutely/critically ill patients. These practitioners are actively involved with local, state, national and international professional organizations (e.g., Florida Society of Health-System Pharmacists, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, American College of Clinical Pharmacy, Society of Critical Care Medicine).

Teaching

Residents completing this residency program will be competent educators in pharmacy practice. The program provides various opportunities for one to develop effective teaching skills to pharmacy students, medical residents, pharmacists, and physician groups. Residents will serve as co-preceptors for pharmacy student rotations, participate in pharmacy staff development programs and provide pharmacy presentations to the medical residency and nursing staff. An optional teaching certificate program is offered through the University of South Florida. The resident has the opportunity to deliver didactic lectures at two universities, as applicable. 

Scholarly Activity

Residents completing this residency program will be competent in scholarly activities through active participation in both service/research project management and publication. Residents will complete a service or research project and submit a manuscript for publication in a biomedical journal prior to graduation. Residents may present their projects at the following meetings:

• Vizient Pharmacy Council Meeting

• ASHP Mid-year Clinical Meeting

• Optional: Florida Residency Conference (FRC)

Staffing Responsibilities

Residents are trained to independently function as a decentralized, unit-based clinical pharmacist supporting pharmacy services in the emergency department and operating room (OR) for acute care patients. The role and responsibilities of a decentralized, unit-based clinical pharmacist in the emergency department/OR may include but is not limited to the following:

• Responding and actively participating in cardiac arrests, adult and pediatric trauma alerts, STEMIs, strokes, conscious sedations, intubations, toxicological emergencies, and a variety of other critical patient scenarios 

• Verifying pharmacy orders

• Supporting the pharmacotherapy consult service. This includes, but is not limited to: pharmacokinetic dosing, TPN initiation/monitoring, anticoagulation, medication reconciliation, and renal dosing

• Triaging and resolving medication problems

• Supervising and overseeing pharmacy technicians and students

The PGY2 emergency medicine resident works every 6th weekend in the emergency department/OR satellite. All residents work one major and one minor holiday.

Program Sites

• Clinical rotations will be completed at Tampa General Hospital

• Toxicology rotation will be completed at Florida's Poison Control Center - Tampa, located on the TGH Main Campus

• Academic teaching experiences may be conducted at the University of South Florida Taneja College of Pharmacy.

Concentrated Experiences

Core Rotations:

• ER/OR Pharmacy Satellite Operations

• Emergency Medicine Clinical I

• Emergency Medicine Clinical II

• Emergency Medicine - Urgent Care 

• Emergency Medicine - Critical Care

• Emergency Medicine - Pediatrics  

• Toxicology

• Medical ICU

• Trauma/Surgery ICU

Elective Rotations:

• Academia

• Burn ICU

• Cardiac ICU

• Cardiothoracic Surgery ICU

• Infectious Diseases

• Pediatric ICU

• Neuroscience ICU

• Transplant 

Longitudinal Experiences

• Project/Manuscript

• Staffing: Decentralized, unit based pharmacist in the emergency department satellite

• Teaching: Pharmacy, physician, nursing, and student teaching. University teaching, if applicable

• Emergency medicine administration including disaster management

• Specialty emergency medicine conference (American College of Emergency Physicians, ACEP)

Program Specifics

PGY2 Emergency Medicine Residency Program

Benefits

• Competitive salary

• Medical insurance (e.g. health, dental)
• Sick leave
• Paid vacation
• Retirement plan contributions
• Health and Wellness Center
• Professional travel reimbursement
• Lab coats
• Resident office
• Resident computer
• Cell phone stipend (pending eligible service carrier)
• ACLS and PALS certification

Contact

Please address all correspondence to PGY2 Emergency Medicine Residency Director:

Alyssa Chappell, PharmD, BCPS
PGY2 Emergency Medicine Residency Program Director
Manager, Pharmacy Patient Care
Tampa General Hospital
(813)844-7074 (Office)
achappell@tgh.org

*Air transport services provided by Metro Aviation, Inc.