PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency

Program Overview

The Post Graduate Year One (PGY1) pharmacy residency program at Upstate University Hospital builds 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 our PGY1 pharmacy residency program 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, fellowships and academia.

The 52 week PGY1 pharmacy residency training program at Upstate University Hospital located in Syracuse, New York attracts outstanding Doctor of Pharmacy graduates from across the nation. The program started in 1998 and has been accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). Our residency program draws upon the resources of our academic medical center – including a teaching hospital, medical school and a research enterprise. The Post Graduate Year – One (PGY1) Pharmacy residents are offered training options across a spectrum of excellent pharmacy practice experiences to pursue their interests. Upstate University Hospital, the area’s only level-1 trauma center, has decentralized pharmacy services. Ambulatory care pharmacy services are established in anticoagulation, diabetes, general medicine, Cystic fibrosis, specialty and HIV clinics and a regional oncology center. The Central New York Poison Center, which serves a 54 – county area, is also one of our training sites. Our current pharmacy was built in 2005 with a technologically robust design and operation. The EPIC EMR was implemented in 2014 with wireless computer verification capability to increase pharmacists’ visibility and rounding with physicians.

The dynamic PGY1 pharmacy residency curriculum is focused on providing the PGY1 pharmacy residents with learning experiences in a variety of acute and ambulatory care settings under the guidance of experienced and enthusiastic pharmacist practitioners, some of whom are graduates of our residency programs. Some of the residency preceptors also have faculty appointments in the department of Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Pediatrics at Upstate University Hospital. Some preceptors also have faculty appointments at affiliated colleges of pharmacy and at the Upstate Medical University.

Residency Program Structure and Design

Learning Experiences

PGY1 Learning Experiences and Electives
Residents' Schedule

Program Highlights

1. Internal Medicine – Base Program Design
2. Pharmacy Clinical Research Microcredential
3. Research and Publication Opportunities
4. Emergency Medicine Certificate Program
5. Teaching and Learning Certificate Program
6. Teaching and Precepting Experience and skill Development
7. Residency Mentorship Program
8. Compensatory day off for working every weekend
9. BCPS Certification Preparatory Program
10. Eligibility for early commitment to one of our PGY2 Pharmacy Residency Programs (Infectious Diseases, Pediatrics, Geriatrics and Ambulatory Care)
11. Longitudinal Staffing skills development
12. Opportunity for Toxicology Experience
13. Family and Collegial atmosphere
14. Dedicated office Space, Computer and Communication devices

Additional Details

1. Salary and benefits:  For detailed information, select the BENEFITS/HOUSING tab in the upper left section of this page.
2. Staffing Requirements: Residents staffing experiences are supportive rather than being a replacement. The program offers 10 weeks of staffing experience including every third weekend which is dispursed throughout the training calendar. Resident gets a pass day, usually on a Friday before or the Monday after the assigned weekend.
3. No On-call program