Purpose of Residency Program
Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego (RCHSD) offers a second-year post-graduate (PGY2) pharmacy residency program with a Pediatric Specialized Pathway in Oncology that builds on Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) education and PGY1 pharmacy residency programs to contribute to the development of the knowledge, attitude, and skills needed to serve as a clinical pharmacist in specialized areas of pediatric pharmacy practice with a focus in oncology.
The PGY2 residency will provide 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 a PGY2 pharmacy residency are prepared for advanced patient care, academic, or other specialized positions, along with board certification, if available.
Description of Residency Program
The PGY2 Pediatric Pharmacy Residency with a Pediatric Specialized Pathway (PSP) in Oncology Program is an American Society of Health Systems Pharmacists (ASHP) accredited residency program established in 2019.
About the Hospital
Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego is a 551-bed tertiary care, non-profit facility dedicated to the treatment of pediatric patients. We are an academic teaching hospital that is integrated with the University of California San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Our pharmacy department offers a PGY1 and PGY2 pharmacy residency program, rotations for pharmacy students from UCSD, University of the Pacific (UOP), and University of Southern California (USC), and a pharmacy student internship program.
The attending physicians at the Rady Children’s Peckham Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders treat more than 250 new pediatric patients every year with various childhood cancers, making it the largest pediatric cancer care center and only pediatric bone marrow transplant program serving San Diego, Riverside and Imperial counties. Rady Children’s is a part of the Children’s Oncology Group, the largest pediatric clinical trial organization in the world helping children with cancer. It also has a research alliance with UC San Diego, making it part of a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, and with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Department of Pharmacy Mission Statement
The mission of the Pharmacy Department is to optimize medication therapy through the application of the skills and knowledge of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and other pharmacy employees to promote optimal patient outcomes through the safe, effective, rational, and cost-effective use of medications.
Learning Experiences
| Required Rotations | Duration: |
| Orientation | 3 weeks |
| General Pediatrics | 6 weeks |
| Pediatric Intensive Care Unit | 4 weeks |
| Neonatal Intensive Care Unit | 3 weeks |
| Leukemia/ Lymphoma | 4 weeks |
| Solid Tumor | 4 weeks |
| Hematology | 4 weeks |
| BMT/ Cellular Therapy | 4 weeks |
| Hematology/Oncology Outpatient Clinic and Infusion Center | 2 weeks |
| Infectious Disease/Antimicrobial Stewardship | 4 weeks |
| Research (plus longitudinal) | 2 weeks |
| Total Required | 40 weeks |
| Electives* | 12 weeks |
Longitudinal Experiences:
- Informatics/Beacon
- Hematology/Oncology Research Project
- Complete a research project suitable for publication
- Research will be presented at the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacist Association (HOPA) annual meeting
- P&T Committee Activities
- MUE
- Formulary review
- Policy review
- Central Pharmacy Training and Staffing
- Approximately every third weekend, in addition to one major holiday, with weekdays taken off to compensate for time worked
- Staffing in central pharmacy and hematology/oncology satellite pharmacy
*Electives:
- Pain and Palliative Care
- Investigational Drug Services
- UC San Diego Adult Outpatient Hematology/Oncology
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Additional time in required rotations
Additional elective experiences may be developed based on resident interest and preceptor availability (ie. Cardiac ICU, Nephrology/Solid Organ Transplant, Toxicology).
Additional Activities
- PALS Certification
- Provide written pharmacokinetic consults for various therapeutically monitored drugs
- Teaching opportunities include formal and informal presentations and lectures to UCSD pharmacy students, fellow PGY2 oncology pharmacy residents in San Diego, the Hematology/Oncology medical team, and pharmacy staff
Professional Meetings
Residents will be required to attend various professional meetings throughout the year, which may include ASHP’s Midyear meeting at which they will participate in recruitment efforts and HOPA’s annual meeting to present their research.
Residency Position and Application
- Resident Positions Available
The program accepts one new resident each year.
- Stipend
The current stipend is approximately $71,500 annually, paid every two weeks.
- Benefits
- We offer medical, dental, vision, and life plan insurance coverage.
- Set travel stipend for the year will be provided to support attendance at professional conferences such as HOPA, COG meetings and ASHP Midyear.
- Residents accrue vacation and sick leave, and receive paid professional leave which may be used to attend professional meetings.
- Beginning Date
The residency program typically begins in the middle of July.
- Requirements for Acceptance
-
- Pharm.D. degree from ACPE accredited program
- Successful completion of PGY1 residency, pediatrics preferred.
- Application and Current CV through Phorcas, minimum 3 letters of recommendation
- Application Procedure
-
- Applicants must participate in the ASHP Match and apply using PhORCAS at http://www.ashp.org/phorcas. Rady Children’s Hospital National Matching Service (NMS) Code: 611761
- Matched residents must be licensed Pharmacists in the State of California by November 1 of their appointed year.
- Application Deadline
January 2, 2025
Contact
For additional information, contact:
Incoming Residency Program Director 2025-2026
Victoria Yi, PharmD, BCPPS
vyi@rchsd.org
Residency Program Coordinator 2025-2026
Lawrence Alejandro, PharmD, BCPPS
lalejandro@rchsd.org
Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego
3020 Children’s Way, San Diego, CA 92123
Main Phone: 858-576-1700
Customer Service & Referrals: 800-788-9029