Pharmacy Residency Program at St. John Medical Center

Entry way to St. John Medical Center in Longview, Washington


Program Overview

PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center's Postgraduate Year One (PGY1) residency program is an accredited program through American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP). Although the residency program is structured to meet the PGY1 standards set forth by ASHP, all experiences are individualized based on existing resident competencies and personal interests. The purpose of this residency program is to develop competent clinical pharmacy practitioners who have accelerated their growth beyond entry-level professional aptitude in patient care and practice management. The program ensures residents further develop leadership and therapeutic skills that may be applied in any direct patient care position in a variety of practice settings.

Outcomes:

  • Manage and improve the medication use process
  • Provide evidence-based, patient-centered medication therapy management within interdisciplinary teams
  • Exercise leadership and practice management skills
  • Provide medication and practice-related education and training
  • Utilize medical informatics
  • Conduct pharmacy practice research
  • Participate in the management of medical emergencies
  • Demonstrate project management skills
  • Apply patient care, customer service, and practice innovation skills in an integrated delivery system environment (i.e. development/ application of treatment guidelines)
  • Effective in work teams which are charged with planning activities, identifying opportunities for improvement, analyzing alternatives, implementing solutions and evaluating results
  • Demonstrate additional competencies that contribute to working successfully in the health care environment
  • Competent to be eligible for hire within the PeaceHealth system or other practice setting upon completion of the residency program

Application Process

If you would like the opportunity to join our progressive and robust pharmacy team, please apply as directed below:

  1. Submit a complete residency program application through PHORCAS by January 5, 2025
  2. Register for the ASHP National Matching Service
  3. Complete an on-site* interview if selected - *This may be held virtually depending on individual circumstances.
Residents pose for a photo in front of their program display

Requirements for Residency:

Initial Pharmacy Practice Experience and Orientation - (July – November)

Orientation may be longer or shorter depending on individual resident background.

  • General Orientation: ACLS, drug information/P&T, basic orientation
  • Training in central operations is 6 weeks in duration once licensed

Completion of the following minimum training experiences:

  • Twelve weeks of ambulatory practice experiences
    • Six weeks experience in Ambulatory Care I required
  • Twelve weeks of inpatient practice experiences
    • Six weeks experience in Intensive Care/Internal Medicine I required
  • Six weeks experience in Transitions of Care required
  • Two weeks experience in Infectious Disease and also a longitudinal component required  
  • Longitudinal experiences
    • Leadership and Personal Development (aka. Weekly Meetings)
    • Major Project
    • Foundation Skills which include Clinical Staffing
    • Drug Information
    • Infectious Disease – 10 full day workshops
  • Academia/Precepting - Teaching certification program in conjunction with the Portland Citywide program

Drug Information

  • Completion of at least one drug monograph for the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee
  • Completion of at least one medication use evaluation and a formulary class review or a second medication use evaluation for the P&T Committee
  • Completion of quarterly P&T newsletter published to pharmacy staff
  • Completion of at least one review of the ISMP quarterly action agenda
  • Completion of leading one formal journal club

Clinical Staffing: One three-week experience as a decentralized pharmacist responsible for a service (January-June). During this time, there is no direct preceptor. This experience occurs during the second half of the residency.

 

Available Training Experiences

Acute Care Experiences - On-site

  • Administration/Management
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Internal Medicine / Critical Care I – Required
  • Internal Medicine / Critical Care II

Transitions of Care – On-Site – Required

Infectious Disease – On-Site and Off-Site – Required

Pharmacy Informatics -On-Site and remote

Ambulatory Care Experiences - On-site

  • Administration/Management
  • Ambulatory Care I – Required
  • Ambulatory Care II
  • Medication Therapy Management (MTM) / Anticoagulation
  • Oncology/Infusion Center I
  • Oncology/Infusion Center II
  • Pain Management (*offered in Spring)

Other Off-site Experiences (Up to 8 weeks when available per ASHP requirements)

  • Specific rotations available off-site at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in conjunction with their PGY1 program are offered if requested by resident

Non-Rotational and Longitudinal Experiences

  • Academia/Precepting - Teaching certification program in conjunction with the Portland Citywide program
  • Leadership and Personal Development (aka. Weekly Meetings) – Required
  • Major Project – Required
  • Clinical Staffing – Required
  • Drug Information – Required
  • Foundation Skills (Staffing) – Required

Residency Program and Stipend Benefits

Stipend

  • The current annual stipend for June 30, 2025 through June 26, 2026 is approximately $78,000 per year.
  • Additional paid shifts are an option if available (varied services) for residents

Benefits

  • Two weeks paid time off (PTO) (vacation and sick leave) plus 4 paid holidays per one year period. This is manually tracked and lost if not used at the end of the year. Note: Residents are required to work at least two holidays.
  • Medical Insurance (monthly premium may be required)
  • Dental and Vision Insurance (monthly premium required)
  • Life and Disability Insurance
  • Other benefits available for a monthly premium
  • Paid registration, fees, airfare, hotel, and time to attend ASHP’s Clinical Midyear Meeting and a regional pharmacy conference for presenting project results. This is estimated to be about 4 days in length.
  • Paid registration, fees, and time to attend Northwestern States Residency Conference in the Spring.
  • Up to 3 days paid educational leave which includes time to interview for post residency positions. Unused CE/Interview time is not paid out at the end of the residency year.

Our Team and Residents

The staff and residency team at St. John Medical Center pose for a photograph

The PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center pharmacy team is comprised of approximately 30 clinical pharmacists and 30 non-pharmacist support staff. The pharmacy team strives to be thoroughly involved in the residency program from day one. All rotation preceptors have met ASHP standardized qualifications for educating and mentoring pharmacy residents. Many of our pharmacists are graduates of a residency or fellowship and/or have advanced board certification in pharmacotherapy, ambulatory care, emergency medicine, oncology, or geriatrics. In addition to precepting responsibilities, the pharmacists participate in progressive multidisciplinary teams throughout the facility to uphold evidence-based best care practices. PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center has pharmacists in almost every level of care a patient receives at our facility from inpatient to outpatient and all transitions in-between.

Some of the departments we are part of and services we provide:

Inpatient

  • Acute Care
  • Central and Medical Services
  • Emergency Department
  • Intensive and Critical Care
  • General Surgery
  • Medication Reconciliation
  • Informatics

Outpatient

  • Ambulatory Care
    • Anticoagulation
    • Chronic Disease State Management
      • Primary Care
      • Specialty Care
    • Oncology
    • Infusion Care
    • Medication Therapy Management (MTM)
    • Pain Management
    • Refill Clinic
  • Community/Retail
  • Transitions of Care

 

Current Residents

2024-2025 - PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center PGY1

Ammy Bhathal

Amanpreet Bhathal, PharmD, MPH

Roseman University (2024)

From: Everett, Washington
Pharmacy Area(s) of Interest: Ambulatory Care
Major Project: Vancomycin troughs drawn through a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) compared to standard venipuncture for patients on long-term therapy in the outpatient infusion center setting

Darin Chao

Darin Chao, PharmD

University of Utah (2024)

From: Salt Lake City, Utah
Pharmacy Area(s) of Interest: Informatics and Inpatient
Major Project: CareConnect Acuity Queue Optimization

Past Residents

2023-2024 - PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center PGY1

Carrie Sanders, PharmD - Oregon State University (2023)

  • Clinical pharmacist at PeaceHealth St. John Ambulatory Care (Longview, WA)
  • Major Project: Developing an antibiotic allergy de-labeling protocol at St. John Medical Center

Joanna Stenzel, PharmD - Washington State University (2023)

  • PGY2 Ambulatory Care resident at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health (Seattle, WA)
  • Major Project: Improving allergy documentation at PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center

2022-2023 - PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center PGY1

Rexhina Shkreta, PharmD - Pacific University (2022)

  • Clinical pharmacist at PeaceHealth St. John Ambulatory Care (Longview, WA)
  • Major Project: Impact of long-acting injectable antipsychotics on readmission rates and hospital length-of-stay in patients with psychiatric disorders

Ha Truong, PharmD - Pacific University (2022)

  • Completed a PGY2 Ambulatory Care residency at Oregon Health & Science University (Portland, OR)
  • Major Project: Establishing a tobacco wellness program for hospital employees

2021-2022 - PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center PGY1

Yaqing (Michelle) Guo, PharmD - Northeastern University (2021)

  • Emergency medicine clinical pharmacist in Baltimore, MD.
  • Major Project: Safety optimization for chronic opioid management in high-risk patients through pharmacist- led interventions

Madalyn Seidl Godinho, PharmD - Pacific University (2021)

  • Clinical pharmacist at PeaceHealth St. John Ambulatory Care (Longview, WA)
  • Major Project: Establishing ambulatory care pharmacist services in a community hospital outpatient musculoskeletal clinic

2020-2021 - PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center PGY1

Cole Dawson, PharmD - Pacific University (2020)

  • Clinical pharmacist at PeaceHealth St. John Ambulatory Care (Longview, WA)
  • Major Project: Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of accelerated iron dextran infusions versus iron sucrose in maternal iron deficiency anemia

2019-2020 - PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center PGY1

Jae Bang, PharmD - Pacific University (2019)

  • Clinical pharmacist at Kootenai Health (Coeur d'Alene, ID)
  • Major Project: Impact of pharmacist led antimicrobial stewardship on ambulatory care antibiotic prescribing for urinary tract infections

Brittany Mellegard, PharmD - Washington State University (2019)

  • Clinical pharmacist at St. Michael Medical Center (Silverdale, WA)
  • Major Project: Impact on readmission rates for high-risk patients after implementing an extended follow-up visit with a transitions of care pharmacist following hospital discharge

2018-2019 - PeaceHealth Columbia Network PGY1

PeaceHealth Southwest and PeaceHealth St. John campuses

  • Julia McCormick
  • Stephanie Potter
  • Katie LaRue
  • Glecille Salonga
  • Alfredo Moreno Alvarez
  • Jessica Hua

2017-2018 - PeaceHealth Columbia Network PGY1

PeaceHealth Southwest and PeaceHealth St. John campuses

  • Michael Curcio
  • Kiri Golleher
  • Kelsey Rastello
  • Karissa Lee
  • Julia Courtney
  • Mark Gehrig