Pharmacy Residency at VA Central Texas Healthcare System

Katerine Getchell

Katerine E. Getchell, PharmD, BCACP
Clinical Pharmacy Manager, Temple/Waco PACT
Residency Program Director for Pharmacy PGY1
Clinic phones: (254) 743-0438
Email: katerine.getchell@va.gov

 

Central Texas VA center

Lindsay M. Campbell, PharmD

Clinical Pharmacy Manager, Austin/Cedar Park PACT
Assistant Residency Program Director for Pharmacy PGY1
Email: Lindsay.Campbell3@va.gov

Erik Peterson, PharmD, BCACP

Clinical Pharmacy Specialist
Pharmacy Residency Advisory Committee Recruitment Chair
Email: erik.peterson@va.gov

Mailing address and fax for all:

Central Texas Veterans Health Care System
Pharmacy Service (119T)
1901 Veterans Memorial Drive
Temple, TX 76504

Fax: (254) 743-0020**

The ASHP-accredited PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency at the VA Central Texas Healthcare System provides experiences in a broad array of clinical inpatient and outpatient pharmacy practice areas. Four positions are currently offered each year. Core training experiences include block and longitudinal training in primary care, anticoagulation, internal medicine, pharmacy benefits management,  practice management, inpatient staffing, outpatient staffing, and education/academia/leadership. Elective rotations are also available in hematology/oncology, psychiatry, geriatrics, critical care, infectious disease, emergency department, cardiology, women’s health, and home-based primary care. Residents present formal lectures, patient cases, journal clubs, teach pharmacy students, and serve as the principal investigator on a residency project. Completion of a residency project is required with the option of this being a research or quality improvement project. Additionally, the residents manage the electronic drug information service, Tuesday trainee conferences, newsletters, continuing education program, drug recalls, resident graduate tracking, and adverse drug event reporting for Pharmacy Service. Participation in the UT Pharmacotherapy Resident Conference is required and the opportunity for completion of the Teaching and Leadership Fellows Program is available. Upon successful TLFP completion, a certificate is awarded at the end of the year. Residents staff an average of one Saturday per month alternating duties in internal medicine/transitions of care and inpatient/outpatient staffing rolls.

VA Core Values: “I CARE”

Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, Excellence

The Central Texas Veterans Health Care System (CTVHCS), accredited by the Joint Commission, is comprised of two large Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers located in Temple and Waco, a large stand-alone multi-specialty outpatient clinic in Austin, five outpatient clinics located in Brownwood, Bryan/College Station, Cedar Park, Palestine and Temple, plus a rural outreach clinic in La Grange. The system is one of the largest integrated health care systems in the United States and provides a full range of services including medical, surgical, psychiatric, and rehabilitation with inpatient medical/surgical hospital beds, a hospice unit, and community living center (CLC) beds.

In fiscal year (FY) 2018, CTVHCS treated 107,402 Veteran unique patients with 1,325,413 annual outpatient visits, and 6,973 inpatient admissions.

The main CTVHCS Campus is at the Olin E. Teague Veterans’ Medical Center in Temple, Texas. On the Temple Campus is a full-service, 146-bed teaching hospital that serves as the medical/surgical referral center for all CTVHCS campuses as well as providing outpatient services to Veterans across the 32-county service catchment area. Also located at the Temple Campus is a 262-bed domiciliary, an 80-bed Community Living Center (CLC) which includes a 20-bed hospice unit, and an 8-bed Trauma Recovery Unit. A 160-bed State Veterans Home also resides on the Temple Campus grounds as well as an $11.5 million VA Research Institute which attracts world-class researchers to the Central Texas area.

The Department of Pharmacy at the CTVHCS offers a wide range of clinical pharmacy services provided by clinical pharmacists and clinical specialists. CTVHCS is affiliated with the University of Texas College of Pharmacy, Texas A&M University Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy, and the University of Houston College of Pharmacy. Several clinical pharmacists, who work under an approved scope of practice, provide medication management clinics. Other medication management clinics at CTVHCS include primary care, psychiatry, CHF, and hematology. The resident continuously interacts with staff throughout the hospital and additionally through participation in journal club, case discussion sessions, and our continuing education programs. Through our collaboration with The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy, all residents have many teaching opportunities at the hospital and may have opportunities at UT throughout the year.

The resident is an employee of The Department of Veterans Affairs, directly responsible to the Chief, Pharmacy Service. Daily guidance and supervision will be provided by the Residency Program Director. Residents will be supported in pursuing further post-graduate training or employment opportunities. A national database is available to assist residents who may be interested in VA PGY-2 residencies or pharmacy positions. Past residents accepted positions in health systems, academia, and PGY2 residencies. CTVHCS has retained at least one resident per year into PGY2 or pharmacist positions.

The University of Texas at Austin and its affiliated institutions are an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Qualified women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Security sensitive; conviction verification conducted on applicant selected. Matched applicants may also be selected to undergo random drug testing per VA policy.

Residency Details

Location

Temple-Waco-Austin, Texas

Length of Residency

1 year

Start Date

Monday prior to July 1st

Stipend

Competitive salary plus benefits (paid federal holidays, plus 13 paid work days each of annual and sick leave; health insurance; travel support for Midyear and regional residency conference)

Requirements

Graduate of an ACPE-accredited college of pharmacy (Please note, per National VA Policy, colleges of pharmacy must be FULLY ACCREDITED at the time of application; unfortunately applicants from candidate status colleges of pharmacy are not eligible)

U.S. citizen

Licensure in any state upon earliest eligibility (must be licensed by Sept.1)

Submission of CV, letter of interest, transcripts, and ONLY 3 letters of recommendation by January 5th via PHORCAS/WebAdmit.