Pharmacy Residency at South Texas Veterans Health Care System

South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) is comprised of two inpatient campuses: the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital in San Antonio and the Kerrville VA Hospital in Kerrville, Texas.  STVHCS is part of the VA Heart of Texas Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN 17). South Texas provides health care services for 80,000 unique Veterans. The Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital (ALMMVH) is a quaternary care facility affiliated with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA). Comprehensive health care is provided through acute medical, surgical, mental health, physical medicine and rehabilitation, geriatric, and primary care services in addition to care provided in the Spinal Cord Injury Center, Community Living Center, Domiciliary, and Substance Abuse Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (SARRTP).  As a Level II Research facility, ALMMVH has projects that include aging, cardiac surgery, cancer, diabetes and HIV.  The facility has one of three National Institutes of Health sponsored clinical research centers in the VA. In addition, the Geriatric Research, Education & Clinical Center (GRECC) is a “Center of Excellence.” (VA South Texas Health Care | Veterans Affairs)

The Pharmacy Service offers 24-hour coverage, centralized unit-dose drug distribution, complete IV-admixture program, and clinical services across many specialties and levels of care.  Pharmacies are also located in some outpatient clinics and operate during clinic business hours. The Clinical Pharmacy Program employs over 70 clinical pharmacy specialists.

Clinical Pharmacy is very involved in the care of our veterans. We have over 80 clinical pharmacy specialists covering areas such as Primary Care, Psychiatry, Hematology and Oncology, Internal Medicine, Critical Care, Infectious Diseases/Antimicrobial Stewardship, Hep C/HIV, Anticoagulation, Geriatrics and Spinal Cord Injury. Most of these pharmacists also retain adjunctive faculty appointments with the University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy. Our VA-funded PGY1 Pharmacy Residency and PGY2 Pharmacy specialty residencies also highlight our commitment to quality pharmaceutical care. We have specialty residency positions in Geriatrics, Infectious Diseases, Primary Care, Hematology/Oncology, Psychiatry, Internal Medicine, and Pain/Palliative Care. Our residents are appointed as Clinical Instructors with the College of Pharmacy and have opportunities in both didactic and experiential instruction. VA residents also have the opportunity to work with other local pharmacy residents and masters’ students from the University of Texas.

PGY1 pharmacy residency programs build on Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) education and outcomes to contribute to the development of clinical pharmacists responsible for medication-related care of patients with a wide range of conditions, eligible for board certification, and eligible for postgraduate year two (PGY2) pharmacy residency training.

For additional information, please refer to the STVHCS Pharmacy Residency website.