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Hospital Pharmacists preparing medication

The Ochsner Health PGY-2 Critical Care Pharmacy Residency is a year-long program designed to develop the resident into a specialist and educator in critical care. The resident will have the opportunity to gain experience caring for a variety of critically ill patient populations as well as precept pharmacy students. Residents will serve as integral members of the healthcare team through daily multidisciplinary rounds. Residents successfully completing this program will be prepared for advanced patient care, academic, or other specialized positions, along with board certification.

The primary training site for the program is Ochsner Medical Center, a 660-bed acute care hospital serving the surrounding New Orleans area. Ochsner is dedicated to excellence in patient care, education, and research. This mission has been intricately entwined throughout all aspects of the Health System. Ochsner is one of the largest non-university based physician training centers. Pharmacists are integrally involved in all aspects of patient care with over 40 Clinical Pharmacists in the department.

Required

  • Orientation
  • Medical ICU I
  • Medical ICU II (precepting experience)
  • Surgical ICU
  • Neurocritical Care I
  • Advanced Heart Failure/Heart Transplant
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Research
  • Longitudinal
    • Medication Use and Safety
    • Critical Care Pharmacy Practice Management

Elective

  • Advanced Heart Failure/Heart Transplant II
  • Bone Marrow Transplant
  • Cardiology Critical Care Unit
  • Cardiothoracic ICU
  • Infectious Disease
  • Immunocompromised Infectious Disease
  • Lung Transplant
  • Neurocritical Care II
  • Pediatric Critical Care
  • Transplant ICU
  • Trauma

  • Research Project - Resident will develop a protocol, submit to the Institutional Review Board, collect data, present their research at MidSouth Residency Conference, and complete a publishable manuscript. The resident will work under the mentorship of a preceptor to enhance the resident’s skills in study design, data collection, data analysis and results reporting. The resident will also present a poster at the annual LSHP meeting.
  • Continuing Education Presentation - Resident will present one 60-minute formal continuing education presentation in the fall of their resident year for the pharmacy department.
  • Neuropharmacology Lecture - Resident will present a 45-minute presentation in the winter of their resident year for the Ochsner Health neurology residents.
  • Morbidity and Mortality Presentation - In conjunction with a resident physician, the resident will present a 60-minute formal case presentation highlighting a patient error and quality improvement initiatives to the Hospital Medicine department.
  • Journal Club - Resident will present one journal club per year to the pharmacy department.
  • SCCM or NCC Online Journal Club (if spots available)
  • Staffing - Resident will work every third weekend completing hand-offs and reviewing pharmacokinetics, antimicrobials, renal dose adjustment, and anticoagulation for assigned ICU patients. The resident will also provide pharmaceutical care for the ICU teams as needed including drug information and recommendations to optimize patients’ pharmacotherapy. The resident will also serve as the primary pharmacist responder to Code Blue emergencies.
  • Code response - The resident will hold the Code Blue pager for 3-4 months of their residency. If the resident does not already have ACLS certification, this will be provided during orientation month.

  • Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance
  • Health and Wellness Program
  • Discounted gym membership
  • 15 vacation days & 6 holidays - A resident may not be absent from a rotation for >5 days, except to fulfill program-required leave

  • Graduate of an accredited College/School of Pharmacy
  • Eligible for licensure to practice pharmacy in the State of Louisiana
  • Successful completion of a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency
  • Letter of intent
  • Three (3) letters of recommendation
  • Curriculum vitae (CV)

Deadline for completed applications is January 8th, 2024

Current Resident

Caitlyn Simonson, PharmD

Caitlyn Simonson, PharmD

Education: Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy
PGY-1 Residency: Ochsner Health, New Orleans, LA
Practice Area(s) of Interest: cardiology, anticoagulation, rapid sequence intubation, analgo-sedation, and ACLS
Hobbies: Listening to podcasts. My favorite podcasts include Pharm To Dose, Morbid, and The Morning Toast