Goals and Objectives

The PGY-1 and PGY-2 combined residency in Medication Systems and Operations (MSO) at UW Health is designed to develop experts of operational and project management. With this expertise, a pharmacist graduating from this program will seek positions in project management, daily pharmacy operations management, medication safety or informatics. Residents gain a comprehensive understanding of the medication-use system and the daily operations that occur within a hybrid drug distribution model. The program’s primary objective is to mature pharmacists with the ability to effectively manage and oversee the distributive, technical and clinical aspects of the supply chain and medication use system.

In addition to being competent in all ASHP PGY1 objectives, residents will be competent in the following MSO objectives after completion of the residency:

• Fully comprehend pharmacy operations oversight and coordination through design, implementation and management of medication-use systems to optimize quality, safety and efficiency
• Apply contemporary quality methodology to the management of pharmacy distribution and medication-use systems
• Use added knowledge and skills to leverage technology and automated systems to optimize the medication-use system
• Gain an appreciation for how to lead and manage the pharmacy’s human resources
• Demonstrate personal leadership qualities and business acumen essential to operate effectively within the health system and advance the profession and practice of pharmacy
• Improve operational efficiencies in order to better serve patient and health professional needs through the application of informatics and technology

Projects

• Two major, longitudinal projects will be completed over the course of the two-year program
• Rotation projects as determined by rotation preceptors

Committee Responsibilities

The resident will be an active member of the following committees during months seven through 24. The resident will have the opportunity to serve on other committees depending on resident and program director preference.

• Drug Product Selection and Supply (DPSS)
• Inpatient Operations

Presentation Opportunities

The MSO resident is required to complete:

Project, Presentation, Poster	First Year	Second Year
Resident Report Presentations/Discussions	X
Resident Report Facilitation		X
Podium Presentation at Great Lakes Pharmacy Residency Conference (present major project)	X	X
Seminar Presentation	X	X
Poster Presentation on PGY1 project at the annual PSW conference		X
Poster Presentation on PGY2 project at the University Health System Consortium (UHC) meeting (usually the Saturday prior to the ASHP Midyear meeting)		X

Travel

Trip	First Year	Second Year
ASHP Leadership Conference: In October, all administrative residents and second year MSO residents will attend		X
JAR Trip: First-year admin, first-year MSO residents and two advisors will travel to Midwest Hospitals/Organizations for three days during January of the first residency year.	X
Great Lakes Pharmacy Residency Conference: In April both residency years, the residents will attend the Great Lakes Pharmacy Residency Conference. This trip will allow residents to formally present their research for critique by peers. Residents may also visit hospitals in the host city of the Great Lakes Pharmacy Residency Conference while attending this meeting	X	X
SAR Trip: Attend/tour various hospital systems in the Midwest		X
PSW Annual Conference: In September of the second residency year, residents will attend the PSW annual meeting and present a poster on their PGY1 project		X
Vizient University Health System Consortium Annual Meeting: Held days prior to ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting		X
ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting: Will give the residents opportunities to recruit residency candidates, network with potential employers and present their research at a national meeting.		X

Residency Structure

The base of the residency is four-week rotations in a variety of clinical and operational areas throughout the pharmacy department. The first six months will focus on clinical areas and the remainder of the residency will be a mix of clinical and operational rotations. The resident will rotate through each of these rotations while maintaining his/her required staffing component of the residency and other required activities. The resident will also be required to complete two major projects (one each year).

Note that although the two-year MSO residency is 104 weeks, longitudinal rotations add an additional 42 weeks of experience to the program.

Core Structure

• Four weeks of department training
• 28 weeks of clinical patient care rotations (7 four-week rotations)
  • Includes two required for staffing areas
  • Includes two optional clinical patient care rotations
  • Includes two required hybrid clinical/operational patient care rotations
  • Includes one required pharmaceutical research patient care rotation
• 57 weeks of required MSO-specific rotations
  • Includes seven weeks of elective rotation time in any MSO-specific rotation
• Eight weeks of required management rotations
• Two weeks of conference attendance
• Five weeks of project time
• 42 weeks of longitudinal rotations

Clinical Rotations

Staffing Areas (4 weeks, assigned to resident based upon staffing need)
General Internal Medicine	Medical Cardiology	Neurology
General Surgery	General Pediatrics
Optional (4 weeks)
Abdominal Transplant	Gynecology/Oncology Surgery	Nuclear Medicine
Academia/Teaching	Hematology	Nutritional Support
Bone Marrow Transplant	Hospice	Oncology
Cardiothoracic Surgery	Infectious Disease	Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/BMT
Family Medicine	Medical Cardiology	Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
General Internal Medicine	Medical/Surgical ICU	Peripheral Vascular Surgery
General Pediatrics	Neurology	Psychiatry
General Surgery	Neurosurgery
Required (4 weeks)
Operating Room (hybrid)	Emergency Department (hybrid)	Pharmaceutical Research Center

MSO-Specific Rotations

Required
Advanced Medication Use Systems (4 weeks)	Informatics (8 weeks)
Advanced Practice and Operations (4 weeks)	Inpatient Operations I (4 weeks)
Contracting and Supply Chain (4 weeks)	Inpatient Operations II (8 weeks)
Directing Integrated Pharmacy Services (10 weeks)	Shared Services (8 weeks)

Management Rotations

Required (4 weeks)
Clinical Management	Pharmacy Administration and Leadership

Longitudinal Rotations

Required
Medication Use Evaluation (8 weeks)	Drug Policy (22 weeks)	Medication Safety (16 weeks)

The UW Health Department of Pharmacy is a leader within the profession of pharmacy in the areas of technology assessment, automation, information technology, regulatory compliance and business development.

Our Pharmacy Medication Systems and Operations Residency offers extensive training to establish advanced and innovative medication systems in clinical, operational and technology settings. Residents learn and apply the fundamentals of hands-on project management (i.e., initiate, plan, execute and close on team deliverables) for projects of varying complexity and scale. Graduates of the residency obtain leadership positions in hospital pharmacy requiring skills in project management, productivity and systemization.

Program Strengths

• Project Management: The resident will learn the fundamentals of hands-on project management and apply these skills as he/she leads department-wide projects and initiatives.
• Technology: UW Health has implemented and utilizes a wide range of automation and technology in all phases of the medication-use process. Examples of such technology/automation include: IV workflow, automated dispensing cabinets, robotics, bedside barcode medication administration, carousels, perpetual inventory, high-speed packagers and fluidose.
• Clinical Involvement: This residency has the same clinical expectations has all PGY-1 programs but also includes clinical operations – a unique aspect that provides the resident with the skills to connect clinical needs in practice with the operational background of how to dispense and administer medications in those areas.
• Leadership: The resident is an integral part of the administrative team giving the resident many leadership experiences throughout residency, including committee participation and membership (e.g., Drug Product Supply and Selection, Inpatient Pharmacy Operations) and involvement in technician training oversight.
• Flexibility in tailoring the program to the interests of the resident: The resident will play an integral role in developing his or her rotation schedule and will be exposed to a variety of experiential learning opportunities offered at UW Health. Additionally, elective coursework at the School of Engineering or School of Business is optional if formal training in change or process improvement is desired.

Contact Information

Brad Ludwig, MS, RPh
Director, Integrated Pharmacy Services
UW Health Department of Pharmacy
3185 Deming Way
Middleton, WI 53562
(608) 263-6958

Current Residents

Andrea Gray (PGY2) – Meet Our Residents

Program Summary

Medications and Systems Operations (pdf)