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Pharmacy Residency Program Information

VA Northern California Health Care System provides residents with the opportunity to practice in innovative and progressive pharmacy services.

Our long-standing Post-Graduate Year One (PGY1) pharmacy residency program blends aspects of clinical pharmacy services, teaching, administration, research, pharmacoeconomics, and operations. 

The VANCHCS also offers a PGY2 psychiatric pharmacy residency. Both the PGY1 and PGY2 residency programs are ASHP accredited.

Learn more about our PGY2 program

About the PGY1 Pharmacy Residency Program

The PGY1 pharmacy residency offers a flexible program with concentrated clinical, teaching, and administrative experiences. Preceptors are well experienced and offer each resident individualized training, tailored to the specific needs of each resident. While offering a well-rounded PGY1 experience, the VA Northern California specifically offers very strong experiences in ambulatory care. The residency includes clinical rotations/experiences in acute care/internal medicine, ambulatory care, outpatient pharmacy operations and pharmacy administration, which includes quality and drug information components. Electives in areas of interest include anticoagulation clinic, applied pharmacoeconomics and formulary management, cardiology, emergency department, home based primary care (HBPC), inpatient pharmacy operations, mental health, neurology, pain management, infectious disease/antimicrobial stewardship, and transitions of care.

Residents will precept APPE pharmacy students and may participate in an optional VA Pharmacy Clinical Teaching and Precepting Certificate Program. Other longitudinal responsibilities include inpatient operations staffing on a rotational basis and completion of a quality improvement or research project, which is presented at the Western States Conference for Pharmacy Residents, Fellows and Preceptors.

The PGY1 program has four resident positions. All residents are based at the Sacramento VA Medical Center in Mather, CA and the majority of rotations will be complete in the greater Sacramento area. However, residents may choose to complete rotations throughout the entire health care system during which remote/virtual precepting modalities will be utilized, but on-site precepting will also remain available.

VANCHCS has four PGY1 positions available:

Sacramento - NMS Code 208121

Application Deadline:

The PGY1 application deadline for the 2024-2025 Residency Year January 3, 2024.
Applicants will be notified of their interview status no later than February 29, 2024

Required Supplemental Information to be submitted through PhORCAS:

Contact Information for the PGY1 Pharmacy Residency Program:

Mary Cradick PharmD, BCACP

PGY1 Residency Program Director

VA Northern California health care

Email: mary.cradick@va.gov