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PGY2 Pain Management and Palliative Care

PGY2 pharmacy residency programs build on the Doctor of Pharmacy education and PGY1 residency programs to contribute to the development of clinical pharmacists in advanced practice. PGY2 residency provides residents with opportunities to function independently as practitioners by conceptualizing and integrating accumulated experience. Residents who successfully complete a PGY2 pharmacy residency should possess competencies that qualify them for clinical pharmacist and/or faculty positions and position them to be eligible for attainment of board certification in the specialized practice area.

PGY2 Pain Management and Palliative Care Pharmacy Residency                                                 NMS: 638573      ASHP Code: 64902

Program Brief Description

The VA St. Louis Health Care System PGY2 Pain Management and Palliative Care Residency Program is designed to transition PGY1 pharmacy residency graduates from generalist practice to specialized practice focused on the pain management and palliative care needs of patients.  Residency graduates will be equipped to participate as essential members of interdisciplinary pain management and/or palliative care teams and are able to make complex therapeutic recommendations in various practice settings.

Program Overview

The PGY2 Pain Management and Palliative Care Pharmacy Residency Program further builds knowledge and skills to:

  • Deal with a range of pain syndromes, including chronic malignant and non-malignant pain, neuropathic pain, and more
  • Provide symptom management and other palliative care needs during end-of-life care
  • Serve as authoritative resources for optimal use of medications
  • Develop pain management and palliative care related services

VA Core Values

VA’s five core values underscore the obligations inherent in VA’s mission: Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, and Excellence. The core values define “who we are,” our culture, and how we care for Veterans and eligible beneficiaries. Our values are more than just words – they affect outcomes in our daily interactions with Veterans and eligible beneficiaries and with each other. Taking the first letter of each word—Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, Excellence—creates a powerful acronym, “I CARE,” that reminds each VA employee of the importance of their role in this Department. These core values come together as five promises we make as individuals and as an organization to those we serve.
Integrity: Act with high moral principle. Adhere to the highest professional standards. Maintain the trust and confidence of all with whom I engage.
Commitment: Work diligently to serve Veterans and other beneficiaries. Be driven by an earnest belief in VA’s mission. Fulfill my individual responsibilities and organizational responsibilities.
Advocacy: Be truly Veteran-centric by identifying, fully considering, and appropriately advancing the interests of Veterans and other beneficiaries.
Respect: Treat all those I serve and with whom I work with dignity and respect. Show respect to earn it.
Excellence: Strive for the highest quality and continuous improvement. Be thoughtful and decisive in leadership, accountable for my actions, willing to admit mistakes, and rigorous in correcting them.

Requirements for Completion of Residency

  • Successful completion of all residency rotations and longitudinal experiences
  • Attendance at ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting
  • Research Project/Pharmacy Project/Medication Use Evaluation, including results presentation
  • Presentations:
    • Seminar Presentation (1)
    • Formal Case Presentation (1)
    • Journal Club Presentation (1)
    • VA Continuing Education Day Presentation (1)
  • Manuscript preparation
  • Staffing Requirements: inpatient clinical weekends
  • Successful completion of the ASHP PGY2 PMPC appendix document/content tracking

Rotations

  • Orientation
  • Outpatient Pain Management 
  • Pain in Primary Care
  • Palliative Care/Hospice 
  • Pharmacy Services
  • Research
  • Clinical Data Management and Analytics/Opioid Safety
  • Acute Psychiatry/Substance Use Disorders
  • Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU)

Longitudinal Experience

  • Outpatient Pharmacy Pain Clinic
  • Outpatient Pain-PACT Telephone Clinic

Elective Opportunities

  • Advanced Pain Management
  • Extended Care and Rehabilitation
  • Geriatric Ambulatory Care
  • Outpatient Mental Health
  • Outpatient OUD
  • PMOP/Opioid Safety
  • Spinal Cord Injury

Pharmacy Practice Experiences

  • Daily interdisciplinary collaboration
  • Medication therapy management
  • Adverse drug reaction reporting
  • Hospital Administration including participation in departmental and committee meetings

Conferences

  • ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting
  • Gateway College of Clinical Pharmacy (GCCP) Meeting (optional)
  • PAIN Week

* Conferences TBD

Teaching Requirements and Opportunities

  • St. Louis VA Clinical Pharmacist precept over 80 pharmacy students from multiple schools of pharmacy per year
  • Didactic lecture at affiliate

Salary and Benefits

  • Stipend: $51,617 (as of February 2023)
  • Leave:  See Residency Manual "Leave Policy" 
  • Thirteen (13) days of annual leave accrued (4 hours every two weeks) 
  • Thirteen (13) days of sick leave accrued (4 hours every two weeks)
  • Travel Stipend: Amount is determined each year and may have limited travel support
  • Federal Holiday: Eleven (11) paid federal holidays
  • Centralized office work space with access to a personal computer


Positions: 1  
Start Date:  July 8th, 2024 (tentative)
Application Deadline: January 6, 2023

Program Director and Contact Information

Tim Cruz, Pharm.D, BCPS
PGY2 Pain Management and Palliative Care Pharmacy Residency Program Director
St. Louis VA Healthcare System, John Cochran Division
915 N Grand Blvd
St. Louis, MO 63106
Phone:
Email:   Timothy.Cruz@va.gov

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