Memphis VA Medical Center

Come by our ASHP Midyear Booth # 4010 on Monday, December 3, 2012

Pharmacy Practice Residency

The VA Medical Center located in Memphis Tennessee, capital of blues and barbeque, is part of the VISN 9 VA Healthcare Network. The hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission. The VA Medical Center in Memphis consists of one main campus located at 1030 Jefferson Avenue including a 60-bed Spinal Cord Injury Unit and three satellite outpatient clinics. The Memphis VA Medical Center is a tertiary care facility classified as a Clinical Referral Level I Facility. It is a teaching hospital, providing a full range of patient care services, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research. Comprehensive health care is provided through primary, secondary, and tertiary care, in areas of medicine, surgery (including cardiovascular and neurological surgery), psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, spinal cord injury, neurology, oncology, dentistry, and geriatrics. Specialized outpatient services are provided through general, specialty, and subspecialty outpatient clinics including a women's health center. Services are available to more than 196,000 veterans living in a 53-county tri-state area (Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi).

Program Description

The VAMC Memphis has been training Pharmacy Practice residents since 1963. The PGY1 residency accepts 8 residents per year and is a 12-month post-Doctor of Pharmacy training program accredited by ASHP.  The goals of this residency are to enable pharmacists to develop the knowledge and experience necessary to provide pharmaceutical care to both ambulatory and hospitalized patients with a strong emphasis on developing clinical skills. The opportunity for residents to participate in innovative practice areas is a direct result of VAMC Memphis’ long history of clinical pharmacy involvement and the unique practice environment that is found in a federal healthcare facility.

Full-time clinical services are provided by clinical pharmacy specialists in the following areas:

• Ambulatory Care
• Geriatrics
• Internal Medicine
• Infectious Disease
• Neurology
• Nutritional Support
• Cardiology
• Rheumatology
• Surgery Intensive Care
• Therapeutic Monitoring Clinics
• Spinal Cord Injury
• Palliative Care
• Home Based Primary Care
• Medical Intensive Care
• Telephone Care
• Pain Management

Residents have the opportunity to train in all of these sites, working with experienced pharmacist practitioners. 

Residents have ongoing ambulatory clinic involvement in three or more practice areas.  Residents work closely with the Pharmacy Director to develop practice management skills with emphasis on all aspects of clinical pharmacy services.  Training schedules include flexibility to allow residents to pursue areas of personal interest.  Research and scholarly activities are an important aspect of the VAMC Memphis Residency program and residents create projects that will improve patient care.  Instructional and educational opportunities are available for residents to develop teaching skills by presenting lectures and small group discussions.

Fringe Benefits

• Two and one-half weeks paid vacation and all Federal holidays
• Participation in VA Health Insurance Plan
• Two and one-half weeks paid sick leave, opportunity to earn additional income on weekends
• Three days paid interview leave
• Paid leave to attend and participate in state and national pharmacy meetings