FAQ

The first four weeks of the residency is orientation during which the residents rotate through different areas of the hospital, learn the pharmacy's computer systems, explore potential research projects, understand medication usage evaluations (MUEs), and obtain BLS/ACLS certifications. Rotations will be scheduled in 1-2 month blocks depending on the experience. 

 

The applicant should submit college of pharmacy transcripts.

 

The resident will provide operational staffing every third weekend starting August of Year 1 and transition to clinical staffing every third weekend starting in May of year 1.  Additionally residents will work one evening shift every two weeks, averaged over a four week period in Year 2 of the program. The resident will work two holidays per residency year. Overnight shifts are not required. 

 

During the residency, some residents discover new areas of interest. The program is very flexible in adapting the residency experience to accommodate the resident's interests and goals. Elective rotations are available off-site if the desired experience is not available at Houston Methodist Hospital. Residents in the past have successfully completed rotations at Memorial Hermann Hospital, Ben Taub General Hospital, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, CHI Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, and Harris County Psychiatric Center.

 

The resident is provided with a list of goals and objectives for each rotation. The preceptor provides frequent verbal feedback and completes a midpoint and final evaluation of the resident. On a quarterly basis, the residency program director provides the resident with an evaluation of his or her progress. The objective of the frequent evaluations is to provide constructive feedback to the resident on their progress to maximize the opportunity for learning.

 

On each monthly rotation, the residents are required to do a formal and informal presentations to the appropriate audience. This could include informatics staff, clinical pharmacy staff, nursing staff, and/or medical staff. Other presentations may be required as determined by the preceptor, physicians, or nursing staff. Each resident will also present a minimum one-hour ACPE-accredited continuing education program per residency year. Additional opportunities to present include University of Houston College of Pharmacy lectures, departmental journal clubs, P&T meetings, medication safety meetings among others.

 

Houston Methodist Hospital is a major clinical teaching site for students from the colleges of pharmacy at the University of Texas at Austin, University of Houston, Texas Southern University, Texas A&M, the Lebanese American University, and University of The Incarnate Word. Residents have opportunities to assist in the teaching of students from multiple disciplines including pharmacy, medicine, nursing, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners. Opportunities for didactic teaching exist in the local colleges of pharmacy. A teaching certificate program is offered as part of the Houston Methodist and University of Houston College of Pharmacy affiliation for residents interested in such a training experience.

 

Support is available for required meetings such as ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting and Midwest Pharmacy Residents Conference. EPIC Willow Certification will also be provided. Support to attend additional meetings is determined on an individual basis.

 

Residents have access to The Houston Methodist Library (located on the first floor of the Main Building, room M155) as well as many electronic resources, including over 12,000 journals, 3,000 e-books and 40 subscription databases and applications. A few of the popular databases are: Micromedex, Clinical Pharmacology, Lexi-Comp, Natural Medicine, Dynamed, Clinical Key and Up-To-Date, which are available from the hospital, as well as remotely through an application or the hospital’s VPN.

 

As we are in our inaugural year, we expect through our residency program that the graduate will find employment opportunities in the field of pharmacy informatics as pharmacist informaticists, pharmacy IT specialists, system analysts, program managers and other specialized positions.  Graduates will be able to work in various settings including but not limited to hospital and healthcare, industry, academia, and research.

 

You should expect to pay $1500+/month for a one or two bedroom apartment if you live in the Texas Medical Center area. Housing in outlying areas is less expensive but results in longer commute times. Most residents choose to live closer to the hospital.

 

Houston is the fourth largest city in the nation and as such has an abundance of recreational opportunities. Evenings out can include professional sporting events such as the Houston Texans, Houston Astros, Houston Rockets, Houston Dynamo, or Houston Dash games. Houston’s music and art scene includes: Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet, Houston Symphony, and Broadway at the Hobby Center. Discount tickets to some of these venues/events may be found on YouDecide.