Welcome from the Director
Did you know our residency program was established in 1999? In 2024, we will be graduating our 25th class of graduates and are planning a celebration - so stay tuned! Since taking on this position in 2016, I am struck by how integral this residency program, with our collaborative partners, has been to the ambulatory care practice landscape of Minnesota and beyond. We have over 300 graduates of our program and counting. As we continue to monitor the job market, we know there is a health care need for ambulatory care trained pharmacists and our graduates are primed and ready.
This past year, our Collaborative Residency Teaching Program (CRTP) was redesigned by our Associate Director Jody Lounsbery and College of Pharmacy faculty Diana Langworthy. Our residents are now taking the course with MHealth Fairview, St. Luke’s, and continuing with our Methodist residents. This is an optional course residents can participate in and we have a record number of our own residents this year. At completion, residents complete online modules, 4 scheduled webinars, 1 peer review activity, and 2 units of instruction. Several of our residents provide instruction for the College of Pharmacy. To support their Twin Cities campus instruction efforts, we have relocated and renovated the resident office space to be a more comfortable and collaborative space for use. Come check it out!
Recruitment has shifted back into several live, in-person events, while the virtual platform has remained strong. It’s great to have so many options for candidates to find out more about their residency opportunities, but also a little overwhelming with the sheer number of events! We are trying to determine the right mix of events in this new environment. We will be live in-person (and virtually) for ASHP Mid-year shortly to wrap up our recruitment efforts for the season.
Our program has decided to remain with virtual interviews for our admissions process. We had several discussions weighing the pros and cons of the various models. At the end of our conversation, we felt virtual interviews provided the most diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility for our applicants. We also recognize that professionally, many of our residents will be interviewing virtually for positions of future employment. Each site is planning various ways to showcase their culture and community for our applicants, as we believe this is one of our greatest strengths and we don’t want applicants to miss out in the virtual format!
In closing, we have had another great year. I am continually grateful for our administration team (Amy Pavelka, Jody Lounsbery, Stephanie Swanson, student worker Amanda Li), site coordinators, preceptors, alumni, and of course our residents!
Sincerely,
Jean Moon, Pharm.D., BCACP
Associate Professor, Pharmaceutical Care & Health Systems
Program Director, Postgraduate (PGY1) Pharmacy Residency Program
Clinical Pharmacist, Broadway Family Medicine
College of Pharmacy
University of Minnesota
jmoon@umn.edu