Contact:
Jennifer Faulkner, Pharm.D., BCPP
Director of Education, Pharmacy Service

Clinic phone: (254) 743-2867 
Work cell: (254) 534-1408
Fax: (254) 743-0020

jennifer.faulkner1@va.gov

LOCATION:
Temple-Waco-Austin, Texas

LENGTH OF RESIDENCY:
1 year

START DATE:
July 1

REQUIREMENTS:
Graduate of an ACPE-accredited college of pharmacy
U.S. citizen
Licensure in any state
Submission of CV, letter of interest, transcripts, and at least 3 letters of recommendation by January 15, 2012

STIPEND:
Competitive salary plus benefits (paid federal holidays, plus 13 paid work days each of annual and sick leave; health insurance; paid expenses to midyear and regional residency conference)

The ASHP-accredited PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency at the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System provides experiences in a broad array of clinical inpatient and outpatient pharmacy practice areas.  Four positions are currently offered each year. Core training experiences include block and longitudinal training in primary care, internal medicine, and practice management. Elective rotations are also available in hematology/oncology, psychiatry, geriatrics, critical care, infectious disease, emergency department, and cardiology.  Staffing is a component of the learning experiences with no requirements for evenings or weekends.  A dual appointment as a staff pharmacist is offered as an option for residents for weekend work.  Residents present formal lectures, patient cases, participate in journal club, teach pharmacy students, and serve as the principal investigator on a residency project.  Additionally, the residents manage the electronic drug information service and adverse drug event reporting for the pharmacy department. Completion of a residency project is required with the option of this being a research or quality improvement project.  Optional participation in the UT Pharmacotherapy Resident Conference and an Academic Training Program (ATP) are available.  Upon successful ATP completion, a certificate is awarded at the end of the year.

The Central Texas Veterans Health Care System (CTVHCS) consists of two hospitals located in Temple and Waco; one stand-alone clinic in Austin; four community based outpatient clinics in Brownwood, Cedar Park, College Station and Palestine; two nursing homes in Temple and Waco; one domiciliary in Temple, a Blind Rehabilitation Unit in Waco and two patient, rehabilitation units for post-traumatic stress disorder and severely mentally ill life enhancement in Waco.  With one of the largest inpatient psychiatric facilities in the country, CTVHCS was officially named a Mental Health Center of Excellence in 2006.

In FY 2011, CTVHCS had 85,501 veterans enrolled, 1,108,111 outpatient visits, and 9,324 inpatients treated. CTVHCS is affiliated with the University of Texas, College of Pharmacy, Texas A&M University, Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy, the University of Houston, College of Pharmacy, and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

The Olin E. Teague hospital in Temple is a tertiary care 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.  Within Temple are 177 medical/surgical beds, 272 Nursing Home Care Unit beds, 24 palliative care beds, a 408-bed Domiciliary, a 160-bed State Veterans Home, and a new $11.5 million dollar VA Research Institute.  Waco’s inpatient services include 64 intermediate and acute psychiatric beds, and 140 beds long term geropsych beds.  Outpatient mental health services are available in Temple, Waco, and Austin. The Austin VA Outpatient Clinic is a 60,000 square foot facility serving a rapidly growing population of veterans surrounding the State Capitol.

The Department of Pharmacy at the CTVHCS offers a wide range of clinical pharmacy services provided by clinical pharmacists and clinical specialists. Several clinical pharmacists, who work under an approved scope of practice, provide medication management clinics. The residents are eligible for a scope of practice in anticoagulation and lipid management once they are licensed. Other medication management clinics at CTVHCS include primary care, psychiatry, CHF, and hematology. The resident continuously interacts with staff throughout the hospital and additionally through participation in journal club, case discussion sessions, and our continuing education programs. Through our collaboration with The University of Texas at Austin, College of Pharmacy, all residents have many teaching opportunities at UT and at the hospital throughout the year.

The resident is an employee of The Department of Veterans Affairs, directly responsible to the Chief, Pharmacy Service. Daily guidance and supervision will be provided by the Residency Program Director. Residents will be supported in pursuing further post-graduate training or employment opportunities. A national database is available to assist residents who may be interested in VA PGY-2 residencies or pharmacy positions.  Past residents accepted positions in health systems, academia, and PGY2 residencies.  We have hired at least one resident per year into CTVHCS positions.