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Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Residency PGY2

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This innovative PGY2 in ambulatory care and academia will embed a resident into a medical practice that does not have a clinical pharmacy presence with the goal of creating a sustainable and replicable clinical pharmacy service.

The mission of the PGY2 Ambulatory Care Residency at MAHEC and the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is to provide advanced training for the clinical ambulatory care pharmacist in the areas of comprehensive medication management and interprofessional practice innovation. This residency will create a network of clinical pharmacists adept at infusing sustainable, replicable pharmacotherapy services into the physicians’ office utilizing advanced healthcare models. A strong focus is placed on strengthening leadership skills, research techniques, and pedagogical approaches in order to effectively share models of success with the medical community.

Residents will gain experience in:

  • Establishing and growing clinical pharmacy services
  • Teaching learners of multiple disciplines at various levels of training
  • Developing leadership skills to advocate for the pharmacy profession at local, state, and national levels
  • Demonstrating quality and financial outcomes necessary to sustain and replicate services
  • Managing population health
  • Strengthening interprofessional relationships in team-based care

Ideal candidates are:

  • Experienced in caring for patients in the ambulatory care setting
  • Passionate about teaching the next generation of healthcare leaders
  • Enthusiastic about team-based care
  • Able to adapt to a fast-paced, rapidly evolving healthcare landscape

Learn more about clinical pharmacy "in practice" in this news story with PGY2 resident graduate and rural fellow Evan Drake, PharmD, CPP, who has established her ambulatory care practice with Foothills Medical Associates in Columbus, NC.

Status: Post Graduate Year 2 (PGY2) in Ambulatory Care and Academia

All 2024-25 PGY2 Ambulatory Care Residency Positions have been filled through the early commitment process.

Our Team

Olivia Caron, PharmD, BCACP, CPP Olivia Caron, PharmD, BCACP, CPP
Clinical Pharmacist
Program Director, Pharmacy Residency PGY2 Ambulatory Care
Director of Research, Project CARA

email Olivia.Caron@mahec.net

Kelci Dishner, AS Kelci Dishner, AS
Residency Program Coordinator
email kelci.dishner@mahec.net


Values Statement

  • Excellence: We deliver quality activities and services that our customers and partners value.
  • Diversity: We promote equity and inclusivity.
  • Integrity: We act with fairness, transparency, and the highest level of ethics.
  • Collaboration: We value partnerships and support interprofessional approaches.
  • Improvement: We continuously innovate and improve our work.

Foundational Principles

  • Civility: We treat all people with respect and kindness, all the time.
  • Inclusivity: We value the contribution of people different than ourselves and the merits of an organization that reflects differences in our teams and our community.
  • Empowerment: We value engagement, commitment, and ownership of MAHEC’s mission, work, and budget.

Our Commitment

MAHEC is committed to creating an equitable and inclusive place to work, learn, and receive care. We actively recruit physicians, staff, and students from underrepresented minorities, and we strive to implement policies and procedures that value and support diverse backgrounds and experiences. MAHEC does not discriminate on the basis of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, spiritual practice, geography, disability, or age.

Residency Components

There are seven components of the residency that occur simultaneously throughout the year.

1. Practice Site
  • Residents will be partnered with a medical practice to develop clinical pharmacy services
  • A new physician’s practice in the region is identified every year to participate in the residency
  • Practices are selected based on their demonstrated readiness for team based care and potential for sustainability
  • Resident will work as a Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner with a collaborative practice agreement with his/her/their physician
  • The goal is for the resident to create a sustainable full-time position at the practice over the course of the year
2. Academia
  • Teaching responsibilities with the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Asheville Campus will include:
    • Didactic lectures
    • Precepting students and residents
    • Mentoring opportunities
    • Small group facilitation
  • Residents will attend the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy meeting and the ASHP Summer Meeting
3. MAHEC Continuity Clinic
  • Residents will fulfill their staffing requirements in the MAHEC Pharmacotherapy clinic
  • This setting is a busy, fully established pharmacotherapy clinic where residents will learn to balance a high clinic volume with meeting the needs of the individual patient
  • Reasons for visit include:
    • Comprehensive medication management via Medicare Annual Wellness Visits
    • Disease-state focused visits including diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, asthma, COPD, pain
    • Medication access
    • Polypharmacy
    • Patient education
4. MAHEC Family Medicine Consulting
  • Pharmacy residents will represent pharmacy on an interdisciplinary team of preceptors teaching medical residents as they see patients
  • Pharmacy residents will help medical residents identify and solve medication related problems at the time of the office visits
5. Leadership and Advocacy
  • Residents will apply leadership theory and skills to their practice and professional life
  • Residents will participate as leaders and team members in a variety of longitudinal leadership activities that will strengthen leadership skills in practice, teaching, and in advocacy
  • These experiences as well as personal leadership development will be facilitated through longitudinal leadership coaching with a leadership coach and leadership didactics/cases and reflection with faculty
6. Public Health and Practice Management Didactics
  • Intensive training designed to introduce residents to public health principles and develop practice management skills
  • Sessions include:
    • Health of populations
    • Methods of knowing
    • Service development, part 1: from a public health lens
    • Service development, part 2: what pharmacists need to know
    • Implementation and evaluation
    • Communication
    • Systems and policy
    • Emergency preparedness
7. Health Department
  • Residents will spend time at the local health department to gain knowledge on local resources, public health initiatives, and managing patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
  • Residents will lead visits with support from health department staff in the Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Testing and Treatment clinic. Reasons for visits include:
    • Counseling and prescribing pre-exposure prophylaxis treatment (PrEP) for HIV
    • Screening for Hepatitis B and C
    • Screening and testing for STIs

Residency Schedule

The residency year is divided into four main blocks. This curriculum is designed to allow the residents to establish and grow their clinical services at their respective Practice Sites while honing their clinical and pedagogical skills.

  • Block 1: July–August
  • Block 2: September–December
  • Block 3: January–April
  • Block 4: May–June

Sample Weekly Schedule

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
AM Consulting Practice Site Practice Site Academia Practice Site
PM Continuity Clinic Health Department Clinic Admin/Leadership Health Department Clinic Practice Site

Faculty

Residents

Alumni Comments

Past Residents

MAHEC

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Pharmacists are integral members of the care team at MAHEC, including MAHEC's four family health centers, an internal medicine practice, an ob/gyn practice, a dental practice, a certified community behavorial health clinic, home-based primary care, and two continuous care retirement communities in Asheville. MAHEC pharmacists provide comprehensive medication management services for needs related to anticoagulation, diabetes, osteoporosis, HIV, hepatitis C, opioid and substance use disorders, safe pain management, transitions of care, and pharmacotherapy for acute and chronic conditions. MAHEC patients see clinical pharmacists for many reasons including insulin titration, managing and accessing medications, device training, and Medicare Annual Wellness Visits. Our practice model has been recognized nationally in numerous publications and presentations.


UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Asheville Campus

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The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Asheville Campus is located on the campus of UNC Asheville and maintains close ties with UNC Health Sciences at MAHEC, which houses programs affiliated with UNC's schools of medicine, public health and dentistry. All of these programs emphasize care for patients who are historically underserved, place-based and rural learning, and interprofessional education and practice. The Asheville Campus has 30 student pharmacists in each cohort, world-class faculty members and researchers, and dedicated student-centered staff members in administration and educational technology. The Asheville Campus partners with MAHEC to offer PGY2 residency programs in ambulatory care and geriatrics and with Mission Health to offer PGY2 residencies in ambulatory care, emergency department, and administration.


Buncombe County Health Department

The Buncombe County Health Department (BCHD) is located in downtown Asheville, NC, and serves the county in a variety of ways including but not limited to:

  • immunizations
  • screening for and treating sexually transmitted diseases
  • counseling
  • providing care to rural communities via mobile health

BCHD states it’s mission is to “promote and protect the public's health and to assure through community partnerships that all people in Buncombe County have the opportunity to make healthy choices within a healthy environment.” BCHD has one embedded clinical pharmacist who precepts the resident in clinic and via public health projects. To learn more about BCHD, please click here.

Application Requirements

  1. Three letters of recommendation completed through PhORCAS, one of which should be PGY1 Residency Program Director.
  2. Personal Statement addressing specifically how this residency will match your career goals.
  3. Eligibility for North Carolina Board of Pharmacy and Clinic Pharmacist Practitioner licensures.
  4. Completion of ASHP-accredited PGY1 residency.

Please note that MAHEC does not sponsor a visa, so all international pharmacy graduate applicants must possess a current/valid visa option or other status governed by the U.S. Immigration Regulations to participate in a GME program.

Dates

November and December Applications may be submitted through PhORCAS
January 2nd Application deadline

International Medical Graduates

Special laws and regulations apply to international medical graduates who wish to enter the United States to undertake graduate medical education. MAHEC's policies and procedures regarding graduates of international medical schools comply with federal and state laws and regulations and MAHEC's commitment to graduate medical education.

Graduates of medical schools outside the United States and Canada must have a currently valid certificate from ECFMG. Applicants must successfully pass both Step 1 (basic medical) and Step 2 (clinical knowledge and skills) of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE).

While MAHEC does not sponsor a visa, the international medical graduate applicant must also possess a current/valid visa option or other status governed by the U.S. Immigration Regulations to participate in a GME program.

Finally, the North Carolina Medical Board requires that physicians who are graduates of schools that are not accredited by the LCME or the AOA (foreign medical schools) must be individually certified by ECFMG, have successfully completed at least three years of accredited graduate medical training, and have passed the USMLE or its equivalent to be eligible for application for full licensure. An international medical graduate must complete all other application requirements required by MAHEC and the GME program.

Questions regarding the international/foreign medical graduate process should be directed to the GME office at 828-257-4769 or gme@mahec.net.

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