The PGY1 residency at Children's of Alabama features 5-6 weeks of orientation to the department and hospital and required, 4-week rotations through 7 different core specialty areas of pediatric pharmacy practice. In addition, residents have 7 different required longitudinal experiences that last throughout the residency year. February is unscheduled to allow for participation in COA residency candiate interviews, current resident PGY2 interviews (if applicable), and shadowing in elective areas of interest. Approximately 2 months of the residency year remain to allow for scheduling of electives tailored to the resident's areas of interest. Several well-established electives are available, in addition to advanced experiences in core rotations. However, additional elective experiences may be arranged in other practice areas at the resident's request. Adult experiences are even available through collaborative agreements with other local hospitals.
The annual residency schedule is tailored to the individual resident's past pediatric experience, interests, and career goals. For example, the schedule of a resident planning to pursue a PGY2 in pediatric oncology would ideally include their core rotation in hematology/oncology. their ambulatory care leukemia clinic rotation, and potentially even a BMT elective rotation prior to Midyear and/or PGY2 interviews. While some rotations are prerequisites tor others to provide the best learning experience for the resident, the schedule allows for flexibility as residents' interests and goals change as they gain more experience throughout the residency year.
Required Core Rotations | Required Longitudinal Rotations | Elective Rotations |
Orientation | Ambulatory Care | Blood and Marrow Transplant |
Hematology/Oncology | Anticoagulation | Cardiology and Heart Transplant |
Infectious Diseases | Drug Information | Cardiovascular Intensive Care |
Neonatal Intensive Care | Pharmacokinetics | Emergency Department |
Nephrology | Management | Investigational Drug Studies |
Pediatric Hospital Medicine | Residency Project | Poison Control/Toxicology |
Pediatric Intensive Care | Staffing | Advanced Experiences in Core Rotations |
Pulmonary | Additional specialty rotations per individual resident request |