PGY2 Oncology

This program is currently recruiting for the 2023-2024 residency year. Our program welcomes and encourages diverse applicants.

In the interest of accessibility and equity:

• In-person attendance at the booth/PPS at the Midyear Clinical Meeting will NOT count toward the application score. Applicants who are interested in attending a virtual information session in may sign up at this link: https://forms.gle/WMXvStzXc7madFBj8
• All interviews will be conducted virtually. Candidates who are invited to interview and who wish to see the MGH campus in-person will be invited to attend an open house that will be held AFTER this program has finalized and submitted the rank list to NMS (thus, in-person attendance at the open house will not affect candidate ranking)

Applications should be submitted via Phorcas, and should include the following:

• An up-to-date curriculum vitae
• 3 recommendation letters
• When entering your work experiences in Phorcas, please detail any internship, technician, research, or other work experiences (pharmacy and/or non-pharmacy) you held during pharmacy school; amount of hours weekly/monthly and the types of activities you were expected to complete during these work experiences is extremely valuable to showcase (especially if done during the academic year)
• Letter of intent describing your interests in oncology and in our program, how our program will help you achieve your short-term and long-term career goals; please also describe a time when you faced adversity and how you managed that situation

Purpose

This PGY2 pharmacy residency program at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) builds on Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) education and PGY1 pharmacy residency training to contribute to the development of clinical pharmacists in advanced or specialized practice. PGY2 residency provides residents with opportunities to function independently as practitioners by conceptualizing and integrating accumulated experience and knowledge and incorporating both into provision of patient care that improves medication therapy. Residents who successfully complete an accredited PGY2 pharmacy residency should possess competencies that qualify them for clinical pharmacist and/or faculty positions and position them to be eligible for attainment of board certification in the specialized practice area (when board certification for the practice area exists).

Description

PGY2 residency in oncology pharmacy is a 52 week (one year) adult-based oncology program designed to transition PGY1 residency graduates from generalist practice to specialized practice focused on the care of patients with cancer. Following completion of the PGY2 residency, graduates will be equipped to meet the challenges of current and future oncology pharmacy practice. Residency graduates will be prepared to participate as integral members of the interdisciplinary teams caring for individuals with cancer in both inpatient and outpatient settings and assume responsibility for pharmaceutical care.

Graduates will gain significant knowledge of neoplastic diseases, cancer-related and cancer treatment-related disorders and supportive care/palliative care management. Graduates will also acquire knowledge of the preparation and distribution of anti-cancer medications including safe handling and disposal of hazardous substances.

Overall, graduates will gain experience participating on interdisciplinary teams to successfully serve health care organizations as a valuable resource for information about anti-cancer medications and decision-making affecting the care of patients with cancer.

We currently offer one position for the PGY2 Oncology Pharmacy Residency.

Program Educational Goals

At the end of the residency year, the MGH PGY2 Oncology Pharmacy Resident will be able to:

• In collaboration with the health care team, provide comprehensive medication management to oncology patients following a consistent patient care process
• Ensure continuity of care during transitions of oncology patients between care settings
• Manage and facilitate delivery of medications to support safe and effective drug therapy for oncology patients
• Manage formulary and medication-use processes for oncology patients, as applicable to our organization
• Conduct a oncology pharmacy research project and medication use evaluation
• Provide effective medication and practice-related education to oncology patients, caregivers, health care professionals, students and the public (individuals and groups)
• Effectively employ appropriate preceptor roles when engaged in teaching learners (students and residents), pharmacy technicians, or fellow health care professionals in oncology
• Appropriately manage oncology investigational drugs and oncology investigational drug services
• Manage and improve the medication-use process in oncology patient care areas
• Demonstrate excellence in the provisions of training or educational activities for health care professionals and health care professionals in training
• Assume an active role in patient education activities including patient counseling, adherence/knowledge assessment, and education materials developments
• Promote health improvement, wellness and cancer prevention
• Sustain ongoing development of expertise and professionalism in oncology pharmacy practice

Learning Experiences

The first two weeks to a month of residency includes a standard hospital orientation followed by an introduction to the Department of Pharmacy. Activities include training on resident and pharmacy department policies/procedures and side-by-side training with oncology pharmacy preceptors on the MGH electronic medical record/computerized order entry system.

Core Learning Experiences:

• Orientation – 1 month
• Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) – autologous and allogeneic – 1 month
  • Cellular immunotherapy program (inpatient CAR-T cell program) – may be offered in conjunction with HSCT experience (dependent on resident interest and fulling other requirements of HSCT rotation)
• Leukemia – 1 month
• Lymphoma – ½ month
• Multiple myeloma – 6 weeks (2 days of the week, opposite days of the week from breast oncology)
• Breast oncology – 6 weeks (3 days of the week, opposite days of the week from multiple myeloma)
• Thoracic oncology – ½ month (3 days of the week, opposite days of the week from specialty pharmacy)
• Gastrointestinal oncology – 1 month
• Genitourinary oncology – 1 month (3 days of the week, opposite days of the week from specialty pharmacy)
• Gynecology oncology – ½ month
• Melanoma/Severe Immunotherapy Complications (SIC) Service – ½ month
• Pediatric oncology – 1 month (concurrent with oncology clinical trials pharmacy)
• Oncology clinical trials pharmacy – 1 month (concurrent with pediatric oncology)
• Specialty pharmacy – 6 weeks (2 days of the week, opposite days of the week from lung and genitourinary oncology)

Elective Learning Experiences:

• Advanced core learning experience – ½ to 1 month, dependent on resident schedule
• Advanced oncology management – ½ month
• Community oncology – ½ month
• Infectious diseases – 3 weeks
• Other elective learning experiences may be developed based on resident interest and preceptor availability

Longitudinal Experiences (all of these experiences are a year long, unless otherwise specified):

• Pharmacy practice experience –
  • Decentralized inpatient clinical practice every 3rd weekend, including 2 minor holidays and 1 major holiday. Minor holidays observed by MGH includeand MLK day, President’s day, Memorial day, Juneteenth, Independence day, Labor day, Indigenous People’s day and major holidays include New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas
  • 8 hours every other week in ambulatory oncology infusion center
  • Resident officer positions for committees
• Oncology administration (includes management, stewardship, policy and medication safety)
• Education series
  • BCOP discussions (1 year)
  • 1-hour ACPE-accredited CE presentation (12 weeks)
  • 1-ACPE-accredited morbidity and mortality (12 weeks)
• Research project and manuscript development
• Medication use evaluation project
• Residents teaching seminar/teaching certificate at Northeastern University School of Pharmacy (optional)
• Research certificate at MGH Institute for Health Professions (optional)

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The MGH PGY2 Oncology Pharmacy Residency program welcomes and encourages diverse applicants

The MGH Oncology Pharmacy pharmacists and technicians come from diverse backgrounds

• Here’s a list of some of the non-English languages that we speak: Arabic, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), French, Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Ilocano, Khmer, Korean, Nepali, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, Toishanese, Vietnamese, Ybanag
• Click here for a photo of some of our oncology pharmacy team

Click here to view MGH’s present and past annual reports on equity in health care quality

• For information on diversity in Boston and living here, including information on housing and transportation to/from MGH, please click this link

Resident wellness and resiliency

MGH PGY2 Oncology Pharmacy Residency prioritizes our residents’ well-being. Some (but not all) of the ways that we support our residents include:

• Access to the MGH-sponsored employee assistance program that includes free access to mental health tools and access to a mental health professional within 48 hours if needed
• Events planned by the resident led MGH Resident Social and Wellness Committee
• Residency advisor that is assigned to the residency for the year to act as a mentor and resident advocate
• Education sessions devoted to resiliency and managing burnout

Contact Information

Uvette Lou, PharmD, BCOP
Director, PGY2 Oncology Pharmacy Residency
ulou@mgh.harvard.edu

Samantha O. Luk, PharmD, BCOP
Coordinator, PGY2 Oncology Pharmacy Residency
soluk@mgh.harvard.edu

Social media

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