Residency Program

Program Overview

The purpose of the MedStar Washington Hospital Center’s PGY-1 pharmacy residency is to train pharmacists to be capable of assuming positions as clinical pharmacists in a hospital and/or to pursue PGY-2 training in the specialty of their choice. The program is accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists since 1995.

MedStar Washington Hospital Center is the largest (926 bed) private teaching hospital in Washington, DC. Our high patient volume and diverse case mix provide residents with a broad range of experiences. The hospital is a national leader in cardiology and cardiac surgery, endocrinology, gynecology, geriatrics, cancer, ENT, gastroenterology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonary and urology. Respected specialty areas include Transplantation services, MedStar shock/trauma, and the Burn Center. Our preceptors are clinical coordinators or clinical specialists who work in their area of specialty.

Residents work with the health care team in an interdisciplinary environment by participating in rounds, monitoring drug therapy, providing drug information and educating patients, health care professionals and students. The program provides opportunities for residents to gain experience in delivering educational programs, participating in performance improvement projects as well as designing and completing research projects. The department offers onsite educational programs that are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) to enhance pharmacists’ knowledge and skills.

Rotations:

Each resident is required to complete core rotations and electives. The core rotations are in internal medicine, cardiology, drug information, oncology, medical intensive care, surgical intensive care, and practice management. Based on the resident's interests and progress there are elective rotations in nutrition support, renal transplantation, neuroscience intensive care, burn/trauma, infectious disease, and neonatal intensive care. Both core and elective rotations are four weeks.

Projects:

Residents complete projects throughout the program. These projects are in areas that are relevant to contemporary pharmacy practice and pharmacy management. Each project is an opportunity for residents to develop skills in collecting, analyzing and presenting data.

Service:

Residents fulfill a service commitment on weekends working with one of the pharmacy teams to provide pharmaceutical care.

Teaching:

Residents provide education to healthcare professionals and pharmacy students. This is an opportunity to develop teaching and presentation skills.

Applicant Requirements:

All candidates must meet the following criteria:

• Possess a PharmD, or a BS or MS degree from an ACPE accredited school or college of pharmacy and have equivalent clinical experience
• Be eligible to apply for a license to practice pharmacy in the District of Columbia
• Have completed a professional curriculum that includes experiential training in acute care
• Have completed at least one year of professional pharmacy practice (approximately 1500 hours) as a student or graduate pharmacist
• Participate in the ASHP Post Graduate Year One Residency Matching Program

Program Director:

Lama Kanawati, PharmD, BCPS
110 Irving Street, NW Room B147
Washington, DC 20010-2975
Phone: (202) 877-3407
Lama.Kanawati@medstar.net

Application Proccess:

Individuals interested in applying should submit documents to the Program Director directly or via Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application System. Qualified applicants will be invited for an interview.

Click here for application instructions and documents.