Infectious Disease Residency Program Annual Structure [PDF].

PGY2 Infectious Diseases residents who completed a PGY1 residency at University Health will only undergo orientation specifically for the PGY2 Infectious Diseases residency during the first month of the residency year.

PGY2 Infectious Diseases residents who did not complete a PGY1 residency at University Health will undergo orientation and training for The University Of Texas College Of Pharmacy, University Health, the PGY2 Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Residency, and the Pharmacy Department during the first month of residency.

Departmental and residency training will include orientation to policies and procedures, University Health computers, the inpatient pharmacy, and the Infectious Diseases department. All items on the Inpatient Pharmacy Training List should be covered during this training period, and the completed checklist should be submitted to the Residency Program Director (RPD) at the end of the training period.

The resident will also be oriented to the ASHP Residency Accreditation Standards, Program Design and Conduct, and the required Competency Areas, Goals, and Objectives for PGY2 residency training.

In addition, the resident will be oriented to the evaluation process and the PharmAcademic online evaluation system (if not utilized during PGY1 residency). The resident must become licensed in the State of Texas as a Registered Pharmacist by August 1, or the 1st day of the second month of residency.

The resident will participate in weekly antibiotic discussion group sessions and weekly infectious diseases pharmacy journal club.

The resident will participate in the University of Texas College of Pharmacy residents’ weekly Pharmacotherapy Seminar (residents’ discussion group) on Friday afternoons. This activity is optional but encouraged if the resident has not yet received board certification. The resident will be required to lead discussion on at least one topic, as assigned by the group coordinator.

The resident will also attend weekly Pharmacotherapy Rounds with fellow University of Texas College of Pharmacy residents on Friday afternoons. Attendance is strongly encouraged unless it interferes with urgent, necessary patient care obligations. The resident will also be required to present one formal Pharmacotherapy Rounds (“Resident Rounds”) during the year. 

Other required academic activities include facilitating labs for pharmacy students (minimum number determined annually). The resident will assist the infectious diseases preceptors with mentoring and precepting pharmacy students assigned to the infectious diseases and stewardship rotations. The resident will also have numerous opportunities to participate in and lead discussions on infectious diseases-related patient cases, journal clubs, in-services, and continuing education programs.

The resident may elect to obtain an Academic Training Program Certificate if not completed during their PGY1 residency. The University of Texas College of Pharmacy Academic Training Program requirements will be completed throughout the year, including attendance at the UT Academic Training Conference.

The resident will provide clinical staffing for the infectious diseases areas as scheduled by the Residency Program Director (RPD) based on staffing needs, not to exceed 16 hours per 2-week period.

During scheduled clinical staffing, the resident will have the opportunity to manage the antimicrobial stewardship program including reviewing and making clinical interventions on restricted antimicrobials and bacteremic patients, and other duties as assigned.

The resident will also perform therapeutic drug monitoring and carry the on-call Infectious Diseases Pharmacist pager and phone as assigned, not to exceed every other weekend.

The resident is required to attend and actively participate in scheduled monthly Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) and quarterly Drug Utilization Evaluation (DUE) Committee meetings throughout the year.

The resident will also attend other Infectious Diseases and/or Antimicrobial Stewardship meetings as directed by residency leadership.

The resident is strongly encouraged to present results of infectious diseases-related research projects and/or DUEs at DUE, P&T, CMT, and/or pharmacy meetings. Examples of infectious diseases-related topics that may be addressed include:

• Formulary and fiscal management
• Pharmacy policies and procedures
• Medication-related guidelines/protocols
• Information technology and automation systems
• Medication-use system evaluation
• Adverse drug reaction reporting, trending, and interpretation
• Medication safety and medication error reporting, trending, and prevention
• Pharmacist intervention reporting and trending
• Investigational drugs

The resident will have the opportunity to attend and participate in local, state, and national professional association meetings (required to attend 2 minimum with a formal presentation at 1 minimum), including but not limited to the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting, the Alcalde Southwest Regional Residency Conference, and IDWeek.

Successful completion of at least one Infectious Diseases research project is required to fulfill the requirements and to obtain a certificate of graduation from the residency program. Research will focus on the evaluation of an Infectious Diseases pharmacotherapy-related issue. The resident must adhere to the established timeline for the project to assure successful completion during the one-year residency.

The research project topic may be an idea of the resident, from a suggested list, or individually assigned. The project will be directly supervised by the RPD, Residency Coordinator and/or a preceptor with expertise in the selected discipline. The research project proposal must be approved by the RPD/Coordinator, and if applicable, must also be approved by the UT Health San Antonio Investigational Review Board and the University Health Research Committee.

The research project will be presented as an abstract and as a platform presentation at the regional Alcalde Southwest Residency Leadership Conference in the spring. The resident is strongly encouraged to submit an abstract of the research project at a regional or national pharmacy or Infectious Diseases meeting.

The research project must also be submitted in manuscript form to the RPD/Residency Coordinator and the resident is strongly encouraged to publish results of the project in a peer-reviewed journal.

This longitudinal rotation is structured to provide the resident experience in self-evaluation of their strengths, goals, progress throughout the residency, and areas for improvement. Self-evaluations will be completed and discussed between the resident and residency leadership on a quarterly basis, then incorporated into each resident’s personal development plan.

The length of each rotation is usually four weeks, but may be flexible, depending on the needs and interests of the individual resident. The following rotations are required:

• Microbiology (2-4 weeks)
• UH Infectious Disease Consults I
• VA Infectious Diseases Consults II
• UH Advanced Infectious Diseases Consults
• UH Antimicrobial Stewardship I
• UH Advanced Antimicrobial Stewardship
• UH Inpatient HIV Service I
• UH Advanced Inpatient HIV Service

Other rotations available on an elective basis include but are not limited to the following:

• Transplant Infectious Diseases
• Pediatric Infectious Diseases Consults
• Cystic Fibrosis Clinic
• MICU/NSICU
• UH HIV Clinic
• OPAT Clinic
• VA Antimicrobial Stewardship
• Repeat of Required Rotation

A resident may choose to participate in no more than two off-site (i.e., outside University Health facilities) elective rotations per residency year.