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Interior Health Pharmacy Residency Program

Program Curriculum

The Interior Health Pharmacy Residency Program is a Year 1 52-week experiential learning program that focuses on developing and refining direct patient care skills, pharmacy skills, project management skills and leadership skills to prepare the resident for a career in pharmacy practice.

The large variety of direct patient care, medication management and leadership rotations available, as well as the other residency activities offered, ensure that our residents have as broad and dynamic a learning experience as possible, with the goal of our residents being able to provide comprehensive and focused patient care in diverse practice settings.

Our program is accredited with the Canadian Pharmacy Residency Board.

The majority of residency rotations and activities take place at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) in Kelowna and Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) in Kamloops.  Our residents also have the opportunity to complete rotations at other hospitals within Interior Health, allowing residents to experience and provide care in a variety of practice settings.  These hospitals include Kootenay Lake Hospital in Nelson, Kootenay Boundary Hospital in Trail, Vernon Jubilee Hospital and Penticton Regional Hospital.

Our residents are valued members of our pharmacy and care teams. They are fully integrated into the care teams that they complete rotations on and make meaningful contributions to patient care and pharmacy practice as residents in our program.

Residents graduate from our program having gained experience in providing care to patients in the inpatient setting, as well as in ambulatory care and in large tertiary care academic teaching hospitals, as well as smaller, rural hospitals.  Given the breadth of their residency experience, our residents are well positioned to work as clinical pharmacists in diverse practice settings upon graduation.

Preceptors involved in our residency program are highly skilled and motivated practitioners and are experienced at precepting.  Many have won awards for their precepting and teaching.

How Many Residents Do We Accept?

  • 8 residents for the 2024-2025 residency year, which starts in June 2024.

Upon acceptance into our program, our residents will choose to complete their Interior Health Pharmacy Residency program from one of two home sites, called Residents Pods.  Having a home site will allow residents to integrate into the departments where they are completing their residency and aid in building connections within their home site.

Residents in each Residency Pod complete the same program curriculum, including the same core rotations, and have access to the same elective rotations. Residents in both Residency Pods will also participate in the same Interior Health Pharmacy Resident Academic Half Day Program and Resident Mentorship Program and will have access to the same list of available residency projects from which to select their residency project.

  • Kamloops Pod (2 Residents)
    • Based at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops
    • Residents in the Kamloops Pod will live in Kamloops
    • All core rotations will take place at Royal Inland Hospital
    • Residents will have the opportunity to complete elective rotations at sites across Interior Health
    • Residents will be reimbursed for travel and accommodation costs when on rotation outside of their home site
  • Kelowna Pod (6 Residents)
    • Based at Kelowna General Hospital in Kelowna
    • Residents in the Kelowna Pod will live in Kelowna
    • Core rotations will take place at Kelowna General Hospital, Royal Inland Hospital, Penticton Regional Hospital, Vernon Jubilee Hospital and Kootenay Boundary Hospital
    • Residents will have an opportunity to complete elective rotations at sites across Interior Health
    • Residents will be reimbursed for travel and accommodation costs when on rotation outside of their home site 

Where Do Our Residents Spend Their Time?

Residents will complete the following rotations. Direct patient care rotations will take place at the resident's home site and at sites across Interior Health as outlined below.  Non-direct patient care rotations will take place at the resident's home site.  

  • Program Orientation (1 week)
  • Clinical Orientation (2 weeks)
  • Direct Patient Care Rotations (32 weeks)
  • Drug Distribution (3 weeks)
  • Medication Management (1 week) 
  • Leadership (2 weeks)
    • Clinical Leadership or 
    • Clinical Quality and Patient Safety
  • Evidence Based Practice (1 week) 
  • Academic Detailing (1 week) 
  • Research Project (7 weeks)
  • Conference
  • Vacation (2 weeks)

Direct Patient Care Rotations

Kamloops Pod (2 Residents)

  • Core Direct Patient Care Rotations: All Kamloops Pod residents complete these rotations.  All core direct patient care rotations will take place at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.
    • Clinical Orientation (2 weeks)
    • Medicine (4 weeks)
    • Cardiology (4 weeks)
    • Infectious Disease-Antimicrobial Stewardship (4 weeks)
    • Critical Care (4 weeks)
    • Precepting Skills (4 weeks) 
  • Elective Direct Patient Care Rotations
    • 12 weeks, chosen from the list below. Each rotation is 4 weeks in duration.

Kelowna Pod (6 Residents)

  • Core Direct Patient Care Rotations: All Kelowna Pod residents complete these rotations. 
    • Clinical Orientation (2 weeks) at KGH, VJH or PRH
    • Medicine (4 weeks) at KGH
    • Critical Care (4 weeks) at KGH or RIH or KBH
    • Infectious Diseases (4 weeks) 
      • Infectious Disease at KGH or 
      • Infectious Disease-Antimicrobial Stewardship Focus at RIH
    • Cardiology (4 weeks) at KGH or RIH
    • Precepting Skills (4 weeks) at KGH, VJH or PRH
  • Elective Direct Patient Care Rotations
    • 12 weeks, chosen from the list below.  Each rotation is 4 weeks in duration.

Elective Direct Patient Care Rotations

Available for selection by all Interior Health Pharmacy Residents (Kamloops Pod and Kelowna Pod Residents). Residents choose three elective rotations. Each rotation is 4 weeks in duration.  For rotations that take place at more than one site, residents can specify their preferred location for the elective rotation.

  • Ambulatory Care at KGH
    • Rotation occurs in a variety of specialty clinic-based practices, including Seniors Health and Wellness Clinic, Heart Rhythm Clinic, iOAT Clinic, Heart Function Clinic
  • Cardiac Surgery at KGH
  • Emergency Medicine at KGH or RIH
  • General Surgery at KGH
  • Medicine-Neurology Focus at KGH
  • Medicine-Oncology and Palliative Care Focus at KGH
  • Nephrology at KGH
  • Pediatrics and Neonatology at KGH
  • Psychiatry at RIH
  • Rural Medicine at KLH
  • Trauma Service-Emergency Medicine at KGH

Other elective rotations may be available.  Rotation availability subject to change.

Rotation Locations:

  • Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) in Kelowna
  • Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) in Kamloops
  • Vernon Jubilee Hospital (VJH) in Vernon
  • Kootenay Lake Hospital (KLH) in Nelson
  • Kootenay Boundary Hospital (KBH) in Trail
  • Penticton Regional Hospital (PRH) in Penticton

What Other Activities Do Our Residents Participate In?

  • Academic Half Day Program: This program occurs at regular intervals throughout the residency year and provides residents with a supportive and collegial environment to enhance their clinical, teaching and research skills.
  • Resident Mentorship Program: Our residents are paired with three mentors, who provide the resident with support and guidance throughout the residency year.
  • Structured Research Program: Our residents complete a residency research project as part of Interior Health Pharmacy's program of research. Our residents complete research projects that are novel, impactful and utilize a variety of methodologies and our residents are supported and mentored throughout the research process.  Many of our residents have won provincial and national awards for their research projects.

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