CHRISTUS Specialty Pharmacy PGY1

Community-Based Pharmacy Residency Program

Why CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Health System?

CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Health System is the region’s preferred healthcare provider, with a proud tradition of over 80 years of dedicated service to the people of East Texas. CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic is the area’s preferred multi-specialty medical group, with more than 650 Physicians and Advanced Practice Providers representing 41 specialties in 82 locations serving Northeast Texas across 41 counties.

A national leader in patient satisfaction, advanced technology, and quality initiatives, CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances is a faith-based, not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating healthy lives for people and communities by extending the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.

Why CHRISTUS Specialty Pharmacy?

CHRISTUS Specialty Pharmacy, located in CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital – Tyler, offers life-changing specialty pharmacy services designed to simplify every aspect of patient care. Services include patient education and counseling, obtaining financial assistance, navigating insurance benefits, coordinating with providers, managing refills, and prescription delivery. CHRISTUS Specialty Pharmacy is dual accredited with URAC and ACHC and strives to deliver the highest quality care for all patients. The specialty pharmacy works closely with several specialty departments, including rheumatology, gastroenterology, pulmonology, neurology, cardiology, hepatology, and endocrinology.

Why CHRISTUS Specialty Pharmacy PGY1 Community-Based Pharmacy Residency Program?

The CHRISTUS Specialty Pharmacy PGY1 Community-Based Pharmacy Residency Program is designed to develop the resident’s knowledge of specialty pharmacy operations, enhance their ability to deliver clinical services in specialty disease states, grow administration and leadership skills, and provide opportunities for scholarly activities. The resident will train in a health-system-based specialty pharmacy and clinics, where clinical pharmacists serve as integrated patient care team members.

This program is comprised of two sites: primary and participating. The resident will spend approximately 60% of their time in Tyler, TX, at the Specialty Pharmacy and surrounding clinics. Approximately 40% of the time will be spent at the system office in Irving, TX. The resident will choose to live either in Tyler or in the greater Dallas area within a commuting distance to either site. CHRISTUS Health will reimburse travel-related expenses (hotel stay, mileage, meals) to the resident's non-home site.

Residency Activities

Clinical Services

Collaborate with providers to assess the appropriateness of therapy
Tailor patient counseling and education strategies
Drug-diseases/Drug-drug interaction monitoring
Patient follow-up and review of clinical history (laboratory data, disease progression, and provider notes in electronic health record)
Continue to develop clinical programs to best serve patients and physicians

Pharmacy Operations

Benefits investigation, prior authorization, and appeal processes
Understanding of unique billing scenarios (e.g., Medicare Part B billing, benefits coordination)
Patient co-pay assistance and investigation of medication access options
Inventory management
Order fulfillment and verification
Cold-chain distribution

Administrative/Leadership Responsibilities

Participate in all Clinical, Operation and Quality Meetings
Become familiar with URAC and ACHC standards and how they apply to pharmacy operations
Understand 340B pharmacy operations
Participate in pharmacy quality assurance, self-assessments reports
Participate in program growth initiatives

Scholarly Activities and Service

Serve as preceptors for students on APPE rotations
Design and execute research projects pertaining to pharmacy practice
Present scholarly project findings at state and national conferences

Required core rotations:

Advanced inflammatory
Cardiology and pulmonology
Endocrinology and neurology
Gastroenterology
Oncology
Rheumatology
Orientation
Pharmacy Operations

Required longitudinal rotations:

Leadership in specialty pharmacy operations
Specialty pharmacy dispensing and management
Research

How to Apply

We use the Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application Service (PHORCAS) to accept applications, transcripts and other supporting application materials.

ASHP code: 74804
Program match (NPS) code: 312915
Visit PHORCAS to apply
Application deadline: January 3, 2025

Application Requirements

For an application to be considered by the CHRISTUS Specialty Pharmacy PGY1 Community-Based Pharmacy Residency Program, the following criteria, at minimum, must be met:

Graduate or candidate for graduation from an ACPE-accredited degree program or one in the process of pursuing accreditation
Minimum of a 3.0 GPA (or equivalent for programs without GPAs)
Licensed or eligible for licensure in the state of Texas

Other broad criteria for selection to the residency program include leadership abilities, professional development, professional competence including in clinical situations, communication skills, scholastic achievements, and dependability and ability to work with others.

Applicants must submit: