PGY2 Pediatric-Focused Oncology Program Design

Welcome to the program description for the PGY2 Pediatric-Focused Oncology Residency at UNCMC. The information provided below outlines requirements and opportunities that exist within the program.

Program at a Glance

The UNCMC pediatric-focused oncology residency is a 12-month program. The residency program is tailored to the interests and career goals of the resident. In addition to core and elective rotation experiences outlined below, required activities include the completion of a research project and presentation of findings, the provision of an ACPE-accredited continuing education presentation, and the submission of a manuscript draft to a peer-reviewed journal. Additionally, 400 hours of staffing are required, which equates to approximately every third weekend and 15 weekday staffing shifts per year. Activities include chemotherapy infusion pharmacy operations and service-based staffing. Each resident will also serve as a teaching assistant with the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy (ESOP). Residents also have the opportunity to participate in teaching and/or leadership certificate programs during their time at UNCMC. Additionally, residents participate in hospital committees.

Rotational Experiences

Core (required):

Orientation (1 month)
Acute Care Pediatric Oncology (1 month x2 rotations)
Pediatric Oncology Clinic (1 month)
Pediatric BMT/Benign Hematology Clinic (1 month)
Adult Acute Care Bone Marrow Transplant (2 weeks)
Pediatric Palliative Care (2 weeks)
Adult Acute Care Malignant Hematology (1 month)
Oncology Administration (1 month)
Longitudinal Clinic in Pediatric Oncology (1 day per month)

Elective:

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Adult Leukemia Clinic
Repeat of required rotations or other adult oncology rotations at discretion of RPD/RPC pending resident interest

Longitudinal Responsibilities

Longitudinal Clinic

The pediatric oncology resident will complete a longitudinal clinic experience in the pediatric oncology clinic. This rotation will be the resident’s first or second rotation of the year. Following the month-long experience in this clinic, the resident will continue to rotate through this clinic one day per month.

Educational/Research Activities

Hematology Oncology Power Hours (HOPS): This course engages PGY2 oncology and pediatric-focused oncology pharmacy residents in a structured process of learning fundamental concepts of oncology pharmacy practice. All residents meet with an assigned instructor for 90 minutes every two weeks throughout the residency year. During these sessions, a team based learning approach is utilized to facilitate an engaging group discussion on the assigned topic and associated chemotherapy.
Continuing Education:Pediatric-focused oncology residents provide two ACPE-accredited CE sessions during the residency year. One session is a 30-minute presentation to members of the clinical oncology group, designed to prepare residents for job interview presentations. The other session is an hour-long departmental CE session open to pharmacists and technicians across the state (presented live and via WebEx).
Leadership Series: Residents participate in a monthly leadership series with the Oncology Residency leaders to enforce vital skills needed to be a successful clinician. These topics include but are not limited to communication styles, emotional intelligence and building resilience
Research Project: The UNC PGY2 Pediatric-Focused Oncology Program participates in the “flipped” research model. Residents will review research project options and submit a rank list to the RPD/RPC who will then aim to assign each resident their highest ranked research project.
Medication Use Evaluation (MUE): Pediatric-focused oncology residents will also collectively complete a MUE (with adult-focused oncology pharmacy residents) while on their oncology administration rotation. Each resident will be assigned a portion of the MUE during their administration rotation, with the project to be completed and presented to the Oncology P&T subcommittee by the end of the year.
Research Month (December) and Administration Days: Residents are given the opportunity to forego the December “research month” and participate in a 10-day “mini-rotation” instead. Residents who choose this option will then be allowed to take one “admin day” per month throughout the year.

Teaching Opportunities

Residents participate as a teaching assistant in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy during one semester of their residency year. Opportunities for residents to participate in and lead didactic lectures are abundant. Teaching opportunities are also integrated within patient care experiences through the layered learning practice model (LLPM). This innovative practice allows residents to foster their preceptorship skills by developing one-on-one cooperative learning activities in an experiential environment.

Staffing Requirements

Residents will complete a total of 400 hours of staffing throughout the academic year.

Clinical Staffing: Clinical Staffing: Residents staff as a clinical specialist approximately every 3rd weekend in the Children’s Hospital. This includes therapeutic drug monitoring, patient review, TPN verification, and other clinical responsibilities.
CHIP Staffing: Residents staff in our Cancer Hospital Infusion Pharmacy (CHIP) once per month. Residents perform order verification for chemotherapy and assist in the sterile preparation workflows.

Committees

Residents will serve on the UNC Pediatric Medication Safety Committee.

Certificate Programs

Residents are permitted to participate in both certificate programs offered through the department (i.e., the Teaching Certificate and Leadership Certificate).

Longitudinal Residency Leadership Experience

Residents are assigned a residency-related leadership role over the course of the year. Examples include social media committee member, recruitment co-chair, Midyear coordinator, etc. Residents are also eligible to apply for the chief resident role in either the fall or spring semesters.

Requirements for Program Completion

In order to receive a certificate of Residency completion, residents must complete all requirements specified in the appointment agreement:

Complete all scheduled learning experiences
Receive an evaluation score of “Achieved for the Residency” (ACHR) for at least 85% of PharmAcademic objectives required by the program
Complete a one year research project or a pre-specified part of a multi-year research project, including all of the following: data retrieval, data analysis, formal presentation (poster OR platform) at a local/regional/national forum, creation of a draft manuscript in publishable quality, project proposal submission, creation of a data collection tool, and IRB submission (if appropriate)
Contribute approximately 400 hours of staffing support to the department through weekday, weekend, day/evening and holiday clinical and/or operational staffing requirements based on departmental need
Attend at least 8 hours of resident CE programming
Complete all evaluations in PharmAcademic, ASHP's approved tool
Provide two 30-60 minute (RPD determined) ACPE accredited CE programs (Resident CE Series and Oncology Grand Rounds) for pharmacists and/or pharmacy technicians within and outside the Department of Pharmacy
Participate in required departmental “on-call” services as necessary to support departmental functions
Serve as a support resource/teaching assistant at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy during at least one semester of the academic year
Serve on a designated hospital or health system committee as assigned by the program
Complete a medication use evaluation or quality improvement project
Document completion of the PGY2 Oncology program appendix as required by ASHP
Completion of all PGY2-Oncology HOPS sessions (unless absence approved by RPD)
Completion of chemotherapy counseling rubric evaluation
Completion of CHIP competency exam
Upload files to document completion of all required residency components to Pharmacademic (appendix, CE and Grand Rounds slides, counseling rubric evaluation, CHIP competency exam, MUE presentation/write up, research manuscript, IRB protocol, data collection tool, poster/platform research presentation, etc.)