Program Design

Learning Experiences

Required Concentrated Learning Experiences (4 weeks)

  • Orientation
  • Inpatient Abdominal Transplant 
  • Inpatient Cardiothoracic Transplant
  • Immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases Consult 
  • Outpatient Abdominal Transplant
  • Outpatient Cardiothoracic Transplant

Elective Concentrated Learning Experiences (4 weeks)

  • Advanced Solid Organ Transplant (area/patient population based on resident choice)
  • Transplant-focused Intensive Care Units
  • Nephrology
  • Medical ICU
  • Offsite rotations at Duke
  • Immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases Clinic
  • Pediatric Transplant (inpatient/outpatient)
  • Research

Longitudinal Experiences

  • Research (flipped research model)
  • Administration/Professional Development and Staffing
  • Teaching

Teaching Responsibilities

Each resident will earn an appointment as a Clinical Instructor with the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Residents are required to participate as a teaching assistant (TA) for the Solid Organ Transplant elective couse at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy (ESOP).  

Teaching experiences are also integrated with patient care experiences as part of precepting responsibilities on clinical rotations. Residents will be given the opportunity to serve as intermediate preceptor of 2nd, 3rd, and/or 4th year ESOP students who are completing the same rotation as the resident. Emphasis will be placed on educating the resident on the core precepting principles of teaching, modeling, coaching and facilitating.  

The resident will lead a monthly small-group recitation sessions throughout the year through a transplant POD (pharmacy students and residents on transplant rotations). These recitation sessions are precepted discussions meant to ensure the resident is competent and confident in literature retrieval, analysis, and application to key transplant clinical questions.  

Seminars and Professional Meetings

  • All residents will present a 60-minute ACPE-approved continuing education (CE) seminar once during the year. The ACPE-approved CE presentation is held once on a Thursday evening and is open for the public to attend. Each resident may choose to attend the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting (December) and is encouraged to attend a national transplant meeting (e.g., American Transplant Congress or ISHLT Annual meeting).  Participation in poster sessions is encouraged at these meetings. Successful completion of the above CE is required for completion of the residency.

Quality Assurance/Process Improvement

  • One of the most unique aspects of any transplant program is the requirement for a multidisciplinary quality assurance/process improvement program. At UNC, the transplant program boasts a robust QAPI program which the resident will participate in throughout the year. This may include involvement with medication use evaluations, root cause analysis events, transplant metric assessment and tracking, among others.

Research/Scholarship

  • The transplant resident will participate in our flipped research model, where the incoming resident will join a project with a timeline successful for completion within the fall, and then will develop a research idea, IRB approval, and data collection sheet for the subsequent years’ resident. This unique model allows for completion of project in time for presentation at an annual transplant meeting as well as manuscript preparation for publication within the year. In addition to the research manuscript, there are opportunities for the transplant resident to engage with further scholarship opportunities, as desired.

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)
  • Prepare and submit for publication consideration a minimum of one manuscript based on work conducted during the residency year
  • 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 a 30-60 minute (RPD determined) ACPE accredited CE program 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 Solid Organ Transplant program appendix as required by ASHP
  • Participate in all PGY2 Solid Organ Transplant POD topics unless excused by the RPD
  • Upload files to document completion of all required residency components into Pharmacademic (CE, MUE, research project, data collection tool, manuscript, IRB, research proposal, appendix completion, etc.)

For more information, contact:

Chrissy Teeter Doligalski, PharmD, BCPS, CPP, FAST, FCCP

Residency Program Director, Solid Organ Transplant Pharmacy Specialty Residency

Solid Organ Transplant Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner