FirstHealth Pharmacy Residency Program Receives Accreditation
| Date Posted: 10/17/2012
PINEHURST – FirstHealth Moore Regional’s post-graduate year-one (PGY-1) pharmacy residency program has been accredited by the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists (ASHP).
The purpose of a post-graduate pharmacy residency program is to provide recent Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) graduates with additional training in the clinical and operational aspects of health-systems pharmacy. Accreditation is achieved when the program meets the highest standards as laid out by ASHP, the most prominent professional organization representing hospital and health-system pharmacists.
“We offer pharmacists interested in pursuing a career in hospital pharmacy the opportunity to hone their individual talents while gaining hands-on experience in all aspects of a hospital pharmacy,” says Drew Kessell, Pharm.D, MBA, MS, Moore Regional’s clinical director of pharmacy.
Kessell also serves as residency director of the program. He has been employed by FirstHealth for three years, coming directly to Moore Regional after completion of his residency at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where he completed a joint two-year residency MS program at Ohio State.
According to Kessell, pharmacy residents receive a more comprehensive understanding of the structure and practice of hospital pharmacy as they work alongside physicians, nurses and clinical pharmacists in a variety of health-system settings.
“While residents benefit by gaining confidence and experience, the residency program enables our residents and pharmacists to advance FirstHealth’s mission, to care for people. A key component of residency training is learning and promoting the safe and effective use of medications.” Kessell says. “Throughout the year residents are able to experience how pharmacists, working collaboratively with physicians and nurses, can improve medication safety and patient outcomes.”
Charter residents Heather Gibson, Pharm.D, and Jennifer Campbell, Pharm.D, completed Moore Regional’s program in June. Both are now employed as full-time clinical pharmacists with FirstHealth.
“Being a resident at Moore Regional has allowed me to gain hands-on-experience and to make me a more confident provider,” Gibson says. “That’s something you can’t easily gain without completing a residency program.”
Andrew Krupp, Pharm.D, and Sara Garrett, Pharm.D, currently fill the pharmacy resident spots. Krupp is a recent graduate of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and Garrett graduated from Wingate University’s School of Pharmacy. Both will complete their residencies in June 2013.
Unlike physicians, pharmacists are not currently required to complete a residency. However, ASHP’s vision is for all new pharmacists to complete a residency by the year 2020.
“The residency accreditation process is voluntary and compares both the residency program structure and services offered by the pharmacy department against a set of standards and best practices” Kessell says. “Accreditation validates FirstHealth’s commitment to quality and safety.”
Moore Regional’s pharmacy program received a six-year accreditation.
For more information on Moore Regional’s pharmacy residency program, contact Drew Kessell at (910) 715-1105.
