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Pharmacists

IHS PGY-2 Pharmacy Residency Programs

  • Northern Navajo Medical Center

    PO Box 160 (N Hwy 491) Shiprock, NM 87420

    Phone: 505-368-7250
    Fax: 505-368-7260

    Director of Pharmacy
    Thad Koppenhafer, PharmD

    Residency Program Director
    CDR Kevin McDermott, PharmD, NCPS-PP, BCPS, BCACP

    Type of Training Site
    Ambulatory Care

    Positions 2

    Accreditation
    ASHP Candidate Status - accreditation survey pending

    Facility Information
    The Northern Navajo Medical Center serves as a referral center for reservation-based hospitals and clinics in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah. Each year NNMC has roughly 133,000 outpatient clinic visits from 68,000 patients not including pharmacy visits.

    Goal

    Create a well-rounded, confident, and competent pharmacist practitioners capable of working in multiple clinic settings.

    Vision

    National provider shortages are creating obstacles to patient care. It is the vision of NNMC to fill this gap with qualified Pharmacist Practitioners (PP). As defined in the I.H.S. Manual, these Pharmacist Practitioners “assume the same level of diagnostic and therapeutic responsibilities as medical personnel, similar to nurse practitioners and physician assistants. PPs utilize comprehensive interviewing, physical assessment, and diagnostic skills to manage patients who present with common, high volume acute and chronic illnesses. Complex problems are referred to the physician.”

    The NNMC PGY2 program shall provide a training environment to meet this vision.

    Rotational Experience Opportunities
    In addition to residency projects and other longitudinal rotations (administrative, student precepting, and teaching rotation for staff), the resident shall have the following rotational experiences.

    Physical Assessment Course

    All residents shall be required to attend the NNMC Pharmacy Physical Assessment Course. This is a 60 course that provides training on performing general cardiology, pulmonology, abdominal, neurology, musculoskeletal, and HEENT examinations. Additionally, training on working up and evaluation common new complaints will be presented.

    Chronic Disease Management Clinic

    Clinic protocol covers the following disease states and related co-morbid conditions: diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, asthma, COPD, heart failure, gout, hyper/hypothyroid, epilepsy, headaches, depression, GERD, sinusitis, and onychomycosis.

    HIV/Hepatitis C

    Specialized clinic involving care of these disease states and appropriation of funds to pay for required medications.

    Epilepsy

    Specialized clinic for the evaluation and treatment of seizure in all age groups.

    Anticoagulation

    General clinic for the monitoring and adjustment of warfarin, heparin products, and rivaroxaban.

    Urgent Care and Family Medicine Same Day Clinics

    After significant time in above clinics, the resident shall begin training in these settings to hone skills in evaluating new and acute complaints.

    Outpatient

    Resident shall screen medication orders and counsel patients using I.H.S. techniques.

    Other Training

    Residents shall be sent to Officer Basic Course (if Commissioned Corps), Indian Health Service Pharmacy Practice Training Program, and ASHP mid-year meeting.

    Special Features
    Surrounded by a land of immense natural beauty marked by towering mesas and bordered by scenic mountains, the community of Shiprock is situated on the banks of the San Juan River. Many world-class attractions are within 90 miles of Shiprock including the mountain bike meccas of Moab, Utah and Durango, Colorado. Winter sports destinations include the Rocky Mountain ski areas of Purgatory, Telluride, and Wolf Creek.

  • Whiteriver Indian Health Service Hospital

    PO Box 860 Whiteriver, AZ 85941

    Phone: 928-338-3502
    Fax: 928-338-3510

    Director of Pharmacy
    CAPT Elizabeth Helm, PharmD, BCPS, NCPS

    Residency Program Director
    CDR Rowdy Atkinson, PharmD, BCACP, NCPS, CDE

    Associate Residency Director
    CDR Hillary Duvivier, PharmD, BCPS, NCPS

    Type of Training Site
    Ambulatory Care

    Positions 1

    Accreditation
    ASHP Pre-candidate status; first resident will start July 2018

    Facility Information
    Whiteriver Indian Health Hospital provides services to over 20,000 Native Americans throughout the beautiful White Mountains of Arizona. The facility receives over 120,000 ambulatory visits and 2,000 admissions annually. The hospital has fully implemented Computer Physician Order Entry (CPOE) and Electronic Health Record (EHR) throughout the facility and have implemented Bar Code Medication Administration (BCMA) in the inpatient care areas.

    Goal

    To develop a confident pharmacist provider in a collaborative ambulatory care practice that can provide efficient, effective, evidence-based, patient-centered treatment for chronic illnesses. The resident will be focused on quality improvement by analysis of program metrics to ensure positive impact on patient outcomes. This includes building relationships with our well-established interdisciplinary health care team and to work towards obtaining IHS National Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (NCPS) certification and/or meeting the qualifications to obtain New Mexico Pharmacist Clinician License (PhC) or similar state credentials.

    Rotational Experience Opportunities
    This Post-Graduate Year 2 Ambulatory Care program at Whiteriver Indian Hospital is a 12 month program. Residents will be trained to provide physical assessments, and work under a collaborative practice agreement for comprehensive treatment of chronic diseases. The Chronic Disease Therapy Management (CDTM) Clinic focuses on the management of diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, heart failure, chronic pain, rheumatology, anticoagulation, hypothyroidism, tobacco cessation, and immunizations. The resident will have the opportunity to pursue an elective rotation (HIV, Hepatitis C, and/or Dialysis) in addition to block rotations in informatics, urgent care, administration, and drug information. The resident will also be required to initiate and implement a residency project as a longitudinal experience including a written manuscript.

    Other Training

    Residents shall be sent to Officer Basic Course (if Commissioned Corps), Indian Health Service Applied Clinical Training Program, New Mexico Physical Assessment Course, Indian Health Service Southwest Regional Pharmacy Continuing Education Meeting (QUAD), Southwest States Residency Conference, and ASHP Midyear meetings.

    Special Features
    Since 1989, Whiteriver Indian Health Hospital has had an established ASHP-accredited PGY1 residency program. This will be the first year of the PGY2 Ambulatory Care residency. We are located in the northern area of Arizona surrounded by lakes and the largest ponderosa pine forest in the nation. During the summer months, many people come for the cool weather to fish, hike, camp and bike; and during the winter, people come for the wonderful skiing/snowboarding opportunities at the Sunrise Ski Resort just to name a few of the activities.