Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit medical group practice in the world. Every year, more than 1.3 million people from all 50 states and almost 150 countries come to Mayo Clinic, where the primary value is “the needs of the patient come first.”
Mayo Clinic in Arizona is spread across two main campuses in Phoenix and Scottsdale, which are located 14 miles apart. The Phoenix campus, where residents will spend most of their time, includes Mayo Clinic Hospital, a seven-story facility with 368 beds, 33 operating suites, and an emergency department, as well as the specialty and clinic buildings that contain multidisciplinary care teams of almost every medical specialty, including infectious disease, oncology, and solid organ transplant. The Phoenix campus is currently expanding through Mayo Clinic Arizona’s historic capital expansion project “Arizona. Bold. Forward,” which includes a 120-acre development called the Discovery Oasis.
The Scottsdale campus houses outpatient services in the Mayo Clinic Building where residents can experience select elective rotations and includes the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Collaborative Research Building, and Samuel C. Johnson Research Building. Additional primary care facilities and a sports medicine complex are located throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area.
As a PGY1 pharmacy resident, your learning experience will consist of training as part of an interdisciplinary team through providing direct patient care services, developing pharmacotherapeutic care plans, and performing pharmacokinetic consults. You will also work on longitudinal projects throughout the year, including a research project and a quality improvement project, in addition to creating and presenting two seminar presentations to the pharmacy department.
Required Learning Experiences
- Orientation
- Critical care
- Hematology/oncology
- Infectious diseases
- Internal medicine I
- Internal medicine II
- Solid organ transplantation
Elective Learning Experiences
- Advanced kidney-pancreas transplant
- Advanced liver transplant
- Anticoagulation clinic
- Antimicrobial stewardship
- Critical care II
- Emergency medicine
- Family medicine clinic*
- Heart failure/advanced heart transplant
- IBD clinic*
- Investigational drug services
- Pharmacogenomics
- Solid tumor oncology
- Stem cell transplant
*Outpatient rotations
Longitudinal Experiences
- Medication use evaluation
- Pharmacy management
- Research
- Pharmacy staffing
- Teaching and learning
Teaching Opportunities
- Teaching and learning certificate program
- Resident/student precepting opportunities
- Two ACPE-accredited 45-minute formal seminar presentations
My Experience
When first applying for PGY1 residency, it was difficult to get over the intimidation of applying somewhere as statured and with such a storied history as the Mayo Clinic. However, despite my trepidation about applying for such an intense program (and my trepidation about moving across the country from Georgia to Arizona!), I couldn’t be happier that I matched with this program. Although it has proved to be an intense experience that has challenged me at every step, the diverse range of experiences and opportunities is one that I feel can’t be matched.
The preceptors here, without fail, are the key component carrying this program. Every rotation has been highlighted by the education and support provided by each preceptor, all of whom are experts in their field. I previously counted infectious disease as one of my weaknesses in school, but after my infectious disease rotation here, I was almost ready to apply for an ID PGY2. Every single preceptor has been invested in my development as a resident and a pharmacist. The incorporation of residents into the interdisciplinary team and the rapport that has been built between us and other members of the team such as medical residents and attendings have been a crucial tenet of my residency experience. Even outside rotations, I’ve received messages from physicians from prior rotations with clinical questions.
Overall, I have been extremely happy with my time at Mayo Clinic Arizona, and I’m so glad I convinced myself to take a chance and apply for this program. I don’t feel like any other program would have developed me as well, and I am excited to have early committed for the solid organ transplant PGY2. If you are motivated and invested in challenging yourself as a person, a learner, and a pharmacist, then I highly recommend you apply for Mayo Clinic Arizona.
Submitted by:
Edith Ford
PGY1 Pharmacy Resident
Mayo Clinic Arizona