The Medical University of South Carolina Health Network is composed of 16 hospitals, with around 2700 beds and additional hospital and care locations situated in all regions of South Carolina. MUSC provides comprehensive care and education through six colleges – Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. MUSC Health Charleston is an 800+ bed academic medical center located in Charleston, South Carolina, which is the primary practice site for most residents, but residents may rotate throughout the MUSC Health network depending on specific program structure to achieve their goals and objectives.

The PGY2 oncology pharmacy residency at MUSC allows residents to build on their Pharm.D. education and PGY1 pharmacy residency experience to develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities to practice in any advanced patient care or specialized position. Most of the resident’s rotations are completed at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, which is the only National Cancer Institute–designated cancer center in South Carolina. This center provides a base for those with all cancer diagnoses to be seen by providers, receive chemotherapy infusions, or participate in research clinical trials.

My Experience

When self-reflecting on my future career goals, the PGY2 oncology pharmacy residency program provided unique opportunities that would set me up for success as a future oncology specialist. I was initially interested in this program’s ability to have specialized clinics to focus my learning on only certain disease states each month. Clinics are sometimes set up in a more generalized manner, and I appreciated MUSC’s practice structure of separating clinics on the basis of disease state. I was also drawn to the fact that pharmacists are present in all of these specialized clinics, showcasing that the oncology pharmacist specialist is an integral member of the treatment team.

The preceptors at MUSC are amazing. I felt encouraged to advocate for myself and my personal learning objectives during each rotation. I was well supported throughout my experience by every preceptor, who only wanted to see my success. At the beginning of residency, we had the opportunity to “speed-date” the preceptors to choose a mentor to meet with throughout the year. I can say this experience allowed me to express concerns and successes openly and honestly with someone who provided advice and guidance on short-term (e.g., time management) and long-term (e.g., job interviewing) concerns. Any preceptor in this program would be happy to help you in any way that you need, but having a mentor was a great opportunity to build a better relationship.

Overall, if I had to do it again, I would still choose MUSC. This experience has been incredibly rewarding – working with respected providers, learning from knowledgeable preceptors, and helping so many patients with cancer and their caretakers. I feel fully prepared and able to pursue the next step in my professional development as a new oncology pharmacy specialist.

Required Rotations (1 month):

• Inpatient Malignant Hematology
• Outpatient Malignant Hematology
• Outpatient Breast Cancer
• Outpatient Gastrointestinal Cancers
• Outpatient Genitourinary Cancers with Head and Neck Cancers
• Outpatient Gynecologic Cancers
• Outpatient Carcinoma and Melanoma Clinic
• Outpatient Thoracic Clinic
• Outpatient Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Clinic
• Palliative Care

Elective Rotations (1 month):

• Infectious Diseases
• Pediatric Oncology
• Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (Inpatient/Outpatient)
• Oncology Solid Tumor Generalist
• Repeat required rotation experiences
• Other elective rotation experiences may be developed on the basis of resident interest
  • Ex: Inpatient Solid Tumor

Longitudinal Rotations:

• Major Research Project
• Medication Use Evaluation
• Policy Update/Creation
• Topic Discussions
• Journal Club
• Patient Case Presentations
• Outpatient Clinic Experience
• Investigational Drug Services
• Oncology Practice Management

Precepting/Teaching Activities:

• Continuing Education credited Seminar Presentations (~1 hour in length)
• Precepting
• Didactic Lecture (~1 hour in length)
• Evaluating student Grand Round presentations

Staffing

• Inpatient: 1 weekend per month
• Outpatient Infusion: 1 day per month

Example Resident Schedule

Residents have monthlong rotations with a longitudinal clinic built into the schedule for 6 months of the year. Other longitudinal experiences or topic discussions, depending on the experience, are scheduled as meetings throughout the month. For the first 6 months of the program, residents have a project/administration day to complete rotation-related projects as well as work on longitudinal projects such as the major research project, medication use evaluation, and updates/new policy. Depending on the clinic, providers sometimes do not see patients, so those days are used to conduct patient care activities through telephone/office work days.

Websites: https://muschealth.org/health-professionals/education/pharmacy/our-programs

https://muschealth.org/health-professionals/education/pharmacy/our-programs/pgy2-oncology

Instagram: @muscpharmres

Contacts:

Residency Program Director:

Jennifer MacDonald, Pharm.D., BCOP

Clinical Pharmacy Specialist – Gynecologic Oncology

[email protected]

Submitted by:

Abigale Lewis, Pharm.D.

PGY2 Oncology Pharmacy Resident

Medical University of South Carolina

[email protected]