PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency Program
Boulder Community Health's (BCH) Foothills Hospital is a licensed 178-bed facility and a level II trauma center offering a comprehensive range of services for the region. BCH also features a nationally-certified primary stroke center and has received national recognition for best practices in patient safety and integrated health care.
BCH has a full-service inpatient pharmacy with a staff of 25 pharmacists and 11 technicians. Pharmacy services provided at BCH include decentralized clinical monitoring and rounding, inpatient and outpatient medication education, pharmacokinetic dosing service, anticoagulation therapy management, sterile compounding, outpatient infusion services, and education to nursing and physician staff.
The Pharmacy Department is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Clinical pharmacy services are provided 7 days per week. In addition, the BCH pharmacy manages outlying freestanding ED’s and Urgent Care Clinics. BCH serves as an advanced practice site for pharmacy students from the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Pharmacy residency application deadline is January 3, 2025. Contact
jmesenbrink@bch.org,
czielenski@bch.org, or
kmacchi@bch.org for more details.
Contact
jmesenbrink@bch.org for virtual tour information.
Residency Program Overview
The PGY1 pharmacy residency program builds on the Doctor of Pharmacy education
and outcomes to contribute to the development of clinical pharmacists
responsible for medication-related care of patients with a wide range
of conditions, to prepare them for board certification, and postgraduate
year two pharmacy residency training.
The 12-month accredited ASHP post-graduate program is designed to provide residents with the knowledge, abilities, experience, attitude, and critical thinking skills necessary to become leaders in integrated health-system pharmacy practice. The program is structured to allow the resident to develop skills in many areas based on ASHP accreditation standards as well as individual needs and preferences.
The pharmacy residency provides experience in a variety of settings including, direct patient care, informatics, medication safety, and practice management while also allowing flexibility to meet individual preferences. The program is staffed by highly trained and respected clinical practitioners who are allotted dedicated time in their area of practice. Upon completion of the program, the clinical pharmacist will be ready to apply his or her skills in direct patient care, exhibit excellent decision-making skills, and provide education and leadership in the care of the patient.
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Longitudinal Learning Experiences (1 year)
- Staffing: Direct patient care experience
- Project: Administrative rotation and/or Direct patient care experience
- Pharmacy Practice Management: Administrative rotation
- Medication Safety/Drug Information: Administrative rotation
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Required Core Learning Experiences
- Orientation/Hospital Practice: Direct patient care (5 weeks)
- Advanced Independent Practice: Direct patient care experience (3 weeks)
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Residents will complete 5/7 of the following experiences based on their
entering interest survey and scheduling availability:
- Emergency Medicine: Direct patient care experience (6 weeks)
- Internal Medicine: Direct patient care experience (6 weeks)
- Critical Care: Direct patient care experience (6 weeks)
- Oncology/Orthopedics: Direct patient care experience (6 weeks)
- Cardiology: Direct patient care experience (6 weeks)
- Informatics: Administrative rotation (6 weeks)
- Pharmacy Administration: Administrative rotation (6 weeks)
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Elective learning experiences (choose 2):
- Infectious Disease/Antimicrobial Stewardship: Direct patient care experience (5 weeks)
- Transitional Care/Ambulatory Care: Direct patient care experience (5 weeks)
- Behavioral Health: Direct patient care experience (5 weeks)
- Advanced Emergency Medicine: Direct patient care experience (5 weeks)
- Advanced Critical Care: Direct patient care experience (5 weeks)
- Others under development
Requirements for Acceptance
- PharmD graduate of an ACPE-accredited college of pharmacy or one in the process of pursuing accreditation. BCH does not accept applicants who have a Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Committee certificate from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.
- Eligibility for licensure in Colorado.
- Completed application, curriculum vitae, academic transcripts, three letters of reference through PHORCAS, letter of intent and supplemental essay.
BCH requires a supplemental essay. Please be sure to include this document in addition to the standard requirements. Essay instructions: In one page, single space, 12 point font, please address the following question: Describe a time when you failed. What was the outcome? How did you respond? How has this affected you today? Looking back, what would you have done differently?
Click here to view the 2024-25 Pharmacy Residency Program manual
New Residents
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Bianca Garrow, Pharm D
- Midwestern University Glendale - Arizona
- bianca.garrow@bch.org
- Project: “Assessing the Impact of Education and Electronic Health Record (EHR) Order Modification on Blood Culture Appropriateness in a Community Health System”
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Shayne Hughes, Pharm D
- University of Wisconsin Madison - Wisconsin
- shayne.hughes@bch.org
- Project: Evaluating the Effect of a Revised Clinical Scoring Tool in Electronic Health Record (EHR) on Clinical Pharmacists' Prioritization of Patient Monitoring”
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Justin White-Rhodes, PharmD
- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville - Illinois
- justin.whiterh@bch.org
- Project: “Assessing the Impact of Pharmacist-led Education and Institutional Antimicrobial Stewardship Guidebook Modifications on Daptomycin Utilization in a Community Hospital”
Past Residents
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Bridger Liston, Pharm D - PGY1 Resident 2023-2024
- Clinical Pharmacist at Denver Health
- Project: “Determining the Impact of EHR Modifications and Pharmacist-Led Education on the Frequency of Medication Non-Administrations”
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Lauren Beaumont, Pharm D - PGY1 Resident 2023-2024
- Visiting Scientist Fellow at Eli Lilly and Company
- Project: “Determining the effect of pharmacist-led, real-time provider education and feedback on proportion of appropriate inpatient piperacillin-tazobactam utilization”
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Nicole Kazemini, Pharm D - PGY1 Resident 2023-2024
- Project: “Evaluating the Effect of a Pharmacist-led Educational Intervention on Outpatient Azithromycin Prescribing Practices: A Comparative Analysis Before and After Provider Feedback”
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Darian Gilliam , Pharm D – PGY1 Resident 2022-2023
- Clinical pharmacist at BCH
- Project: “Evaluating the Effect of a Pharmacist-Led Education on Allergy Documentation and Reporting in a Community Hospital Setting.”
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Michelle van Dijk, Pharm D – PGY1 Resident 2022-2023
- Clinical pharmacist at BCH
- Project: “Implementing Computerized Provider Order Entry Lab Monitoring Alerts for Narrow Therapeutic Index Drugs.”
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Kaylin Wakuzawa, Pharm D – PGY1 Resident 2022-2023
- Clinical pharmacist at The Queen’s Medical Center in Hawaii
- Project: “Evaluating the Effect of Provider Education, Feedback, and Workflow Modification on the Frequency of Prescribed Antibiotics for Urinary Tract Infections in the Outpatient Setting.”
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Jena Rathert, Pharm D - PGY1 Resident 2021-2022
- Clinical Pharmacist at Monument Health
- Project: “The Impact of a Pharmacist-driven Intervention on Rates of Sedation Vacations in the Intensive Care Unit.”
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Sara Dellinger, Pharm D, BCACP – PGY1 Resident 2020-2021
- Completed Ambulatory Care PGY2 at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia
- Ambulatory Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at Intermountain Healthcare
- Project: “The effects of take-home naloxone and education on mortality and hospitalizations when dispensed from the emergency department to high-risk patients.”
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Kelley Nguyen, Pharm D, BCPS - PGY1 Resident 2020-2021
- Clinical Pharmacist at Temecula Valley Hospital
- Project: “Cost comparison of cellulitis management in ED of single-dose dalbavancin versus historic standard of care cohort: a quality improvement project.”
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J. Benjamin Hill, Pharm D BCACP – PGY1 resident 2019-2020
- Completed Ambulatory Care/Family Medicine PGY2 at the University of Colorado
- Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Skaggs School of PharmacyProject:
- Project: “Implementation and Evaluation of a Pharmacy Service Initiating HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors in a Primary Care Setting.”
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Katelyn Barrett, PharmD, BCPS – PGY1 Resident 2019-2020
- Clinical Pharmacist at Boulder Community Health
- Project: “Impact of a pharmacist-driven 48 hour timeout with post-prescriptive antibiotic feedback (PPA) on a general medical floor in a community hospital: a prospective cohort study.”
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Austin Hinkel, PharmD, BCPS - PGY1 Resident 2018 – 2019
- Clinical Pharmacist at Boulder Community Health
- Project: “Implementation of pharmacist interventions to reduce readmission rates in high-risk patients discharged from a community hospital.”
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Josephine Giang, PharmD, BCPS – PGY1 Resident 2017 – 2018
- Clinical Pharmacist at 48 MDSS/SGSD RAF Lakenheath
- Project: “Implementation of prospective audit and feedback system for ertapenem utilization at a community hospital.”
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Sara Mirzaei, PharmD, BCPS, BCPPS – PGY1 Resident 2017-2018
- Completed Medication Safety PGY2 at Children’s Hospital Colorado
- Medication Safety Specialist at Children’s Hospital Colorado
- Project: “Pharmacist-intervention to optimize duration of antibiotic therapy for patients hospitalized with community acquired pneumonia.”
Contact Information
Christopher Zielenski
Pharm D, BCPS, BCCCP, Pharmacy Director
czielenski@bch.org
(303)415-7756
Katherine Macchi
Pharm D, BCPS, Pharmacy Manager
kmacchi@bch.org
303-415-7780
Jaime Mesenbrink
Pharm D, BCPS, BCCCP, Residency Program Director
jmesenbrink@bch.org
(303)415-7774