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Pharmacy Residency
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Health System Pharmacy Administration and Leadership Residency

Thank you for your interest in our 2-year combined PGY1/PGY2/MS health-system pharmacy administration and leadership residency program. Our program is designed to provide a strong clinical experience and equip graduates with the essential leadership skills necessary to assume high-level managerial, supervisory and leadership responsibilities throughout their career.

The health system pharmacy administration and leadership residency program at The University of Kansas Health System was established in 1969 by Harold N. Godwin. Since that time, we have graduated 150 HSPAL residents, some of whom have gone on to establish their own HSPAL residencies in health systems across the country.

The University of Kansas Health System HSPAL Program Specific Manual

Residency program purpose statement

PGY1 residency programs build upon a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) education and outcomes to develop pharmacist practitioners with knowledge, skills and abilities as defined in the educational competency areas, goals and objectives. Residents who successfully complete PGY1 residency programs will be skilled in diverse patient care, practice management, leadership and education and be prepared to provide patient care, seek board certification in pharmacotherapy (i.e., BCPS), and pursue advanced education and training opportunities including postgraduate year 2 (PGY2) residencies.

PGY2 residency programs build upon a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) education and PGY1 pharmacy residency training to develop pharmacist practitioners with knowledge, skills and abilities as defined in the educational competency areas, goals and objectives for advanced practice areas. Residents who successfully complete PGY2 residency programs are prepared for advanced patient care or other specialized positions and board certification in the advanced practice area, if available.

Program design

PGY1 learning experiences:

Required learning experience Duration
Orientation 2 weeks
Training 6 weeks
Acute care (selective) 4-6 weeks
Specialty acute care (selective) 4-6 weeks
Ambulatory care (selective) 4-6 weeks
Medication use, safety, and policy (MUSP) 4 weeks
Introduction to administration 4 weeks
Longitudinal service commitment Longitudinal
+ 1-3 nonconsecutive blocked weeks
Longitudinal research Longitudinal
+ 3 nonconsecutive blocked weeks
Grand rounds and leadership topic discussion Longitudinal
Transitions of care (HSPAL-specific) 4-5 weeks
Advanced administration (HSPAL-specific) 4-5 weeks
Expansion (HSPAL-specific) 4-5 weeks

PGY1 Selective options

  • Acute care selective:
    • Cardiology
    • Internal medicine
  • Specialty acute care:
    • Adult hematology/oncology
    • BMT
    • Cystic fibrosis
    • Neonatal ICU
    • Neurology
    • OR/surgery
    • Pediatrics
    • Pulmonary hypertension
    • Psychiatry
    • Rehabilitation
    • Solid organ transplant
  • Ambulatory care selective: See PGY2 Ambulatory Pharmacy Residency for specific clinic options
    • Comprehensive care clinics: Pharmacist evaluates complete patient, not specific disease or medication
    • Primary care clinics: Pharmacist-led medication management services; patients referred by providers
    • Specialty care clinics: Pharmacists focus on specialized diseases and medications

PGY2 learning experiences:

Required learning experience Learning experience length* Learning experiences options
Acute care management selective 6 weeks

Inpatient clinical services – 39th and Rainbow campus

Inpatient operations – 39th and Rainbow campus

Ambulatory care management selective 6 weeks

Ambulatory clinical services

Cancer care clinical services

Ambulatory cancer care operations

Home infusion services

Infusion operations (oncology or nononcology)

Retail pharmacy operations

Specialty pharmacy operations

Pharmacy supply chain and centralized pharmacy services selective 6 weeks

Supply chain PLUS – choose one of the following subspecialties:

  • 340B
  • Automation
  • Pharmacy shared services (Suite 170/Warehouse)
  • Regulatory compliance and diversion
Pharmacy senior leadership 4 weeks --

Longitudinal experiences

  • All are required
Throughout residency year

Administrative longitudinal management budget

Medication safety

Master’s research

Electives

  • Resident to select 4
6 weeks Any available learning experience from this table or the one below, without repeating an experience already selected.

 

*Any learning experiences scheduled during Thanksgiving and ASHP’s midyear clinical meeting will be lengthened by 1 week.

In addition to the above requirements, the resident must select a schedule that ensures the below requirements are met:

Area Learning experience

Operations

  • Choose 2 from this list

Infusion operations (oncology or nononcology)

Inpatient operations – 39th and Rainbow campus

Retail operations

Clinical management

  • Choose 1 from this list

Ambulatory clinical services

Cancer care clinical services

Inpatient clinical services – 39th and Rainbow campus

Ambulatory services

  • Choose 1 from this list

Ambulatory cancer care operations

Ambulatory clinical services

Cancer care clinical services

Home infusion services

Infusion operations (oncology or nononcology)

Retail operations

Specialty pharmacy operations

Potential electives

  • Other potential learning experiences that may be created based on resident interest

Community hospital services (Olathe or Liberty hospitals)

Informatics

Inpatient cancer care operations

Investigational drug services

Specialty hospital services (Strawberry Hill or Indian Creek hospitals)

Key preceptors

  • Rick Couldry, RPH, MS, FASHP, vice president of pharmacy and health professions
  • Sarah Daniel, PharmD, MS, BCPS, senior director of ambulatory pharmacy services
  • Kat Miller, PharmD, MHA, DPLA, FASHP, senior director of acute care pharmacy services
  • Leigh Anne Scott, PharmD, MBA, senior director of cancer care and infusion pharmacy services
  • Chris Loucks, PharmD, MS, director of pharmacy supply chain

Resident presentations

PGY1 residents follow the PGY1 program structure for presentations.

  • Grand rounds: 45-minute presentation in first half of the year
  • CE grand rounds: 60-minute presentation in second half of the year with CE credit
  • Leadership topic discussion: 45-minute resident facilitated discussion

PGY2 year

  • The resident is required to conduct one 45-minute presentation during the PGY2 residency year for pharmacy department leaders. The presentation will take place as scheduled by residency leadership. The resident will select their own topic, but it must be relevant to pharmacy leadership.

PGY1 and PGY2 year

  • The resident is required to present a poster presentation for their PGY1 or master’s research.
  • 20-minute oral practice presentation of PGY1 or master’s research at HSPAL RAC.
  • 20-minute oral presentation of PGY1 or master’s research at selected residency conference.

General presentation objectives

  • Demonstrate a thorough knowledge for topic presented.
  • Compose, present and communicate information that is brief, well-structured and error-free.
  • For clinical presentations:
    • Analyze patient cases for pertinent pathophysiologic processes, pharmacotherapy and drug-related problems.
    • Interpret drug response and evaluate risk/benefit in patient cases.
    • Identify controversial issues involved in patient cases and develop a therapeutic plan.
    • Apply critical literature evaluation skills to medical literature.

Academic degree

Residents will earn a Master of Science in pharmacy practice from the University of Kansas as part of the residency program. A minimum of 30 hours of coursework is required to be completed during the 2-year residency. Classes are taught through the Health Policy and Management Department, College of Business, College of Pharmacy and by administrators in the pharmacy department. The majority of classes take place during the evenings to avoid interference with clinical learning experiences. Graduate student tuition is paid for by The University of Kansas Health System. Residents who drop classes after the drop/add period in which no refund is awarded by The University of Kansas may be required to reimburse the health system. Similarly, any tuition reimbursement refunded to a resident must be forwarded on to the health system.

Research projects

Residents are required to complete research projects throughout the 2 residency years. Residents will have 3-4 weeks dedicated to research each year as well as Academic Fridays to ensure dedicated time to work on research projects.

Academic Fridays

  • Occur every 2nd and 4th Friday of the month starting in August of PGY1 year
  • Academic Friday content:
    • Research project time including project meetings
    • HSPAL RAC attendance
    • Advanced Institutional Pharmacy Services (AIPS) class (may be scheduled on other dates pending instructor availability)
    • 1:1 meetings with residency leadership
    • HSPAL Team meetings
  • Residents are expected to utilize Academic Fridays to minimize time away from learning experience due to research and other HSPAL obligations, especially during the PGY1 year.

PGY1 Projects

Reversed research model: PGY1 residents participate in leading 2 research projects throughout the year. Through the reversed model, PGY1 residents complete data collection/analysis and develop a poster and manuscript in the first 6 months of the program for a research project that was developed by a previous PGY1 resident. Starting in January of the residency year, PGY1 residents will develop a research question and design a research project by the end of the residency year that will be passed to the incoming PGY1 class.

Master’s project requirement

During the program, residents are required to complete a longitudinal project that suffices the master’s project requirement of their coursework. This project must be in alignment with the strategic goals for the department and organization and allow the resident to contribute to an area of pharmacy practice. The resident will be required to prepare a manuscript with intent to submit to a peer-reviewed journal.

Residency information

Length of program:

24 months

Number of positions:

6 (3 PGY1, 3 PGY2)

Longitudinal service commitment: Weekends/holidays (8-hour pharmacist shift)

PGY1:

  • First ½ of the year through December/holiday block: every other weekend on acute care pharmacist team
  • Second ½ of the year starting in January (after holiday block):
    • Every 4th weekend in retail pharmacy
    • Evenings: 5-hour shift every other week in retail pharmacy (to be self-scheduled to ensure no overlap with MS coursework
  • 3 holidays throughout residency year

PGY2:

  • Every 4th weekend
    • Staffing area determined by administrative longitudinal management track assignment
  • 1 major or 2 minor holidays throughout residency year

Current benefits

  • Annual salary
    • PGY1: $52,000
    • PGY2: $56,000
  • Benefits include PTO, paid holidays and health/dental/life/liability insurance
  • View more information

Conference attendance and travel

Conference attendance and travel is supported by the department based on availability of funds.

Additional pharmacy education and leadership opportunities

  • Chief resident
  • Precept pharmacy students from University of Kansas School of Pharmacy and University of Missouri Kansas City School of Pharmacy.
  • Participate in local and national pharmacy organizations such as GKCSHP, KCHP, ASHP and ACCP.
  • University of Kansas School of Pharmacy offers a teaching certificate for local residents.

Application information

Informational sessions

Deadlines

  • Application deadline: January 2, 2026
  • Must have a valid pharmacy license in the state of Kansas 90 days after starting residency.

Checklist for application

Important dates after completion of match process

  • June: Annual resident's meet-and-greet event and orientation

National matching services (NMS) code: 180718

Contact us

HSPAL residency director

HSPAL residency director

Sarah Daniel, PharmD, MS, BCPS (she/her/hers)

Sarah Mester

PGY1 residency coordinator

Sarah Mester, PharmD, MS, BCPS (she/her/hers)

Meet our residents

Julia Chamberlain

Julia Chamberlain, PGY1: Health System Pharmacy Administration and Leadership

Hometown: Saint Charles, Missouri

Pharmacy school: Purdue University

Practice interests: Clinical pharmacy management, operations, ambulatory care management

Hobbies: Cooking/baking, hanging out with friends and family, trying new restaurants, anything outdoors and cheering on Purdue basketball

Why I chose The University of Kansas Health System: This program provides me with a strong clinical foundation along with the opportunity to complete a personalized master's program. The unique staffing model allows me to staff in both the inpatient and retail pharmacies to improve my clinical and operational knowledge. Additionally, every interaction I had with current residents and members of the pharmacy team showed me how much they genuinely enjoyed the program and their work environment. The welcoming, supportive and collaborative culture within the pharmacy department felt like the type of environment I wanted to be a part of as I continued to grow professionally.

Lindsey Hennings

Lindsey Eddings, PGY1: Health System Pharmacy Administration and Leadership

Hometown: Olathe, Kansas

Pharmacy school: University of Kansas

Practice interests: Pediatrics, operations, regulatory compliance, sterile and nonsterile compounding.

Hobbies: Quilting, embroidery, baking, cooking and trying new restaurants in KC!

Why I chose The University of Kansas Health System: I chose The University of Kansas Health System for the long and rich history of the HSPAL program. The program covers a wide range of pharmacy leadership areas in addition to a robust clinical experience that I was looking for. Knowing the history of the HSPAL program and going to school in the Kansas City area allowed me to interact with leaders of the health system that further solidified my decision to pursue residency at the health system!

Jordan Henney

Jordan Henney, PGY1: Health System Pharmacy Administration and Leadership

Hometown: Topeka, Kansas

Pharmacy school: University of Kansas

Practice interests: Operations and medication safety

Hobbies: I love reading, crocheting and watching reality television in my free time.

Why I chose The University of Kansas Health System: I had an incredible experience during an APPE rotation with the inpatient pharmacy leadership team that solidified my interest in completing the PGY1 and 2 HSPAL residency program here! Additionally, the health system’s long legacy of successful graduates from this program was inspiring to me, and I am excited to have such an expansive network of past residents who have completed the program!

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