Clinical training of hospital pharmacy residents

An 18-week clinical educational training segment of a hospital pharmacy residency is described. The segment begins with a one-week orientation series to clinical services. This is followed by a four-week block in the drug information center, where the resident participates in all areas of the center. Following this block, the resident begins a planned series of elective clinical rotations (two four-week and one three-week elective rotations and a required two-week anesthesiology rotation). The clinical rotations are designed to provide training in all facets of the pharmaceutical care of hospitalized patients, with major emphasis on therapeutic management. The program's major objectives, instructional methods, activities and responsibilities, learning objectives, and evaluation methods are discussed. This training segment teaches residents how to integrate their knowledge of disease states and therapeutics into the provision of comprehensive pharmaceutical services.