FAQ

What is Legacy Health?

Legacy Health is an Oregon-based not-for-profit, tax-exempt corporation that includes seven full-service hospitals and a research facility. Legacy is one of the largest private sector employers in the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington. The Legacy system provides an integrated network of health care services, including acute and critical care, inpatient and outpatient treatment, community health education and a variety of specialty services. 

Within the system, Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel is a regional leader in the care of infants, children and teens; the Legacy Oregon Burn Center is the only advanced burn care facility between Seattle and Sacramento; the Trauma Center at Legacy Emanuel has a Level I Trauma Center verified by the American College of Surgeons, the highest designation available for emergency care.  Legacy also has primary care and specialty clinics, as well as hospice and laboratory services. Legacy Salmon Creek has been recognized as an ASHP Certified Center of Excellence in Medication Use Safety and Pharmacy Practice.

 

What is the role of pharmacy at Legacy Health?

Pharmacy has a strong presence in all clinical areas within Legacy, with pharmacists decentralized in multiple patient care areas and pharmacist participation in patient care rounds. Pharmacists provide direct patient care to different patient populations including critical care, internal medicine, neonatal ICU, neurology/stroke, emergency medicine, oncology, orthopedic surgery, pediatrics, transplantation, and trauma. 

Pharmacy protocols are established for pharmacists to manage renal dosing, warfarin, heparin, low-molecular weight heparin, antibiotics (including but not limited to vancomycin and aminoglycosides), total parenteral nutrition and therapeutic drug interchange. 

Primary care clinics, transplant clinic, and medication management (anticoagulation) clinics also utilize pharmacists for collaborative drug therapy management and direct patient care. 

Pharmacy Services operate retail outpatient pharmacies at six hospitals providing clinic, employee and discharge prescriptions. 

 

What is the PGY1 Residency?

Legacy Health's PGY1 Residency provides the resident with exposure to a wide variety of clinical settings and specialty areas. The program is individualized to allow each resident to pursue additional areas of practice interest. Our pharmacy residents interact on a daily basis with members of the healthcare team and students, participating in multidisciplinary rounds, managing collaborative drug therapy protocols and making recommendations to improve patient care. 

 

What is the purpose of the Legacy PGY1 training program?

Legacy’s PGY1 residency program build upon 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 two (PGY2) residencies.

 

Is the Legacy Health pharmacy residency ASHP accredited?

Yes, the Legacy pharmacy residency has been accredited since 2001. 

 

What are the qualification requirements for residency candidates?

Candidates for the Legacy PGY1 Residency Program must have graduated from an accredited School or College of Pharmacy and must be licensed in Oregon (or Washington if applying to Legacy Salmon Creek) within 90 days of starting the program.

Legacy participates in the ASHP Residency Matching Program. Applicants are required to be registered in the ASHP Matching Program.

Candidates must apply by using the Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application Service (PhORCAS). In order to pay only 1 application fee to PhORCAS for all 5 Legacy Health sites, please apply to any ONE Legacy Health site within PhORCAS and then complete this survey to select the individual site names you are interested in.  

Candidates must submit a complete application in PhORCAS that is to include:

Curriculum vitae

Letter of intent: which must address all of the following:

• Short- and long-term goals for your pharmacy career
• What areas of health-system pharmacy interest you and why
• How Legacy could help you explore those interests and goals
• Legacy is committed to supporting cultural and linguistic diversity. As part of that mission, we welcome you to share how your journey through pharmacy school or life may be unique compared to your peers.

Official transcripts from professional pharmacy education (including class rank if no GPA)

Maximum of three references using the PhORCAS standardized reference form

Candidates must complete this survey after submitting a complete application in PhORCAS to select the individual site(s) of interest

Applications must be received by January 2nd each year for the following residency training year.

 

What are the learning experiences for PGY1 residents? 

Required learning experiences (at your individual site)

• System Orientation – general (3 weeks)
• System Orientation to Staffing (4 weeks)
• System General medicine (7 weeks)
• System Critical care (6 weeks)
• System Administration (4 weeks)
• System Emergency medicine (4-6 weeks)
• Practice Management (longitudinal over the course of the year)
• System Staffing (longitudinal over the course of the year)
• System Precepting (4-6 weeks at the end of the year)

Elective learning experiences (4-6 weeks in length)
Residents may select up to 4 elective learning experiences in total for the year.

• Ambulatory Care
• Oncology Ambulatory Care (LSCMC)
• Pediatric critical care (RCH)
• Neonatal critical care (RCH)
• Pediatric emergency medicine (RCH)
• Neuro trauma critical care (LEMC)
• Cardiovascular critical care (LEMC)
• Kidney transplant (LGSMC)
• Oncology adult (LGSMC) and pediatric (RCH)
• Transitions of Care
• Infectious disease
• Additional critical care rotation (LSCMC, LGSMC, LEMC)
• Operating Room (LGSMC)
• Oregon Pharmacy Teaching Certificate (OPTC) program

LEMC = Emanuel Medical Center
LMHMC = Mt. Hood Medical Center
RCH = Randall Children’s Hospital
LGSMC = Good Samaritan Medical Center
LSCMC = Salmon Creek Medical Center
LMPMC = Meridian Park Medical Center

 

What teaching opportunities are available for residents?

Legacy Health is a teaching facility for medical residents, medical students, pharmacy residents, and pharmacy students, as well as other disciplines. The pharmacy resident serves as a preceptor for an APPE pharmacy student for at least four weeks during the residency year, in addition to other informal precepting opportunities. A Teaching Certificate Program is an elective rotation available to our residents.

 

What is the compensation for Legacy pharmacy residents?

The resident's monthly stipend is competitive with the local and national market. The exact amount can be found each year on the ASHP Residency Directory. Legacy Benefits include family health, vision, and dental insurance, paid vacation, sick leave, holidays, travel allowance and a reduced cost public transportation pass. Legacy usually pays for resident travel but reimbursement is not guaranteed. Residents will be notified no later than 60 days prior to the conference regarding Legacy reimbursement. 

 

What are the staffing requirements of the residency program? 

All residents have a service commitment designed to ensure that residents gain experience and can function as a pharmacy generalist. 

 

Are there other requirements for residents? 

Residents are expected to complete a major project. This project is chosen and completed with the guidance of a preceptor and provides the resident with experience in conducting research, preparing a manuscript and presenting to a group of peers. Residents develop a timeline, receive IRB approval and submit an abstract (in early February) for presentation of the project at a conference.

Residents participate in a variety of projects including drug utilization evaluations (DUEs), in-services for multidisciplinary groups, drug information question write-ups, written education material development for Legacy, newsletter production, and other projects.

 

Residents complete an initial assessment prior to beginning the program with a quarterly review of this assessment as part of the customized training program and scheduled review. Residents evaluate the learning experience and preceptor with each learning experience, along with receiving an evaluation from the preceptor. These evaluations are reviewed quarterly with the program director and the residency site coordinator.

 

How many past residents are currently employed by Legacy? 

Since the PGY1 program achieved accreditation in 2001, over 50 residents have participated in residency training with Legacy. Over 50% of past Legacy residents are currently working at Legacy in a variety of settings including the emergency department, surgery, critical care, medicine, anticoagulation and transitions of care. 

 

Does Legacy Health sponsor H-1B Visas for foreign students or PGY1 residents interested in pursuing residency training? 

Legacy Health is not able to sponsor visas for foreign students or PGY1 residents interested in pursuing residency training.