PGY2 in Critical Care Pharmacy

The Critical Care Pharmacy Residency at UF Health Shands Hospital is an ASHP-accredited program. The purpose of the PGY2 pharmacy residency programs build on Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) education and PGY1 pharmacy residency programs to contribute to the development of clinical pharmacists in specialized areas of practice. PGY2 residencies provide residents with opportunities to function independently as practitioners by conceptualizing and integrating accumulated experience and knowledge and incorporating both into the provision of patient care or other advanced practice settings. Residents who successfully complete an accredited PGY2 pharmacy residency are prepared for advanced patient care, academic, or other specialized positions, along with board certification, if available.

A pharmacist completing a PGY2 Critical Care Specialty Pharmacy Practice Residency at University of Florida Health Shands will be a competent, confident, and assertive clinician who will provide pharmaceutical care to critically ill patients in intensive care environments. As a fully integrated and active member of the healthcare team, the pharmacist will consistently achieve optimal drug therapy outcomes. They will be adept in problem solving and managing a clinical practice. The pharmacist will be a motivated, highly dedicated, life-long learner, who is able to adapt to many intensive care practice settings and a changing healthcare environment. Each pharmacist will possess and utilize creative skills and sound knowledge in educating other healthcare professionals, patients, students, and the community on critical care related topics. The pharmacist will demonstrate the ability to evaluate and analyze drug literature and to effectively communicate complex information to a broad audience in both formal and informal presentation settings. They will demonstrate a level of personal accountability that is characteristic of professional maturity. Likewise, the pharmacist will demonstrate leadership skills and exhibit a commitment to the profession of critical care pharmacy.

Program

Critical Care pharmacy services are provided to the patients of UF Health Shands Hospital by an experienced critical care trained pharmacy team. Pharmacists provide care to a wide variety of patients in the inpatient setting with more than 1100 beds, including ~250 ICU beds and 75 Emergency Department beds including emergency response to inpatient cardiac and respiratory arrests.

The Critical Care Pharmacy Residency program offers several clinical practice experiences within UF Health Shands Hospital including:

Required rotations

Orientation [4 weeks] (will be abbreviated for residents who early commit)
Clinical Nutrition Support [4 weeks]
Cardiac Critical Care (CCU) [4 weeks]
Cardiovascular Surgery Intensive Care (CVICU) [4 weeks]
Neurosciences Intensive Care (NSICU) [4 weeks]
Medical Intensive Care (MICU) - Basic Principles [4 weeks]
Surgical Intensive Care (SICU) [4 weeks]
Trauma Intensive Care (TICU) [4 weeks]
Research/Scholarly Activity [4 weeks] (may spread throughout the year as schedule allows)

Elective rotations/experiences

May also repeat one or more of the required rotations for additional experience at the discretion of the RPD:

Medical Intensive Care (MICU) - Advanced Practice [4 weeks]
Bone Marrow Transplantation [4 weeks]
Burn Intensive Care (BICU) [4 weeks]
Emergency Medicine [4 weeks]
Infectious Diseases [4 weeks]
Pediatric Intensive Care (PICU) [4 weeks]
Solid Organ Transplant – Abdominal [4 weeks]
Solid Organ Transplant– Heart and Lung[4 weeks]
Thoracic & Lung Transplant Intensive Care (TLICU) [4 weeks]
Vascular Intensive Care (VICU) [4 weeks]

Electives may be shortened to two weeks if resident elective preferences do not fit within a 4 week schedule.

Longitudinal experiences (required)

Grand Roundsx2 [Fall & Spring]
Critical Care clinical Research Project – including providing a formal presentation and authoring a complete manuscript suitable for publication
Critical Care Drug Monograph and Formulary Review (1st or 2nd half of year)
Medication Use Evaluation (1st or 2nd half of year)
Medication Safety (52 weeks)
Critical Care Committee (52 weeks)

Resident duties

Clinical on-call coverage [every 3rd week]
Clinical shifts [8 hours every 6th weekend]
Staffing shifts [16 hours every 3rd weekend]
- Weekday evening shift staffing on-call (minimum 6 weeks on-call per year)
Complete a newsletter article suitable for publication in the Drugs & Therapy Bulletin, the Medical ICU Monthly Newsletter, or equivalent as determined by the RPD
Complete a residency research project and submit a complete manuscript in publishable form
Present the residency research project at the Florida Residency Conference or equivalent as determined by the RPD
Complete a Medication Use Evaluation (MUE), including providing a formal oral and written summary (e.g. poster presented at local or national meeting)
Complete a Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee monograph as determined by the Secretary of the P&T Committee
ASHP Evidence of Residents' Completion of CAGO Requirements

Stipend

The resident receives a $56,368 stipend paid by UF Health Shands Hospital. The stipend, coupled with the comparatively low cost of living in Gainesville, should ensure a financially sufficient year.

Benefits

Ten days of paid time off
Nine paid holidays
Contributory health insurance
Paid life insurance

Applications

Interested applicants must register for the Resident Matching Program
Submit all applications through PhORCAS.
Official start date for the residency: June 29, 2026
Final deadline for complete applications is January 2nd, 2026

Complete applications include:

Transcript of the applicant’s grades
Letter of Intent
Current curriculum vitae
Standardized Reference Forms supplied by PhORCAS from three (3) professional sources

After completed applications have been reviewed, the residency selection committee will notify selected applicants to arrange an on-site or virtual interview.

Requirements

To be eligible for a Critical Care Pharmacy Residency at UF Health Shands Hospital, you must meet the following requirements:

Academic: The applicant must be a graduate from an ACPE-accredited degree program (or one in the process of pursuing accreditation) or have a foreign pharmacy graduate examination committee (FPGEC) certificate from the NABP and have successfully completed or be in the process of completing an ASHP-Accredited or candidate-status Post-Graduate Year One residency.
Professional License: All residents will be required to take and pass the Florida Pharmacy Board Examination by August 1st of their residency year.
Interview: An interview with patient case presentation is required.
Foreign Applicants: To be considered for employment, you must presently have an employment authorization that is valid throughout the residency period.

Contact information

Bethany R. Shoulders, PharmD, BCCCP
Program Director
Clinical Associate Professor, University of Florida College of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy Education and Practice
Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Trauma ICU
PGY2 Critical Care Residency Program Director, UF Health Shands Hospital, Gainesville, FL
brshoulders@cop.ufl.edu