Application Process

Letter from the Program Director

Dear Residency Applicant:

Thank you for your interest in Rush University Medical Center’s Residency in Pharmacy Practice, a post-graduate year one residency (PGY1).

Our residency training program is directed toward developing competent, well-rounded, patient-oriented pharmacists. It consists of rotations focusing on clinical practice, as well as experience which provides insight into pharmaceutical care management. An important dimension of our program, however, is the opportunity for residents to effect meaningful change in one of the largest and most progressive academic health science centers in the United States. The depth and scope of clinical services at Rush, as well as our experienced preceptors, represent our most significant strengths.

At Rush, our primary concern is optimizing each resident’s personal professional development. This is accomplished through the design of specific programs to meet your career objectives. Residents are given patient-care responsibilities and the necessary autonomy and authority to meet them, yet a preceptor is always available to provide support as needed. You are encouraged to effect change and to initiate new services. The program also provides ample opportunities for improving both written and verbal communication skills.

If you are interested in our program, please complete the application form (see link in the right-side menu) and return it no later than January 1, 2010. We require that all applicants to our program be in the process of completing educational requirements for or have already graduated with a Pharm.D. Degree from an ACPE accredited college of pharmacy and be eligible for pharmacy licensure in Illinois. Moreover, you must be enrolled in the American Society of Health System Pharmacists’ Residency Matching Program.

The following should be submitted when applying:

1. A current resume or curriculum vitae
2. A completed application (see link in the right-side menu)
3. Official transcripts of all pharmacy education (please include pre-pharmacy as well)
4. A cover letter indicating why advanced training is being pursued
5. Experience assessment questionnaire (see link in the right-side menu)
6. A passport quality photograph

Three (3) formal letters of professional reference or three (3) of the recommendation request forms (see link in the right-side menu) must also be provided, and can be submitted directly to us at Rush. One reference should be from a faculty member in your professional degree program. The other references should be from practicing pharmacists with whom you have had patient care/rotation experience. As references are typically delayed in arriving, please initiate this process before the submission of other application materials. We will initially accept unofficial transcripts (e.g. photocopies) and statements of grade point average to enable application review, however, official transcripts must follow.

In our mutual interests, we require an on-site interview at Rush to allow for a tour of the facility and a personal introduction to our preceptors. Once your file is complete and we have a chance to review your materials, we will contact you to arrange an interview. As there are usually many more applicants than we have time to interview, the sooner your materials are complete, the better.

Again, we appreciate your interest in the Rush Pharmacy Practice Residency Program. For questions, feel free to call me at (312) 942-2108 or by email at Nora_Flint@rush.edu.

Sincerely,

Nora Flint, Pharm.D., BCPS, FASHP
Director, Pharmacy Practice Residency Program
Department of Pharmacy
Rush University Medical Center
1653 W. Congress Parkway
Chicago, IL 60612
312-942-2108
nora_flint@rush.edu