Ambulatory Care Self-Assessment: Leadership opportunity for residents!
Clinical pharmacy services at Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center (VGMHC) is comprised of six clinical pharmacists, four clinical practice faculty from Pacific University, two PGY1 community-based pharmacy residents, two PGY2 ambulatory care residents, and one clinical pharmacy technician. One of the longitudinal experiences shared between the PGY1 and PGY2 residency programs is a leadership and practice management rotation called the “Virginia Garcia Residency Conference” (VGRC). This is a joint session of all residents that takes place on alternating Thursday afternoons and provides an opportunity to discuss various topics related to clinical service development and implementation, billing, practice management, leadership and personal development. Throughout the year, this is also the venue for residents to team up and develop a business plan for a new or existing service.
In the spring, as part of VGRC, residents and preceptors take the practitioner version of the ASHP Practice Advancement Initiative (PAI) Ambulatory Care Self-Assessment tool and meet to discuss their common findings and action plans. This process of annual self-assessment is important to our organization because it provides a natural opportunity to discuss the recommendations from the 2014 Ambulatory Care Summit with our residents, informs priorities for the clinical pharmacy services agenda for the following year, and provides ideas for future resident and student research projects and business plans. The tools and resources, provided as part of the “action plan” after the self-assessment is completed, offer valuable insight and guidance and serve as excellent resources for our learners. The incorporation of the ambulatory care self-assessment into our residency programs also ensures that we are routinely evaluating the effectiveness and future potential of our clinical pharmacy services at VGMHC.
Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center (VGMHC) has NCQA Recognition as a Level 3 patient-centered primary care medical home and is a federally-qualified health center (FQHC) with five clinic locations across the Washington and Yamhill counties of Oregon. The clinic serves over 42,000 patients each year through an integrated, team-based model of primary care delivery.
Edward M. Saito, PharmD, BCACP
Assistant Professor
Pacific University School of Pharmacy
Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center
Hillsboro, OR
esaito@pacificu.edu