Leveraging pharmacy residents during COVID-19 pandemic

As many health systems across the United States are preparing for and/or experiencing the surge in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), pharmacy residents are asking how they can best contribute. Residency program directors (RPDs) are trying to balance exposing residents to a once-in-a-lifetime experience while also keeping them safe. Perhaps one of the only positives about the timing of this pandemic is that pharmacy residents are fully trained and versatile and can be leveraged to do administrative, operational, and clinical duties—all while continuing to meet necessary learning objectives. Our health system consists of 7 hospitals and has the capacity to care for approximately 1,250 inpatients. Our pharmacy residency program consists of 30 total residents in the following specialties: Health-System Pharmacy Administration MS; postgraduate year 1 (PGY1); pharmacotherapy; PGY2 emergency medicine; PGY2 critical care; PGY2 cardiology; PGY2 hematology oncology; PGY2 infectious diseases; PGY2 solid organ transplant; PGY2 pain and palliative; PGY2 informatics; and PGY2 ambulatory care. In an effort to be equipped for the surge of patients with COVID-19, our health system is at reduced capacity, with additional sites preparing to accept patients if needed. After reading through ASHP’s “Pandemic Effects on Residency Programs Q & A” guidance document in addition to countless listservs and social media posts, we wanted to share some of our institution’s strategies to use and protect residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.1 Our RPD residency advisory committee (RAC) decided to keep residents on scheduled rotations with the caveat that direct patient care rotations would involve limited patient exposure in accordance with local hospital and state recommendations. All pharmacists, including residents, at our institution were encouraged to use secure chat functions within the electronic medical record to continue having a virtual presence on rounds while rotating on- and off-site consistent with organizational requirements of telework. Virtual platforms such as Cisco Webex are being used for patient reviews in addition to topic discussions when residents and preceptors are off-site. This has allowed residents to continue gaining clinical experience while also completing necessary learning objectives to remain on track to receive their residency certificate. Some programs have even created an additional COVID-19 pandemic response learning experience for their residents, while others have adjusted learning activities to include responsibilities related to patients with COVID-19. Residents were also incorporated into more global emergency response activities (eg, code blue, strokes, ST-elevation myocardial infarction [STEMI]) while on-site to limit total pharmacist exposure to the hospital setting. Many of our residents, in collaboration with pharmacy administrators and specialists, have been involved in preparation activities as well as development of guidelines on how to care for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. Table 1 highlights our health-system pharmacy resident contributions as of April 4, 2020. Pharmacy Resident COVID-19 Contributions Abbreviations: COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; HSPA, health-system pharmacy administration; PG, postgraduate; STEMI, ST-elevation myocardial infarction. Pharmacy residents have been instrumental in preparing our health system for the surge in patients with known or suspected COVID-19. As the need to care for more critically ill patients arises, we will be deploying residents to operational areas in need, including alternate sites of care. In trying to balance an experience with overall safety, health, and wellness, the RPD RAC also highly encouraged residents to take time to focus on themselves by implementing some of the wellness activities included in the department of pharmacy daily communication. While COVID-19 has presented new challenges for health systems across the country, pharmacy residents are rising to the occasion in continuing to progress toward completion of their respective residency certificate, all while maintaining a strong level of involvement in COVID-19 preparation and response. The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center pharmacy residents and residency program directors. Disclosures: The authors have declared no potential conflicts of interest.