Reflection and redesign of a residency program for the hospital pharmacist

Abstract Prior to the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia ( SHPA ) National Residency Program, residency training for pharmacists in Australia was not common practice. The Pharmacy Department at the Royal Melbourne Hospital has had a formalised residency program since 2004. More recently, a sustainability strategy was implemented to promote pharmacists who completed the residency program, which prompted a review of the existing program. A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis was undertaken, and a subsequent program was codeveloped with stakeholders and launched. The new residency program capitalised on the existing strengths and incorporated new elements from established US and UK residency standards, was implemented in May 2016, and was later awarded provisional accreditation by SHPA . The program has been shared with other organisations and was adopted by an interstate health network as a basis for their SHPA National Residency Program. The next phase of development will include an interim evaluation and initiatives to enhance the skill set of the team to deliver this program.