Hospital Pharmacy - November 2017 - 710

710

Hospital Pharmacy 52(10)

Cleveland Society of Pharmacy Residents

practice agreements, clinical pearls in the management of
hepatitis C, and novel telepharmacy techniques. The CSPR
event coordinator also organized a professional development session facilitated by an ASHP staff member on differentiating yourself as a candidate prior to the Midyear
Clinical Meeting.

Discussion
Agenda
4:45-5 pm

Meet & Greet (food provided)

5-5:15 pm

Welcome & Introduction

5:15-6 pm

Keynote Speaker

6-6:15 pm

Keynote Question and Answer Session

6:15-7 pm

Pharmacy and Hospital Tours

7-9 pm

Networking Session

Figure 1. Sample meeting agenda.

Resident Events
During the inaugural year of CSPR, three events were
held at rotating sites during weekday evenings. The experience included an overview presentation by the CSPR
event coordinator which provided additional information
regarding the organization's purpose, future planned
events, and options for organizational sustainability. The
structure of these events consisted of a social hour, with a
coordinated ice breaker at the first event, in combination
with a dinner funded by each hosting institution. A speaker
was selected from the host site to provide a presentation
on a topic of their choice and to facilitate a question and
answer session. Speakers included chief pharmacy officers, vice-presidents of pharmacy, and pharmacy directors. An overview and facility tour were provided by each
host institution to allow residents the opportunity to learn
about and observe various pharmacy practice models. A
sample itinerary for CSPR events is shown in Figure 1.
Additional engagement activities were conducted including a CSPR logo design contest and an end of the residency year graduation social.

Organizational Optimization
To ensure organizational continuity, it was determined a
more formal relationship between the local chapter, CSHP,
and CSPR was needed. For the second year of this organization, a formal position was created to serve as the Chair
of CSPR and as a liaison to CSHP. The Chair would serve
as the event coordinator facilitating site visits for the year
and disseminating communication regarding future events.
The second year of the organization consisted of four site
visits with keynote speakers addressing collaborative

Anecdotal feedback collected from residents was positive
regarding the personal and professional networking opportunities provided through CSPR. Residents appreciated the
opportunity to learn about local practice sites from the
identified speakers and through site tours. The hosting sites
could also utilize these events to highlight their practice site
and to facilitate future recruitment activities. CSHP plans to
remain involved with CSPR to promote networking
between residents and practicing pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. Development of a similar organizational
structure can increase resident engagement at the local
level and support continued organizational retention.
Residents are highly engaged, motivated, and eager to
seek additional organizational and extracurricular activities. The development of CSPR was proposed and initiated
by pharmacy residents based upon their identification of
an existing gap. A local resident society can facilitate networking and educational opportunities in a convenient and
less intimidating format than existing national and state
level opportunities. Residents should feel empowered to
take ownership over the development of similar organizations at multisite residency programs and in urban areas
with large pharmacy resident populations. Several other
sites coordinate events aimed at engaging and connecting
pharmacy residents, but to our knowledge, no site has previously worked to develop a resident society in conjunction with a local health-system pharmacy society.
Numerous challenges were identified throughout the
development and implementation of this resident-driven
organization. One issue pertained to the timing of events to
accommodate a majority of schedules and maximize resident
turnout. During the first year, ensuring coordination of
schedules with CSHP and CSPR was difficult due to their
lack of organizational integration resulting in each organization scheduling events on the same evening. Due to the transient nature of pharmacy residents and subsequent high
membership turnover, designing a sustainable plan for organizational continuity was identified as a challenge early on.
The best solution was to create a position within the local
chapter to serve as a liaison. These issues were largely alleviated through the development of a formal relationship
between the two organizations. As the year progressed, resident attendance decreased as residents were afforded less
discretionary time with average event attendance ranging
from 25 to 45 residents. Ensuring RPD's support resident

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospital Pharmacy - November 2017