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Albany Med’s Pharmacy Residency Program Earns Accreditation

ALBANY, N.Y., June 1, 2009—Albany Medical Center’s one-year pharmacy residency program for students who have graduated with a degree in pharmacy has been accredited by the American  Society of Health Systems Pharmacists (ASHP). This means that the program meets the highest standards as laid out by ASHP, the only national organization of hospital and health system pharmacists.

Under the program, which has had five residents since it began in 2007, students are matched to the institution in the same way medical residents are matched to hospital residency programs. The ASHP Resident Matching Program announces “matches” in March.

“We are offering newly graduated pharmacists interested in working in a hospital a chance to explore and get hands-on experience in all aspects of hospital pharmacy, including understanding the structure of a hospital pharmacy as it relates to acute care, and working on the floors along with physicians, nurses, and clinical pharmacists in a variety of settings including intensive care and pediatrics,” says Timothy Lesar, Pharm.D., director of clinical pharmacy services at Albany Medical Center, who is also serving as residency director.

This past March, Albany Med matched to its top three student choices. In July, the graduates (two from Albany College of Pharmacy and one from Rutgers University School of Pharmacy) will join the Medical Center as full-time residents.

“While residency is not required of all pharmacists as it is with medical doctors, it is increasingly being required by hospital and health systems employers. This specialization is an invaluable experience for pharmacists that will serve them immensely in the unique and complex field of hospital pharmacy,” says Lesar.

Albany Medical Center, a not-for-profit institution, is northeastern New York’s only academic health sciences center. The institution consists of Albany Medical Center Hospital, one of New York’s largest teaching hospitals; Albany Medical College, one of the nation’s oldest medical schools; and the Albany Medical Center Foundation, Inc., one of the region’s most active fundraising organizations.
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