Infectious Diseases Fellowship

The UPMC Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program is comprised of practical, real-world experiences in antimicrobial stewardship and leadership to develop skills and behaviors to prepare pharmacists to assume leadership roles in antimicrobial stewardship pharmacy practice.

The program is designed to provide a clinical and operational foundation of hospital antimicrobial stewardship care through the first year. This year focuses on applying core leadership principles and antimicrobial stewardship skills as integrated experiences. These experiences include rounding with clinical infectious diseases consult teams (including transplant infectious diseases, surgical (endovascular) infectious diseases, and general infectious diseases), antimicrobial stewardship block assignments for prospective audit with feedback and prior-authorization practices, management of bacteremia cases, assistance with new service/protocol implementation, and financial stewardship. The fellow will also spend time in longitudinal experiences including the antDemonstrate proficiency, confidence, and compassion in providing direct patient care to diverse populations while optimizing pharmacotherapy and safe medication practices.imicrobial stewardship on-call coverage during evening and overnight timelines. The fellow will be provided the opportunity to manage and lead projects in a hands-on environment. The fellow will have the opportunity to navigate the changing nature of the healthcare landscape through strong partnerships with a multi-disciplinary team and cross-campus stewardship team members where they can develop skills that allow them to respond effectively to these changes in a live environment. This first year also provides the fellow the opportunity to find their passions within antimicrobial stewardship pharmacy through exposure to selected areas of interest, interacting with diverse patient populations and medical teams, and refining research and teaching skills.

The second year focuses on ownership and responsibility of a lead project and initiative through the antimicrobial stewardship pathway. The fellow will select a designated area of interest in antimicrobial stewardship and will focus on mastering the necessary skills. This area of interest will be selected based upon the identified area of focus and will support the needs of the antimicrobial stewardship team and fellow. Specific requirements will differ slightly depending on the area of concentration. This allows fellows to experience the role of a team leader and accountability for performance within their selected project of interest.

Fellows will:

• Demonstrate proficiency, confidence, and compassion in providing direct patient care to diverse populations while optimizing pharmacotherapy and safe medication practices.
• Provide effective education to healthcare professionals and patients in a variety of settings.
• Apply clinical and research concepts to professional practice, leadership approaches and strategic thought processes.
• Demonstrate interdisciplinary problem solving and decision-making skills.
• Enculturate and effectively incorporate practices that consistently demonstrate ethical and professional form in all components of pharmacy practice, including caring and listening to others.
• Develop, implement, and monitor new infectious diseases initiatives to promote patient safety and optimize antimicrobial utilization.
• Habituate leadership and management skills essential to activities of an antimicrobial stewardship pharmacist including to be able to envision, plan, implement, coordinate, and monitor pharmaceutical care and operational services who is adaptive to changes and demands for health-system pharmacy practice and the healthcare environment in general.
• Apply analytic and strategic planning along with innovation to be strategic thinkers and planners who see challenges as opportunities to contribute to improving healthcare delivery in an innovative manner.
• Understand and evaluate the financial responsibilities in antimicrobial stewardship programs.

• Develop and communicate a vision for the future practice of antimicrobial stewardship.

  APPLICATION PROCESS:

  To apply, please submit the standard application requirements via www.careers.upmc.com or (Stipend) Pharmacy Admin Fellow - Year 1 in Pittsburgh, PA - UPMC. Standard requirements for application include curriculum vitae and letter of intent. Supplemental application material will be required in the form of two (2) letters of reference after initial application. Applicants must be eligible for pharmacy licensure in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

  PRECEPTORS AND SITES:

  Fellowship Program Director:
  Rachel V. Marini, PharmD, BCIDP
  Supervisor Infectious Diseases and Clinical Medicine Services
  marinirv2@upmc.edu

  Fellowship Program Coordinator:
  Ryan Shields, PharmD, MS
  Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
  Co-Director Antimicorbial Management Program
  shieldsrk@upmc.edu

  UPMC Presbyterian Hospital
  200 Lothrop Street
  Pittsburgh, PA 15213

  Current Fellow:

  Cyganowski, Alexander
  Pharmacy Fellow Antimicrobial Stewardship/Infectious Diseases
  University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy
  Email: cyganowskia@upmc.edu