The Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy PGY1 Community-Based Pharmacy Residency Program will prepare community-based practitioners capable of developing, providing, and advancing patient care services in any practice setting with a specific focus on patients with complex specialty disease states. Graduates from this residency program will be highly sought community-based pharmacists that will be desired for their advanced skill-set in managing patients with complex disease states holistically and their experience in developing patient centered services in the specialty environment. Graduates would have the abilities and experiences necessary to secure positions with direct clinically focused patient care, ambulatory care practice settings, management opportunities, and academia. 

The residency program is conducted at Walgreens Specialty Pharmacies in Des Moines, IA. This specialty pharmacy locations offer a variety of innovative clinical pharmacy services to patients who are prescribed complex therapies. The pharmacy teams service patients with many disease states.  The community pharmacists at these sites work closely with providers, patients, and the community, to provide optimal drug therapy for patients. In addition, residents gain insights on management issues that can affect the implementation of patient care services in the community and specialty pharmacy setting. The resident gains experience in the delivery of clinical services, conducting research, developing management expertise, and precepting students. In partnership with Drake University residents will participate in both a teaching and research certification class. 

The resident will participate in the provision of patient-care services through the following: 
Disease state management programs in HIV/AIDS, Oncology, neurology, fertility, hepatitis C, inflammatory conditions, and other specialty disease states 
Medication Therapy Management, with an ongoing patient load
Specialty medication monitoring and follow-up
Pharmacist-administered immunizations
Development of health and wellness programs 
Community outreach programs

The resident will participate in the following activities that strengthen research,  practice management, and educator skills: 
Design and conduct a practice-based research project 
Write a business plan for a new or improved service
Develop and conduct a continuous quality improvement project
Draft a collaborative practice protocol and resent research findings at appropriate regional and national professional meetings 
Execute marketing strategy for patient care services 
Provide clinical instruction to student pharmacists 
Participate in a Teaching Certificate Program