The Baylor University Medical Center PGY2 in Solid Organ Transplant aims to develop well-rounded clinicians who can provide high level pharmaceutical care in a variety of solid organ transplant settings

Our one-year specialty program is designed to provide specialized training for residents interested in solid organ transplantation. Residents will gain experience in the comprehensive management of a diverse population of transplant recipients and living donors throughout the various phases of care. Other areas of focus include development of skills in teaching, research, guideline and protocol development, and practice leadership. The structure and learning experiences will be continuously customized to meet each resident’s personal and professional goals.

The program was initiated in July 2020 and is accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).

We currently accept one resident each year.

Curriculum

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About the Transplant Center


From its inception in 1984, the Baylor Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute has remained an internationally renowned destination for transplant care and recognized as a leader in transplant research. On average, at least 350 transplants are performed annually on the BUMC campus alone, making it one of the largest centers in the US.

Since 1984, the program has performed:

  • 4460 Kidney Transplants
  • 484 Kidney-Pancreas or Pancreas Alone Transplants
  • 4358 Liver Transplants
  • 237 Auto Islet Transplants
  • 1173 Heart Transplants
  • 25 Uterus Transplants
  • 659 Lung Transplants
  • 676 VAD Implants

Milestones include:

  • North Texas' first islet cell transplant
  • The nation’s first certified VAD program
  • The nation’s first baby born after uterus transplant
  • Largest uterine transplant program in the world
  • The Southwest's first adult liver transplant
  • The world's first extra-corporeal perfusion (bridge to transplant) using a genetically engineered pig liver, allowing the patient to survive and successfully undergo a liver transplant
  • North Texas' first split-liver procedure, in which the surgeon divides a donor liver into two lobes for a pediatric and adult recipient
  • North Texas' first adult-to-adult living donor liver transplant procedure
  • North Texas' first paired kidney donor transplant

Rotations

Core Rotations

  • Orientation (4 weeks)
  • Liver Transplant Surgery (4-6 weeks)
  • Kidney Transplant Surgery (4-6 weeks)
  • Abdominal Transplant Clinic (4-6 weeks)
  • Heart Transplant Inpatient (4-6 weeks)
  • Heart Transplant Clinic (4-6 weeks)
  • Research time (4 weeks, spread throughout year)
  • Transplant Infectious Disease (4 weeks)

Elective Rotations (4-5 weeks blocks, approximately 4 electives)

  • Transplant Hepatology/Nephrology
  • Lung Transplant
  • Heart Failure/LVAD
  • Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit/ECMO
  • Advanced Abdominal Transplant Surgery
  • Advanced Abdominal Transplant Clinic
  • Advanced Heart Transplant Inpatient
  • Advanced Heart Transplant Clinic

Longitudinal Experiences

  • Major Research Project
  • Transplant Policy Development
  • Professional meetings:
    • AST Fellows Symposium
    • Midyear
    • American Transplant Congress or other SOT meeting
  • Grand Rounds and other didactic lectures
  • Transplant immunology/pathology reviews
  • Staffing every 3rd weekend: Inpatient transplant rounding role
  • Pharmacy Leadership and Practice Management: Resident on call
  • Resident wellness events

Education and teaching

Teaching opportunities include:

  • ACPE-accredited CE for system pharmacists (required)
  • CME-accredited CE for Transplant Grand Grounds
  • Precept students and/or PGY1 residents

The resident will also be encouraged to attend educational opportunities such as:

  • Weekly Transplant Grand Round held by local and invited faculty
  • American Society of Transplantation Fellows Symposium (supported travel)
  • Monthly heart immunology meetings

Research and project management


The resident will serve in a lead role for a research project throughout the year. Transplant research projects are vetted by the Transplant Research Committee and approved under an umbrella IRB, which expedites the process for IRB approval. Residents have free access to RedCap and statistician support from the transplant department.

The goal is to submit an abstract to and present at a transplant or other applicable conference, such as:

  • ISHLT Annual Meeting
  • ATC Annual Meeting

Subsequently, at least 1 manuscript will be prepared and submitted to an applicable journal.

Other projects include but are not limited to policy or guideline development and a medication use evaluation or quality improvement project.

Staffing and on-call

Staffing: Longitudinal staffing every third weekend clinically rounding with the transplant team (either abdominal or cardiothoracic) on day shift.

On-call requirements: Residents also serve as Manager On-Call as part of leadership development. Each resident participates in this program for one week (during evening and weekend hours) approximately every 9 weeks. A pharmacy department leader is paired with the resident throughout the time on call.

Preceptors

Raksha Patel, PharmD, BCPS

Job Title: Inpatient Heart Transplant Clinical Pharmacist

School of Pharmacy: University of Kansas

PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency: Houston Methodist Hospital

PGY2 Transplant Residency: Nebraska Medicine

Practice Interests: Antibody mediated rejection, infectious diseases, transitions of care

 

Nicole Wilson, PharmD, MS, BCTXP

Job Title: Inpatient Abdominal Transplant Clinical Pharmacist

School of Pharmacy: University of Texas at Austin

PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency: Henry Ford Hospital

PGY2 and Fellowship Transplant Residency: University of Cincinnati Medical Center

Practice Interests: Pharmacokinetics, Patient-specific immunosuppression strategies

 

Ann Kataria, PharmD, BCPS

Job Title: Outpatient Abdominal Transplant Clinical Pharmacist

School of Pharmacy: Philadelphia College of Pharmacy

PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency: Temple University Hospital

PGY2 Transplant Residency: University of Cincinnati Medical Center

Practice Interests: medication adherence, medication access, public policy and advocacy, optimization of long term allograft outcomes

 

Taylor Zurick, PharmD, BCTXP

Job Title: Inpatient Abdominal Transplant Clinical Pharmacist

School of Pharmacy: VCU

PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency: VCU Health

PGY2 Transplant Residency: VCU Health

Practice Interests: CMV, liver transplant, infectious disease

 

Pamela Ijeoma, PharmD, BCPS

Job Title: Outpatient Lung Transplant Clinical Pharmacist

School of Pharmacy: Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University

PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency: PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Resident, Memorial Healthcare System

PGY2 Ambulatory Care Residency: Heart Failure Focus, South Texas Veterans Health Care System

Practice Interests: Lung Transplant, Infectious Disease, Heart Failure

 

Sydney Markley, PharmD

Job Title: Outpatient Heart Transplant Clinical Pharmacist

School of Pharmacy: University of Kansas

PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency: Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center

PGY2 Solid Organ Transplant Residency: Medical University of South Carolina

Practice Interests: Medication access, transplant infectious diseases, non-invasive rejection surveillance utilizing dd-cfDNA

 

Kathleen Kusey, PharmD, BCPS

Job Title: Inpatient Lung Transplant Clinical Pharmacist

School of Pharmacy: University of Texas at Austin

PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency: Memorial Hermann

Practice Interests: Lung transplant, Infectious diseases

 

Hadley Devall, PharmD

Job Title: Inpatient Abdominal Transplant Clinical Pharmacist

School of Pharmacy: University of Louisiana Monroe

PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency: Methodist Dallas Medical Center

Practice Interests: Post transplant infections, letermovir for CMV prophylaxis

 

Poonam Jewani, PharmD, BCCP

Inpatient Heart Failure/Heart Transplant Clinical Pharmacist

School of Pharmacy: University of Michigan College of Pharmacy

PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency: Detroit Medical Center - Sinai Grace Hospital

PGY2 Cardiology Residency: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Practice Interests: Heart failure, heart transplant, cardiology  

 

Jesus Escamilla, PharmD, BCTXP

Inpatient Cardiothoracic Transplant Clinical Pharmacist

School of Pharmacy: University of Incarnate Word Feik School of Pharmacy

PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency: Barnes-Jewish Hospital

PGY2 Solid Organ Transplant Residency: Barnes-Jewish Hospital

Practice Interests: novel AMR therapies, immunosuppression minimization strategies, regulatory T cell-based immunosuppression strategies

 

Alyssa Stutes, PharmD

Outpatient Abdominal Transplant Clinical Pharmacist

School of Pharmacy: University of Houston College of Pharmacy

PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency: Ochsner New Orleans

PGY2 Transplant Residency: Ochsner New Orleans

Practice Interests: Liver transplant, transitions of care

 

Gianna Emmett, PharmD

Inpatient Abdominal Transplant Clinical Pharmacist

School of Pharmacy: University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy

PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency: Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

PGY2 Solid Organ Transplant Residency: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian

Practice Interests: Living donor transplants, alcohol use disorder management in liver disease and post-liver transplant

How to apply

We use the Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application Service (PHORCAS) for applications, transcripts and other supporting application materials.

Visit PhORCAS to apply

Stipend and benefits

Residents and fellows are classified as full-time employees of Baylor Scott & White Health.

In addition to our competitive stipend, we offer our residents a full menu of employee benefits. We help offset the cost of many of these benefits; others are options you can choose to pay for yourself.

Related Pharmacy Residency Programs

Contact us

Nicole Wilson, PharmD, Msc, BCTXP
PGY2 Residency Program Director - Solid Organ Transplant
Email: Nicole.Wilson1@BSWHealth.org

Poonam Jewani, PharmD, BCCP
PGY2 Residency Program Coordinator - Solid Organ Transplant
Email: Poonam.Jewani@BSWHealth.org

Baylor University Medical Center
Roberts Hospital
3500 Gaston Ave.
Dallas, TX 75246

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