Cahaba Medical Care’s PGY1 Community - Based Pharmacy Residency is an ASHP - accreditation program dedicated to developing highly skilled,  empathic pharmacists who advance patient care in diverse, underserved settings. Residents gain comprehensive training in direct patient care, pharmacy operations, leadership, and education, preparing them for careers as innovative community-based practitioners.

Cahaba Medical Care is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) serving patients across Central Alabama. With integrated family medicine clinics, in-house dispensing pharmacies, and robust interdisciplinary teams, Cahaba Medical Care provides accessible, high-quality care to patients of all ages. Residents have the unique opportunity to work alongside physicians, nurse practitioners, registered dietitians, social workers, and other healthcare professionals to improve medication use and patient outcomes.Cahaba Medical Care is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) serving patients across Central Alabama. With integrated family medicine clinics, in-house dispensing pharmacies, and robust interdisciplinary teams, Cahaba Medical Care provides accessible, high-quality care to patients of all ages. Residents have the unique opportunity to work alongside physicians, nurse practitioners, registered dietitians, social workers, and other healthcare professionals to improve medication use and patient outcomes.

Orientation
Residents complete a structured orientation during the first six weeks of the program. This experience introduces them to the organization’s mission, policies, dispensing workflows, electronic health records, and collaborative practice protocols. Residents establish individual goals and develop a customized training plan for the year.

• Direct Patient Care as Dispensing Pharmacy
  Residents provide patient-centered dispensing services in Cahaba’s community pharmacies. Activities include medication therapy management (MTM), patient counseling, prescription verification, transitions of care services, immunizations, and medication safety initiatives. Residents develop expertise in efficient dispensing operations and high-quality patient care in the community dispensing pharmacy setting.

• Direct Patient Care as Ambulatory Care
  In family medicine clinics, residents deliver comprehensive medication management services for chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and HIV. They conduct medication reviews, develop and adjust treatment plans as part of interdisciplinary clinics as well as in pharmacy delivered clinics, and monitor therapy outcomes. Residents also support transitions of care and population health initiatives.

• Advancing Pharmacy Practice
  This rotation focuses on practice management and quality improvement. Residents lead projects to enhance pharmacy services, optimize workflows, and expand patient care programs. They gain experience evaluating clinical services, implementing new initiatives, and demonstrating the impact of pharmacy practice while developing a business plan, return on investment, create or update an existing protocol or collaborative practice agreement, and conduct a quality improvement project. 

• Leadership, Management, and Personal Development
  Leadership is not just a role - it’s a skillset. Residents participate in activities that build leadership and management competencies, including committee involvement, policy development, budgeting exposure, and staff development initiatives. They engage in self-assessment and professional growth planning throughout the year.

• Teaching and Education
  Residents develop and deliver educational content to a variety of audiences, including patients, pharmacy staff, interdisciplinary teams, and pharmacy learners. Teaching activities may include precepting students, leading in-services, creating patient education materials, and participating in didactic lectures. 

  • Residents also earn a teaching certificate as part of the learning experience 

• Research
  Residents design and complete a practice-based research project. Conduct research from literature review and generation of ideas, to protocol development and collection of data to the analysis data to dissemination of results through presentations and manuscript preparation.