LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Patients rely on pharmacists every day to make sure that their prescriptions are filled out correctly. Becoming a pharmacist takes a lot of training to prepare them for that responsibility, and at Mercy Health St. Rita's, college post-graduates can continue their education with a residency.
Kasey Reneau knew that she wanted to be a pharmacist back in her days at Allen East, and after graduating from Ohio Northern University, she went on to have her residency at St. Rita's to work towards a position in a hospital one day.
She says that her time at St. Rita's has been very rewarding.
"All of the pharmacist that I've worked with are fantastic, and they've been great role models for me professionally, I've learned a ton since I've been here." said Reneau, who is a PGY1 Pharmacy Resident at St. Rita's. "Generally say about you get three to four years of pharmacy experience while doing residency, and it's been great preparing me for what I want to do next in my career."
Pharmacy residents like Kasey have a variety of areas to work with at St. Rita's, from family or emergency medicine to podiatry. Those residents also receive several types of learning experiences through St. Rita's Graduate Medical Education Center and can take other elective classes like pain management and neurology. They can also apply for a second year of residency.
Kasey says she's heading off to Kentucky for her second year of residency to specialize in infectious diseases, and adds that anyone with an interest in pharmaceutical sciences should look into their options, as there are so many opportunities out there.
"The great thing about pharmacy is that it's always expanding; pharmacists now can have more clinical roles and specialize in certain areas - so I'm doing infectious disease, but you can do ambulatory care, oncology, the list is really endless and it's really growing," said Reneau. "I always say that we do a lot of patient care more behind the scenes, and it's really cool that you can really make a patient impact behind the scenes and we get to do that every day."
More information on the post-graduate pharmacy residency program, including requirements and a list of classes and electives, can be found on Mercy Health's career website located here.
