The goals of this residency are to advance the evidence-based knowledge, skills and abilities of the resident, with particular emphasis on specialized cardiovascular and critical care pathophysiology and pharmacotherapy. This is achieved through experiences in a diverse range of critical care units and cardiology clinics at the LAC+USC Medical Center County Hospital. The hospital also serves as the main teaching hospital for the medical school.
Upon completion of training, the resident should be well equipped to pursue a clinical career or clinical-track academic position in cardiology.
Clinical Practice at USC
The program will consist of eight six-week rotations (flexible timeframes), to be pursued with the following minimums:
- Three rotations in the Intensive Cardiac Care Unit
- One rotation in the Emergency Department
- One rotation in the Medical Intensive Care Unit
- One rotation with the Cardiology Consult Service
- One longitudinal rotation in the Cardiology Clinic
- Optional rotations can be undertaken in any of the services listed above; CT surgery, burn ICU and surgical ICU experiences are also available.
During each rotation, the daily activities of the resident will include: participation in daily multidisciplinary rounds with pertinent physician teams; devising and monitoring pharmacotherapeutic management plans for patients; therapeutic discussions with the preceptor; performing pharmacokinetic calculations as needed; and attending various conferences/continuing education programs/grand rounds as available.
Teaching
The resident will participate in the resident-led case conference discussions which are part of the therapeutic modules as scheduled by the USC residency director. The resident will serve as a co-preceptor to pharmacy students during their medicine clerkship rotations in the ICCU. The resident will also prepare and deliver at least 3 hours of formal didactic lectures as part of the Cardiovascular Therapeutics Module. In addition, there will be opportunities to provide educational conferences to the physicians of the Cardiology Section ad/or nurses of the ICCU.
Research
Research classes and seminars will be provided with the resident responsible for the development, conduct, analysis, presentation and publication of one primary research project related to cardiovascular therapeutics. The resident is expected to present the research results at the annual Western States Conference for Residents, Fellows, and Preceptors. In addition, the resident will participate in other scholarly activities as appropriate. These additional activities include participation in the conduct of ongoing research projects of the preceptor and opportunities for co-authorhsip of manuscripts.
Contact Us
Interested residency candidates are encouraged to contact the primary preceptor:
Tien M. H. Ng, Pharm.D., BCPS (AQ-C)
Program Director, PGY2 Residency in Cardiology
Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacy
Telephone: (323) 442-1840
tienng@usc.edu
William C. Gong, Pharm.D.,FASHP
Director, Residency and Fellowship Training
Telephone: (323) 442-2625
wgong@usc.edu