Training goals are grouped by performance area into practice foundation skills; direct patient care; interpretation, generation and dissemination of knowledge in pharmacotherapy; and practice management. For each goal, learning objectives have been developed. Objectives differ from those in Pharmacy Practice Residencies by the increased depth of understanding and cognitive complexity (synthesis) needed to achieve them. The resident gains experience with patients who have a wide variety of disorders (bone and joint, cardiovascular, dermatologic, endocrine and exocrine, eyes, ears, nose and throat, fluid and electrolytes/metabolic, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, hematologic, immunologic, neurologic,obstetrics-gynecology and perinatology, psychiatric, renal, respiratory,and multisystem diseases). Example goals within each performance area are outlined below.

Practice Foundation Skills

• Take personal responsibility for improving the pharmacotherapy provided to patients.
• Communicate clearly orally and in writing.
• Solve practice problems efficiently.
• Contribute to the training of pharmacy students and other health care professionals and supportive personnel.
• Organize and store information in an organized manner.

• Conduct those aspects of direct patient care activities undertaken by the pharmacotherapy specialist in the acute care and ambulatory care settings using a consistent approach that reflects the philosophy of pharmaceutical care and that is performed with the efficiency and depth of experience of an experienced pharmacotherapy specialist.
• Design, recommend, implement, monitor and evaluate patient-specific pharmacotherapy.
• Provide drug and non-drug use education to patients.
• Ensure continuity of pharmaceutical care to and from the acute and ambulatory patient care settings.
• Document all pharmacotherapy activities appropriately.
• Participate effectively in medical staff rounds.

• Provide concise, applicable, comprehensive, and timely responses to requests for drug information from patients, public, and health care providers.
• Prepare and disseminate drug information.
• Coordinate inservice education to physicians, nurses,and other clinical practitioners.
• Provide pharmacotherapy expertise to the health system in the development of its drug use, patient care, and research related policies.
• Generate and disseminate new knowledge in pharmacotherapy (i.e., review article, case report or series, original research).

• Understand the process for establishing a pharmacotherapy specialty residency in one's own health system.
• Work effectively within the political and decision-making structure to accomplish one's practice area goals.
• Evaluate current pharmacy services to determine if the services are meeting the health-care needs of the patients.