Wegmans School of Pharmacy Welcomes Three New Residents

The Wegmans School of Pharmacy has welcomed three new residents to participate in the year-long pharmacy residency program to gain real-world experience in a vast array of clinical settings as consulting members of health care teams.

The program prepares graduates to become competent clinical pharmacists through these experiences, and the residents are eligible to participate in a wide range of elective rotations based on their areas of professional interest.

This year’s residents include:

• Mackenzie Roberts ’19 (Pharm.D.), PGY-2 in Ambulatory Care at Rochester Regional Health/Wegmans School of Pharmacy under the guidance of Dr. Alex DeLucenay.
• Ashley Shtoyko (Pharm.D.), PGY-2 in Ambulatory Care at Upstate University Hospital’s Upstate Health Care Center/Wegmans School of Pharmacy under the guidance of Dr. Elizabeth Phillips.
• Joseph Eskandrous (Pharm.D.), PGY-2 Infectious Disease resident at St. Joseph’s Health and Wegmans School of Pharmacy under the guidance of Dr. Lisa Avery.

For the residents, each day is unique as they are provided the opportunity to rotate through different clinics and settings throughout their hospitals.

“My favorite thing about this residency program is that I am able to spend time throughout the year in different clinical settings. Each day is so different and never boring. I am able to see the same patients multiple times throughout the year which helps me to build close relationships with them, and I am also able to build professional relationships with the providers,” shared Roberts.

Roberts and Shtoyko both hold interests in pursuing the ambulatory care setting further. After completion of the residency program, Roberts hopes to pursue a job in ambulatory care and strives to be in a setting where she can work under a collaborative drug therapy management protocol. She also hopes to become board certified in ambulatory care. Ideally, Shtoyko would like to be incorporated into an established clinic where she can work directly with physicians, nurses, and advanced practice providers to promote evidence based medication use.

As an infectious disease resident, Eskandrous has learned the importance of utilizing pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic principles in order to dose vancomycin and aminoglycosides. His ultimate goal would be to become a board-certified inpatient infectious disease pharmacist or antimicrobial stewardship pharmacist.

In addition to the clinical aspects of the experience, residents in Fisher’s program have the opportunity to complete a teaching and learning certificate through the School, giving them the tools and techniques needed to precept students at their clinical sites or serve as future faculty members. Shtoyko and Eskandrous both have an interest in holding a position at a school of pharmacy to train and impact the future generations of pharmacists.

“This program seamlessly combines my interests in direct patient care and academia into a well-balanced PGY-2 experience,” shared Shtoyko. “I am confident that the training I receive this year will allow me to be successful wherever I go next!”