Community-Based Residency

Kroger Pharmacy offers a unique experience for postgraduate training in a community pharmacy setting. The residency prepares pharmacists to become future leaders capable of advancing patient care in community pharmacy.

Kroger Pharmacy is a supermarket chain pharmacy with subsidiaries nationwide, including City Market, Dillon’s, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, King Soopers, QFC, Ralph’s, and Smith’s Food and Drug. The resident will be a part of the Kroger Louisville Division. The Louisville Division has over 150 pharmacies between the Louisville and Lexington area.   The resident will be based at Kroger in Lexington, Kentucky, a unique practice setting located approximately 15 minutes from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. This community pharmacy location has a patient care area separate from the dispensing pharmacy and serves as a focal point for patient care services for 22 stores located in Central Kentucky.

Kroger Pharmacy is a leader in patient care with services such as immunizations, health/wellness and disease management, employee coaching programs, and medication therapy management (MTM). Other services include physical assessment and point-of-care monitoring, such as biometric screenings, A1c tests, and disease risk assessment. Additionally,  Kroger is a CDC-recognized Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) which includes a structured lifestyle change program for people at risk for diabetes.

Residents will be able to precept and teach student pharmacists on their Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience rotations. The advantages of working with Kroger Pharmacy include the opportunity to implement programs throughout the entire marketing area and the potential to influence pharmacy practice in the community pharmacy setting. The resident will have the opportunity to create and provide continuing education for area pharmacists and serve as a resource for drug information for medical professionals and patients. The 150+ pharmacies and over 570 pharmacists in the Louisville Division provide a large population of patients and pharmacists for collecting research project data.

The site coordinator and Patient Care Specialist is Dr. Melody Turpin, Pharm.D., who has many years of experience with student pharmacists, including introductory and advanced pharmacy practice experiences. Other preceptors at the Kroger Pharmacy site include Dr. Ashley Lewis, Pharm.D., pharmacy manager at the Richmond Road, Lexington, Kentucky community pharmacy and Dr. Kelsie Skaggs, PharmD, BCACP at Bluegrass Community Health Center. All preceptors hold community-based faculty appointments at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy.

PrimaryPlus is a group of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) serving northeastern Kentucky and southeastern Ohio. The goal of PrimaryPlus is to provide advanced, affordable healthcare and to connect as many pieces of the healthcare puzzle as possible. The resident’s primary practice site is at the pharmacy in the PrimaryPlus Clinic in Morehead, KY.

The resident will work in a unique environment, given all PrimaryPlus outpatient pharmacies are embedded within each clinic. All PrimaryPlus pharmacists work hand in hand with our providers to optimize patient medications and partner with case managers and community health workers (CHWs) to ensure each patient’s needs are being met.

Residents will have the opportunity to serve patients with advanced patient care services while developing skills in interprofessional collaboration (including medical residents), medication synchronization, and resource utilization/medical billing.

In addition to on-site pharmacies, the resident will gain experience as part of the clinical pharmacy team. PrimaryPlus has developed robust clinical programs to address the needs of our patients, specifically in rural and medically underserved areas. In addition to medication therapy management (MTM), immunizations, and adherence services, pharmacists run the remote patient monitoring program, which utilizes collaborative protocols to manage patients with hypertension and diabetes in between primary care appointments. 

Both the Morehead and Maysville locations provide compliance packaging optimizing technology to serve patients who would benefit from helping manage their medication regimens. Residents will have the opportunity to work with several clinics affiliated with PrimaryPlus to manage patients across the continuum of care. Residents will also be able to precept and teach student pharmacists on their Introductory and  Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience rotations.

The site coordinator is Dr. Blair Lykins, PharmD, MBA, CDCES, who also serves as the Director of Clinical Pharmacy Services. Other preceptors at the site include Dr. Ryan Cooper, PharmD, at the Morehead location, and Dr. Allison Horsley, PharmD, at the Maysville location. All preceptors hold community-based faculty appointments at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy.

St. Matthews Community & Specialty Pharmacy is a truly innovative community pharmacy with a focus on individualized medicine. The resident’s primary practice site is at the pharmacy in the heart of St. Matthews in Louisville, KY.

The St. Matthews residency site allows the resident to participate in a wide variety of direct patient care programs focused on chronic health conditions, including specialty pharmacy services that focus on the health and well-being of the individual.

The resident will participate in advanced pharmacy services, including medication therapy management (MTM), immunization services, compounding, and a pharmacist-managed substance use disorder program. St. Matthews Pharmacy was the first pharmacy in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to implement an opioid-use-disorder clinic in their community pharmacy. They will continue to add programs to practice at the top of their license while meeting the needs of the community they serve.

The resident will have the opportunity to develop management skills and knowledge in operating an independent and specialty community pharmacy.

St. Matthews’ involvement with the CPESN® (Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Network) Kentucky Pharmacy Care Network (KY) provides the resident with a unique opportunity to assist independent pharmacies with the development, design, marketing, and implementation of enhanced pharmacist care, disease state management programs, and clinical services.

Residents who complete a residency at St. Matthews will also be able to participate in various clinic-based patient care. In addition to working at the primary practice site, residents have the opportunity to work with several clinics affiliated with St. Matthews to manage patients across the continuum of care. Residents will also be able to precept and teach student pharmacists on their Introductory and  Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience rotations.

The site coordinator is Dr. Kim Caudill, PharmD, at St. Matthews Pharmacy. Other preceptors at the site include Drs. Chris Killmeier PharmD, Joe Wright, PharmD, Christine Richardson PharmD, Pat Southall, PharmD, and Bobby Conzelman, PharmD.  All preceptors hold community-based faculty appointments at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy.

Applications will be received through PhORCAS. Please note the University of Kentucky Community Pharmacy Residency Program is considered one program with multiple sites. Although each site has its unique National Matching Service (NMS) code, the applicant can apply to any or all sites and only count as one application (with one application fee) in PhORCAS.​

• Kroger-Lexington NMS #144515
• PrimaryPlus-Morehead NMS #144522
• St. Matthews Community/Specialty Pharmacy/Louisville NMS #144521

In addition to PhORCAS requirements for application, the UK Community Pharmacy Residency Program application requires a response to a supplemental short answer statement.

• Describe a significant current event (e.g., an advocacy initiative, new legislation, large collaborative efforts involving health initiatives or partnerships, etc.) at the local, state, or national level that impacted or has the ability to impact the advancement of pharmacy practice.

Recommendations should be completed by an employer, a preceptor, and a faculty member. If the applicant cannot obtain references from an employer, please choose another preceptor from an ambulatory/community Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience.

An on-site interview will be required.  Interviews will be conducted beginning the last two weeks of January through the end of February.

Information about Kentucky Pharmacist Licensure, including exam components and requirements, can be obtained at http://pharmacy.ky.gov/ or by calling 502-564-7910.