HEMATOLOGY/ONCOLOGY TEAM (HOT) INTERNSHIP
FOR PHARMACY STUDENTS
UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center | N.C. Cancer Hospital
Chapel Hill, NC
Application Deadline: February 5, 2018 Link to Application Website: https://learn.pharmacy.unc.edu/internship
Internship Director:
John Valgus, PharmD,
MHA, BCOP
Assistant Director of Phar-
macy, Hematology/
Oncology and Pediatric
Clinical/Distribution Phar-
macy Services
Contact:
INTERNSHIP OVERVIEW AND STRUCTURE
Overview:
The HOT internship is a two-year paid internship for pharmacy students that begins the summer after the first year of pharmacy school. Interns will gain expo-sure to the fields of hematology and oncology phar-macy through operational, clinical, and research ex-periences.
Structure:
Summer after PY1 Year: 4-5 weeks of technician training in the Cancer Hos-
pital Infusion Pharmacy (CHIP) 4-5 weeks of clinical/administrative rotations with
oncology pharmacists PY2 School Year: Technician staffing in CHIP every third weekend Begin longitudinal research project Summer after PY2 Year: 8-9 weeks of clinical/administrative rotations with
oncology pharmacists Continue longitudinal research project PY3 School Year: Technician staffing in CHIP every third weekend Complete longitudinal research project
Operational training and
longitudinal staffing
Summer intensive
program: clinical
shadowing and rotations
Longitudinal projects
CORE
EXPERIENCES
OPERATIONAL TRAINING AND LONGITUDINAL STAFFING
As HOT interns, students will gain experience in
pharmacy operations by working in the Cancer Hos-
pital Infusion Pharmacy (CHIP). Operational compo-
nents of the internship include:
Technician training to develop competencies in
preparing chemotherapy, utilizing the BD CatoTM
medication workflow system, and delivering
chemotherapy
Staffing in the CHIP every third weekend in rota-
tion with fellow interns throughout PY2 and PY3
years, with equal time spent preparing and deliv-
ering chemotherapy
Staffing one major (4th of July, Thanksgiving,
Christmas) and one minor (MLK, Memorial Day,
Labor Day) holiday over the two-year internship
CORE
EXPERIENCES
Operational training and
longitudinal staffing
Summer intensive pro-
gram: clinical shadowing
and rotations
Longitudinal projects
SUMMER INTENSIVE PROGRAM: CLINICAL
SHADOWING AND ROTATIONS
During both summer sessions, HOT interns
will have the opportunity to rotate with clini-
cal pharmacy specialists in hematology and
oncology. The first summer consists of short-
er shadowing experiences of 2-3 days. During
the second summer, HOT interns can further
explore specific areas of interest through clin-
ical rotations of 3-5 days. Potential rotation
opportunities include:
Ambulatory Breast/GI Malignancies – Aimee Faso, PharmD, BCOP, CPP
Ambulatory BMT – Tatjana Grgic PharmD, BCOP, CPP; Maurice Alexander, PharmD, BCOP, CPP
Ambulatory GU/CNS Malignancies – Katherine Morgan, PharmD, BCOP, CPP
Ambulatory Infusion Clinic – Michelle Gardner, PharmD, BCOP, CPP
Ambulatory Leukemia – Benyam Muluneh, PharmD, BCOP, CPP
Ambulatory Pediatric Oncology – Cassidy Fair-cloth, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP, CPP
Ambulatory Supportive Care – Meredith Keisler, PharmD, CPP
Ambulatory Thoracic Oncology – Amber Proctor, PharmD, BCOP, CPP
Benign Hematology – Sheh-Li Chen, PharmD, BCOP
Inpatient BMT – Ryan Shaw, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP; Jonathan Ptachcinski, PharmD, MA, BCPS, BCOP, CPP
Inpatient Malignant Hematology – Stephen Clark, PharmD, BCOP; Jessica Auten, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP
Inpatient Pediatric Oncology – Jenna Kaplan, PharmD
Oncology Precision Medicine – Jill Bates, PharmD, MS, BCOP, CPP
Oncology Administration – Lindsey Amerine, PharmD, MS, BCPS
Operational training and
longitudinal staffing
Summer intensive
program: clinical
shadowing and rotations
CORE
EXPERIENCES LONGITUNIDAL PROJECTS
Overview:
After the first summer experience, HOT interns will have the opportunity to collaborate with a hematolo-gy/oncology pharmacy specialist on a longitudinal research project. Types of projects include clinical re-search and quality improvement studies and will last for approximately two academic years. Examples of Current Projects:
Standardization of Preventative Medication Regi-
mens for Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and
Vomiting in a Pediatric Outpatient Infusion Clinic
(Carolyn Rath, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020)
A Nationwide Study of the Oncology Pharmacist’s
Role in Oral Oncolytic Outcomes (Raena Rhone,
PharmD Candidate c/o 2020)
Past Projects and Publications:
A Comparison of Clofarabine-based (GCLAC) and
Cladribine-based (CLAG) Salvage Chemotherapy
for Relapsed/Refractory AML; Clinical Lympho-
ma, Myeloma & Leukemia, 2017 (Katie
Buhlinger, PharmD c/o 2017)
Retrospective comparison of outcomes in patients
with recurrent or refractory ovarian cancer treat-
ed with PEGylated liposomal doxorubicin at an
academic medical center [Accepted for publica-
tion] (Eric Shen, PharmD c/o 2017)
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Pharmacy Career Opportunities and Outcomes of
Former HOT Interns
Current HOT Interns
and Contact Information
Katie Buhlinger, PharmD c/o 2017: PGY1
Resident at UNC, committed to a PGY2
Oncology Resident position at UNC
Eric Shen, PharmD c/o 2017: working
with the Medical Affairs group at United
Therapeutics
Taylor White, PharmD c/o 2015: Com-
pleted PGY1 Pharmacy residency at Rex
Healthcare, currently practicing in New
Brunswick, Canada
Justin Arnall, PharmD c/o 2014: Adult
Hematology/Oncology and Blood & Mar-
row Transplant at Carolinas HealthCare
System
Joe Moore, PharmD c/o 2014: Former
Eshelman Institute Fellow
Steve Deptola and Justin Reid, PharmD
Candidates c/o 2018: Completing Ad-
vanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences
(APPEs)
Taylor Dennison, c/o 2019
Ryan Ragan, c/o 2019
Carolyn Rath, c/o 2020
Raena Rhone, c/o 2020