Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN)

*Accreditation-Pending*

Note - Once accreditation is gained by a program, it becomes retroactive to the date that the application seeking accreditation was filed with CPRB. Therefore, programs with Accredited or Accreditation-Pending status may confer a credential such as “Accredited Canadian Pharmacy Resident/ACPR” upon their graduates.


Address:
835 King Street West
Kitchener, ON, N2G 4K9

Director:
Anthony Amadio, RPh, BSc. Pharm, ACPR, PharmD
Director, Pharmacy Services
anthony.amadio@wrhn.ca 
Cell: 226-753-2900

Coordinator:
Michael Collins, RPh, BSc. Pharm, ACPR, PharmD
Residency Coordinator
michael.collins@wrhn.ca

Program Website: https://www.wrhn.ca/

Program

Type: General Hospital-Practice Based

Focus: Acute care

Established In: 2024 

Number of Positions: 2

Application Deadline: As per PRAMS

Starting Date: August/September 

PRAMS (Additional PRAMS requirements to complete the Pharmacy Residency Application and Matching Service (PRAMS) application should be sent through PRAMS when applying to this program by the application deadline): 

Program specific cover letter (maximum word count 250) outlining the reason you want to complete a residency in the Waterloo Regional Health Network (previously Grand River and St. Mary's Hospital)

Estimated Stipend: approximately $40,000 

Benefits Included: N/A

Vacation/Holiday Leave: 10 days

Education/Conference Leave: 1-2 conferences as discussed with program coordinator and director.

Program Highlights:

At WRHN, we deliver exceptional, compassionate, and holistic health care to patients in Waterloo Wellington, and beyond. Inspired by the resilience and adaptability of the wren bird, we provide patient-centred care that respects each individual’s dignity.

We take a patient-centred approach to care. To do this, we focus on improving the health and well-being of those we serve through eliminating barriers to access, building strong partnerships, delivering quality care, and providing innovative solutions. The care we provide is designed to meet the current and emerging health-care needs of everyone, ensuring each person walks away feeling better than before.

As an integrated Hospital Network, we aim to set a new standard for health, grounded in community and dedicated to improving lives, one compassionate moment at a time. Our network is comprised of three sites (@ Midtown, @ Queen's Blvd, and @ Chicopee) with over 850 beds that provides care to more than 800,000 residents of Waterloo Region and Guelph Wellington. 

The general acute care residency program at WRHN is a one year experiential program focused on assisting residents in developing skills necessary to provide “pharmaceutical care” – the provision of direct patient care to promote safe, effective, and cost‐conscious therapy to improve health‐related outcomes. The resident will develop a patient‐centered practice in which they will assume responsibility for a patient’s drug‐related needs while committing to and being held accountable for identifying, preventing, and resolving drug‐related problems (DRPs). The resident will have the opportunity to be an active participant in a variety of different multidisciplinary health teams, where they will work to their full scope and promote the integration of evidence into the decision making process.

The independent practice rotation will function as the last rotation of the Residency and will serve as a consolidation rotation where the resident is the clinical pharmacist for a service.  This serves to help bridge the resident into practice.

The Pharmacy resident will have opportunities to work to full scope, collaborating closely with various interprofessional teams, partnering with patients and their community, completing quality improvement projects, and completing practice research. 

The resident will also be involved in attending or facilitating many teaching and learning activities such as clinical rounds, academic half day sessions, tiered learning, and student therapeutic discussions. 

Core Rotations: 

  • Orientation/Critical Appraisal (4 weeks)
  • Distribution (2 weeks)
  • Institutional Management/Leadership (4 weeks)
  • General Medicine (4 weeks)
  • Clinical Teaching Unit (Internal Medicine) (4 weeks)
  • Cardiology (4 weeks)
  • Intensive Care (4 weeks)
  • Project (8 weeks)
  • Independent Practice/Consolidation (4 weeks) 
  • Vacation (2 weeks)

Elective Rotations: 

Residents will typically choose up to 3 elective rotations:

  • Emergency Medicine (4 weeks)
  • Oncology (inpatient/outpatient) (4 weeks)
  • Nephrology  (4 weeks)
  • Pediatrics/NICU (4 weeks)
  • Ambulatory Care clinics (4 weeks)
  • Mental Health (4 weeks)
  • Complex Continuing Care/Rehab (3 weeks)
  • Antimicrobial Stewardship (3 weeks)
  • General Medicine - Respirology (4 weeks)

Required Credentials: Entry-level PharmD or Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy Degree (or equivalent) from an accredited school of pharmacy.

Minimum Required Credentials: Licensed or eligible for immediate licensure as a pharmacist with the Ontario College of Pharmacists.  Ability to meet corporate Occupational Health requirements.

 

Organization

Type: Community Acute Care Hospital (two main sites with various ambulatory clinics and an affiliated long term care facility). Waterloo Regional Health Network is also home to the Regional cardiac, Nephrology, Oncology, and Stroke programs. 

Number of beds:

600+ Acute care beds + 275 rehab and complex continuing care beds.

Name of Site(s) Residents Attend for Rotations:

  • WRHN @ Midtown
  • WRHN @ Queen's Blvd
  • WRHN @ Chicopee

Affiliation: University of Waterloo

 

Graduates

(new program starting September 2025)