Pharmacy Residencies

Rush University Medical Center is a not-for-profit academic medical center located just west of downtown Chicago in the Illinois Medical District. For more than 180 years, Rush has helped lead the way in developing innovative and often life-saving treatments.

Today Rush is a thriving center for basic and clinical research, with physicians and scientists involved in hundreds of research projects developing and testing the effectiveness and safety of new therapies and medical devices. This unique combination of research and patient care has earned Rush a position in the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Rush is ranked No. 17 overall, two of our services, neurology and neurosurgery and orthopedics, are in the top five nationwide, and three are the highest-ranked programs in the state. Neurology and neurosurgery are top-ranked in the Midwest. Rush was also ranked No. 3 by the health care performance improvement company Vizient out of 107 academic medical centers in Vizient's Quality and Accountability Study.

Rush was named one of the top 25 hospitals to work for in the United States by indeed.com, the largest job search engine and job board in the United States.

Rush University is home to one of the first medical colleges in the Midwest and one of the nation’s top-ranked nursing colleges, as well as graduate programs in allied health, health systems management and biomedical research. In addition, there are affiliation agreements in place among the Rush Department of Pharmacy and pharmacy schools in the Chicago area, including Midwestern University, Chicago State University, Roosevelt University, Rosalind Franklin College of Pharmacy and University of Illinois at Chicago.

The pharmacy model at Rush includes clinical specialists, clinical staff pharmacists, residents, pharmacy students and faculty from colleges of pharmacy working together as a team to provide 24/7 clinical services. We have pharmacists dedicated to acute care, critical care, pediatrics, operations and ambulatory care that round with the medical team, verify orders and provide clinical services. Distribution is driven by technicians and technology and overseen by pharmacists, utilizing robotic IV preparation systems, telepharmacy and dispensing carousels.

A key feature of the Rush residency program is the in-house on-call program. The residents rotate through this learning experience to provide patient care and healthcare provider support, day and night, 365 days a year. This support takes the form of attendance at emergencies (such as adult and pediatric codes), participation in decisions regarding high risk and high-cost medications (such as restricted antibiotics and blood factors) and reviewing and participating in the evaluation and treatment of new onset stroke patients.

The on-call program is rigorous but enables the resident to become confident, poised and knowledgeable early on in their respective program.

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