PGY1 Pharmacy Residency Program

Apply by January 2, 2026. To qualify for our residency program, you must:

• Be a graduate of a Doctor of Pharmacy program from an ACPE-accredited school or college of pharmacy.
• Have legal working status in United States to cover your entire period of residency training. We are unable to sponsor visas for residents.
• Be eligible for pharmacist licensure in Illinois. Residents matched to our program must obtain Illinois pharmacist licensure before September 1.
• Hold an Illinois pharmacy technician license if you are not registered as a pharmacist in Illinois before the residency program start date.
• Register with PhORCAS and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Resident Matching Service.
• Complete your PhORCAS profile and submit all participation materials directly through the PhORCAS online portal. These materials include:
  • Curriculum vitae (CV)
  • Letter of intent
  • Three letters of recommendation (You may use the Standard Reference Form in PhORCAS for recommendations. You do not need a separate letter.)
  • Reference letter writers should be preceptors, employers, professors or other professionals who can evaluate your skills and character.
  • At least one of the three letters should be from a preceptor from a patient-facing APPE rotation who can comment on your clinical skills.
  • Pharmacy school transcripts
  • An essay response to the supplemental question (below) in your application
  • Your response should be no longer than 500 words.
  • We will not review your application if you do not include your response.
  • The essay is separate from your cover letter. Upload it in the Supplemental Information section in PhORCAS.
  • The supplemental question: Large academic medical centers serve patients from a wide range of backgrounds and with varying levels of health literacy, social support, and access to care. Describe a time when you recognized that a patient’s non-clinical circumstances influenced their treatment or outcomes. How did you address the situation, what did you learn about your role as a pharmacist within an interdisciplinary team, and how will you apply this to your practice moving forward?

Information Sessions 2025

Click here to see upcoming open house dates.

Residency Showcases 2025

ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting (Las Vegas, Nevada)

• 1 – 4 pm PST on December 9 (Booth: 6518)

Mission Statement

Our ASHP-accredited PGY1 residency program builds on Doctor of Pharmacy education and outcomes to develop pharmacist practitioners with knowledge, skills and abilities as defined in the educational competency areas, goals and objectives.

Residents who successfully complete PGY1 residency programs will be skilled in diverse patient care, practice management, leadership and education. They will be prepared to provide patient care, seek board certification in pharmacotherapy, and pursue advanced education and training opportunities, including postgraduate year two (PGY2) residencies.

Belonging Statement

Our program believes that a residency class from a unique set of backgrounds helps broaden perspectives, leads to creative problem solving, enriches our department, and ultimately fosters excellent patient care.

We continually challenge ourselves to work toward a holistic program through our recruitment process, policies and interactions. Our program respects the dignity and worth of each resident, and we cultivate an environment where value is seen in everyone's differences.

Our Approach

Residents will:

• Learn to be a confident practitioner with the expertise, professional judgment and values of an experienced clinician.
• Develop problem-solving abilities in a wide variety of practice areas.
• Exert a unique professional influence to reach higher-level goals in the patient's best interest.
• Understand the importance of evidence-based medicine.
• Learn how to critique and apply available literature, and design and execute studies to solve relevant pharmacy-related issues.
• Be dedicated to personal education and to educating others to improve the safety of medication use.
• Serve as a leader in developing pharmacy practice.
• Serve as a preceptor to both IPPE and APPE pharmacy students.

We use a team-based pharmacy practice model. Residents usually spend time with multiple pharmacists on the same clinical team throughout the month.

Our PGY1 program uses PharmAcademic to evaluate the progress of residents. Preceptors and residents must complete evaluations for each rotation experience. As a resident, you will get formal and informal feedback from preceptors throughout the rotation. One-on-one progress discussions are scheduled with the RPD or one of the coordinators and each resident.

As a resident, you can complete required rotations at any time throughout the year except for the Pharmacy Practice Orientation, which is always completed in June or July for PGY1 residents.

The program begins with the six-week orientation. This will introduce you to department policies and procedures, systems, workflows and your longitudinal responsibilities. During orientation, you will coordinate preliminary rotation schedules with fellow residents and the program director. Each rotation has a designated primary preceptor who coordinates the rotation experience.

Our goal is to tailor your learning experience based on your interests. We will consider off-site rotations on an individual basis and residency program director approval.

Required rotations:

• Ambulatory Care
• Pharmacy Practice Orientation
• Administration
• Internal Medicine
• Adult Critical Care
• Medication Use Policy
• Project Month

Current elective rotations include:

• Acute Leukemia
• Advanced Heart Failure
• Advanced Internal Medicine
• Benign Hematology Clinic
• Cardiac Surgery Step-Down Unit
• Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU)
• Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) Clinic
• Coronary Care Unit (CCU)
• Emergency Medicine
• General Cardiology
• Graduate Pharmacy Education
• Heart Failure Titration Clinic
• Infectious Diseases
• Informatics
• Internal Medicine Clinic
• Investigational Drug Service
• Lung Transplant
• Lymphoma/Multiple Myeloma
• Medical ICU
• Neonatal ICU
• Neuro-spine ICU
• Nutrition Support
• Oncology Clinic
• Psychiatry
• Solid Organ Transplant
• Solid Organ Transplant Clinic
• Specialty Pharmacy
• Stem Cell Transplant
• Surgical Intensive Care Unit
• Transitions of Care Clinic
• Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) Clinic

• Longitudinal project: Residents must complete an independent longitudinal quality improvement or research project with mentorship from clinical pharmacists and support from the Departmental Research Committee. We expect residents to:
  • Present background and methods at the annual Vizient meeting before the ASHP Clinical Mid-Year Meeting (a resident-specific spring meeting)
  • Present the results of clinical research projects at a resident-specific spring conference.
• Meetings: Residents will attend the ASHP Mid-Year Clinical Meeting and ICHP Annual Meeting. We will reimburse most costs associated with these professional meetings. You will not need to use personal time off (PTO) to attend. We encourage residents to attend other conferences of their interest, and we can arrange opportunities with RPD and preceptors.
• Residency site visit: Residents will visit other residency programs when feasible.
• Earning a teaching certificate: Residents may elect to complete a teaching certificate as an optional component of the program. Requirements are introduced during orientation.
• Choosing an advisor: At the end of July, residents will choose one clinical pharmacist as their year-long professional advisor. The advisor will support and guide the resident throughout the year.
• Precepting opportunities: There will be opportunities to precept and mentor pharmacy students and interns.
• On-call shifts: During the required administration rotation, residents will be on call from 5 pm Friday to 9 am the next Monday for any administrative issues. Other department leaders are always on-call for support. We do not require residents to be in-house while on-call. There are no other required on-call activities for residents throughout the year.

• Presentations: We expect PGY1 residents to present:
  • Two formal patient cases, two journal clubs, and two 20-minute research presentations during resident noon conference. Residents will get timely feedback from preceptors and the residency program director.
  • One hour-long continuing education presentation for pharmacists and/or technicians.

• Monthly RPD meetings
• Committee participation: Residents will participate in two longitudinal committees. One of the committees will be an internal P&T committee, and the other will be within a professional organization with one of the Northwestern Medicine clinical pharmacists.
• Participation in resident group service projects and volunteering

Staffing

Throughout the year, residents will staff, on average:

• One evening shift every six weekdays
• Every third weekend (eight-hour shifts Saturday and Sunday)

All residents will rotate through the following shifts: central pharmacy staffing, clean room staffing, and transitions of care. Evening staffing will occur at the central pharmacy and ICU satellite pharmacy. You must work one major winter holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s Day).

Christopher Leong, PharmD, BCCCP
Residency Director, PGY1 Pharmacy Residency Program
Practice Coordinator, Pharmacy Education
Chair, Executive Residency Advisory Committee
Co-chair, Pharmacy Research and Quality Improvement Committee

Leong received his PharmD from Midwestern University – Chicago College of Pharmacy in 2014. He went on to complete a PGY1 residency at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and a PGY2 in critical care with Midwestern University and Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Leong started his post-residency career as a critical care pharmacist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he worked in the Neuro-spine ICU, serving as team leader for five years before transitioning to his current role.

Daniel Dickson, PharmD, BCCCP
Preceptor and Clinical Pharmacist, Medical ICU
Coordinator, PGY1 Residency Program

Dan earned his Doctor of Pharmacy from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. He completed a PGY1 residency, then a PGY2 in critical care at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. His professional interests include ARDS, pulmonary arterial hypertension, pain, agitation, and delirium management, toxicology, and pharmacy education. Dan enjoys teaching mentoring advanced pharmacy trainees.

Dan is an active member of American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). Outside of work, Dan enjoys cooking, exploring the diverse neighborhoods of Chicago, and watching fantasy and sci-fi movies.

Nicole Leshko, PharmD, BCCCP
Preceptor and Clinical Pharmacist, Neuro-spine ICU and Medical ICU
Coordinator, PGY1 Residency Program

Nicole earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Thomas Jefferson University. She is originally from Philadelphia, PA and completed a PGY1 residency followed by a PGY2 residency in critical care at Penn Medicine – Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. She primarily practices in the Neuro-spine ICU and Medical ICU. Her professional interests include status epilepticus, traumatic brain injury, sedation, analgesia and delirium, and medication safety. Nicole enjoys mentoring trainees at all stages of their education.

Nicole is an active member of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). Outside of work, Nicole enjoys spending time with her dog at the lake, trying new restaurants around the city, and taking mat pilates classes.

Kendall Mores, PharmD, BCCCP
Preceptor and Clinical Pharmacist, Medical ICU
Research Coordinator, PGY1 Residency Program
Co-chair, Pharmacy Quality Improvement and Research Committee

Kendall earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Purdue University. She is originally from Crown Point, IN and completed a PGY1 residency followed by a PGY2 residency in critical care at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She primarily practices in the Medical ICU. Her professional interests include pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics in critically ill patients, sepsis, antimicrobial resistance, pain, agitation, and delirium. Kendall enjoys assisting pharmacy residents and pharmacists navigate the quality improvement and research process. and is the primary preceptor for PGY1 residents during their MICU learning experience.

Kendall is an active member of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). Outside of work, Kendall enjoys spending time with her two cats and attending concerts.