Blue Shield Managed Care Pharmacy Residency Program

The purpose of Blue Shield of California's Managed Care Pharmacy Residency Program is to prepare residents for a career in managed care pharmacy. The program provides opportunities to develop proficient clinical, project management, analytical, and leadership skills, and is customized based on the resident’s professional goals. Upon successful completion of the program, graduates are prepared for a variety of clinical pharmacist roles, including drug utilization review, quality assurance and improvement, drug information, and formulary management. The program provides residents with the training, skills, and experience needed for a successful pharmacy career in today’s healthcare environment.

About the PGY1 Managed Care Residency Program

Residents will:

• Perform direct and indirect patient care activities through various clinical initiatives, such as comprehensive medication reviews, drug utilization reviews, and quality improvement interventions
• Analyze pharmacy claims data to develop drug therapy and disease-management programs
• Review drug information literature to make evidence-based clinical decisions and present recommendations to the pharmacy and therapeutics committee
• Assist in formulary maintenance through the development of medication policies and coverage criteria
• Conduct prior authorization reviews to ensure appropriate utilization of medications
• Learn claims processing systems and pharmacy benefit design
• Evaluate pharmacy trend and contribute to client presentations
• Participate in end-to-end implementation and evaluation of new and existing pharmacy product strategies
• Collaborate with Blue Shield’s accountable care organization partners to improve clinical quality outcomes
• Attend professional conferences and networking events
• Complete a high-quality residency research project suitable for publication
• Serve as primary preceptor and mentor for APPE students
   

Learning experiences:

• Orientation
• Clinical programs – Direct patient care
• Formulary management
  
• Pharmacy and therapeutics (P&T)
• Drug utilization review
• Pharmacy accounts and sales/product strategy
• Provider partnerships/accountable care organizations (ACO)
• Student precepting
• Analytics and residency project
• Professional development

Application and additional information

Requirements for acceptance 

• Doctor of Pharmacy degree from an accredited school of pharmacy
• California licensure or eligible candidate for California licensure.  The resident must obtain pharmacist licensure from the California State Board of Pharmacy within 90 days of the start of the program. If the resident is unable to obtain licensure by December 31 of the residency year, the resident will be considered for dismissal from the program.
• Three letters of recommendation (PDF of PhORCAS Recommendation Form is preferred, if available)
• Letter of intent
• Curriculum Vitae
• Official transcript from a school of pharmacy
• Preliminary telephone interview and onsite interview for select candidates
   

How to apply

• Please send all required application materials to: BSCPharmacyResidency@blueshieldca.com.
• Please advise letter writers to send letters of recommendation directly to the secure email address above. There is no required template or format. However, a PDF of the PhORCAS Recommendation Form is preferred, if available. 
• Official transcripts may be emailed by the school or candidate to the secure email above.
   

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Health, dental and vision benefits
• 20 days paid time off (PTO)
• Ten paid holidays
• One health day off
• Paid professional leave for conferences with travel allowances
• 24 hours of community service time
• 401k program with match
   

Duration of program

• 12 months from July 2025 - June 2026
   

Application deadline

• January 5^th, 2025
   

Please contact our Residency Program Director for more information:

Autumn Cronin, PharmD 
Residency Program Director 
Blue Shield of California 
601 12^th Street, 21-47D
Oakland, CA 94607
Email: Autumn.Cronin@blueshieldca.com
 

About Blue Shield of California
 

Mission

To ensure all Californians have access to high-quality health care at an affordable price.

Overview 

Blue Shield of California, an independent member of the Blue Shield Association, is a nonprofit health plan dedicated to providing Californians with access to high-quality health care at an affordable price. Headquartered in Oakland, our 7,100 employees work together from multiple offices statewide to provide access to quality care at competitive rates. We offer our 4.8 million members a wide range of affordable plans and one of the state’s largest networks of healthcare providers, including physicians, hospitals, allied healthcare professionals, and pharmacies. We serve Commercial, Exchange, Medicare, and Medi-Cal populations.

Pharmacy services 

Our mission is to provide quality and affordable pharmacy benefits. We are uniquely positioned to accomplish this by using integrated pharmacy and medical data to ensure effective coordination of healthcare services for individual patients and patient populations.

Blue Shield of California achievements and recognitions

• Established in 2002, Blue Shield of California’s PGY1 Managed Care Pharmacy Residency has a proven track record of producing top-notch managed care pharmacists. One of our program goals is resident retention. Of our past 21 residents, 7 still work at the company today!
• Blue Shield of California was certified as a Great Place to Work® in 2020, and we achieved recertification in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
• In 2024, Blue Shield of California was named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies® for the 12^th time.
• In 2024, Blue Shield of California was named one of the 50 Most Community-Minded Comanies in the United States.

About Blue Shield of California’s Oakland headquarters

Built in 2019, our home at 601 12th Street is an accomplishment in more ways than one. To start, the LEED-certified building boasts many modern details and amenities designed to enhance the experience of our employees, enable better work-life balance and boost our reputation as a great place to work.

About Oakland

Incorporated in 1852, Oakland is the eighth largest city in California, with a population of about 410,000 and a wealth of resources and opportunities. Located on the east side of the San Francisco Bay, Oakland is bordered by 19 miles of coastline to the west and rolling hills to the east, which provide unparalleled vistas of the Bay and the Pacific Ocean.