Enhancing Clinical Skills and Competence

Catholic Health's PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency Program is an ASHP-accredited 12-month structured training program focusing on inpatient medication therapy management. Residents will collaborate with the multidisciplinary team to provide optimal pharmaceutical patient care. Our program is designed to enhance the resident’s clinical skills and competence. Rotations can be tailored to each resident’s field of interest.

Pharmacy Department

Our Unit-Based Pharmacy Program supports the active clinical role of pharmacists as vital members of the health care team. Unit-based pharmacists are involved in multidisciplinary rounds, provide drug information to the health care team and patients, and assist in medication reconciliation. The off-site Infusion Center Pharmacy provides medication management services for Catholic Health Cancer Institute and other specialties requiring parenteral therapy. The department has affiliations with several schools of pharmacy offering rotations in cardiology, acute care, institutional, and transitions of care for advanced pharmacy practice students.

Contact Information

Carol Liotta-Bono, Pharm.D., BCPS, CDCES, PGY-1 Residency Program Director, Assistant Director Clinical Pharmacy
Email: Carol.Bono@chsli.org
Phone: 516-562-6267

Billy Sin, Pharm.D., BCPS, MBA, Pharmacy Director
Email: Billy.Sin@chsli.org
Phone: 516-562-6265

Program Features

Somtoochukwu Ojukwu (left) and Amanda Liu (right)
Current residents Somtoochukwu Ojukwu (l) and Amanda Liu (r).

Core Rotation

  • Orientation/Pharmacy Practice
  • Internal Medicine
  • Cardiac Critical Care
  • Antimicrobial Stewardship/Infectious Disease
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Administration/Leadership
  • Transitions of Care

Elective Rotations

  • Oncology
  • Surgical Critical Care
  • Intermediate Care
  • Repetition of a Core Clinical Rotation

Longitudinal Experiences 

  • Administration
  • Inter-professional Education
  • Research Project
  • Student Preceptorship
  • Medication Use Evaluation
  • Presentations
  • Internal Publications
  • Staffing

Teaching Certification Training

  • Teaching certification is available through St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center's affiliation with St. John’s University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Applications are due on January 15th of the residency year via the Pharmacy Online Residency Centralized Application Service (PhORCAS™).

Candidates must:

  1. Possess a Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from an ACPE-accredited School of Pharmacy.
  2. Be eligible for New York State licensure.
  3. Be a United States citizen or resident.

Prospective candidates are required to submit:

  1. Letter of Intent.
  2. Curriculum vitae (CV).
  3. Official college of pharmacy academic transcript.
  4. Three letters of recommendation.

Additional details

  • Community service is preferred.
  • An interview is required.

National Matching Service Code #258213

ASHP Program Code #22096

Managerial Coverage

Residents will be on-site managers on designated weekend during their longitudinal administration experiences. The resident will be responsible for ensuring optimal operations during weekend coverage.

Staffing Coverage

Residents will staff in the pharmacy on designated rotations and holidays. The resident will conduct order verification, pharmacotherapy and lab monitoring, sterile compounding, medication dispensing and interdisciplinary team assistance for drug information questions.

Pharmacy Administration Rotation

  • Billy Sin, Pharm.D., MBA, BCPS – Director of Pharmacy; Rotation: Administration

Pharmacy Practice Rotation

  • Sheril Baby, Pharm.D., - Senior Pharmacist; Rotation: Orientation & Pharmacy Practice
  • Saera Khan, Pharm.D., - Pharmacist; Rotation: Orientation & Pharmacy Practice
  • Linda Paik, Pharm.D., - Senior Pharmacist; Rotation: Orientation & Pharmacy Practice
  • Jeswin Chacko, Pharm.D., - Pharmacist; Rotation: Orientation & Pharmacy Practice

Clinical Rotations

  • Carol Liotta-Bono, Pharm.D., BCPS, CDCES  - Assistant Director, Clinical Pharmacy; Residency Program Director; Rotation: Antimicrobial Stewardship/Infections Disease; leadership, research; teaching; staffing
  • Julia Shen, Pharm.D., BCPS – Pharmacotherapy Progression Coordinator; Rotation: Critical Care
  • Kwong (Justin) Lau, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCCCP, BCEMP, AE-C – Pharmacotherapy Progression Coordinator; Rotation: Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU)
  • Amanda Tolento, Pharm.D – Unit-based Pharmacist; Rotation: Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU)
  • Liliana Salerno, Pharm.D., BCPS – Unit-based Pharmacist; Rotation: Intermediate Care
  • Sanu Koshy-Varghese, Pharm.D – Unit-based Pharmacist; Rotation: Emergency Medicine
  • Jini Vattamala, Pharm.D. – Unit-based Pharmacist; Rotation: Internal Medicine
  • Ran You, Pharm.D. – Unit-based Pharmacist; Rotation: Internal Medicine
  • Crystal Toribio, Pharm.D. – Pharmacotherapy Progression Coordinator; Rotation: Transitions of Care
  • Steven Reynolds, Pharm.D. – Senior Pharmacist; Rotation: Oncology

Amanda Liu, Pharm.D.  Graduated from St. John's University. SFH PGY-1 Pharmacy Resident 2023-2024.

Somtoochukwu Ojukwu, Pharm.D., MHS. Graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University. School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. SFH PGY-1 Pharmacy Resident 2023-2024.