Skip to content

PGY1 Pharmacy Los Angeles, California

The pharmacy residency at Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles Medical Center has been in existence since 1977 and is the longest-standing residency in the Kaiser Permanente system. Serving as a tertiary referral site for the Southern California region, the Los Angeles Medical Center is also a teaching facility for medical residents and fellows. It is the largest of the Kaiser Permanente facilities in Southern California, providing care for over 330,000 Kaiser Foundation Health plan members. The medical center also includes medical office buildings in Pasadena, Glendale, East Los Angeles, Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood/Romaine, and a mental health facility in Downtown Los Angeles.

The resident will become well-versed in the various aspects of pharmacy practice in a health maintenance organization. The residency includes experiences in acute and ambulatory care practice, drug information/drug-use policy development, and practice management (outpatient, inpatient, and ambulatory care). Time is allowed for the resident to pursue an area of particular interest through the offering of elective rotations. Residents are active members of the pharmacy management team, serve as preceptors for pharmacy students during their rotations, and are invited to attend various medical center and regional meetings.


Pharmacy Services

At Kaiser Permanente, pharmacists work in an environment that allows them to do what they do best – practice pharmacy. They practice with part of an integrated healthcare team of physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers, and receive professional support from pharmacy management, fellow pharmacists, as well as pharmacy interns, technicians, and assistants. The Los Angeles Medical Center offers a variety of clinical and progressive practice settings within outpatient, ambulatory care, inpatient, and home infusion pharmacy service lines.

In addition to our clinic and acute care settings, our state-of-the-art Call Center in Los Angeles and automated refill pharmacy at Downey, offer centralized call processing and high-tech automated drug dispensing. These facilities are on the cutting edge of medication distributing.

The Pharmacy Services in the Los Angeles area offers a wide variety of pharmacist-run primary care programs. Working under a protocol, pharmacists may perform physical assessment, order labs, and initiate and adjust medication based on clinical judgment. We currently offer the largest variety of primary care pharmacy programs in Southern California within the following specialties: asthma, anticoagulation, CVD management, congestive heart failure, geriatrics, psychology, adult oncology, pediatric oncology, gynecology oncology, nephrology, HIV, pain management, Medication Therapy Management (MTM), transplant, and New Member Program.

Los Angeles At A Glance


Learning Experiences

Core Experience

  • Ambulatory Patient Care
    • Oncology – (6 weeks)
    • Outpatient Anticoagulation (4 weeks)
    • Primary Care – (6 weeks)
  • Acute Care
    • Acute Care – (8 weeks)
    • Antimicrobial Stewardship (4 weeks)
    • Hospital Practice – (4 weeks)
  • Drug Use Management/Outpatient Pharmacy (5 weeks)
  • Pharmacy Administration (4 weeks in the following areas)
    • Ambulatory Care
    • Home Infusion
    • Inpatient
    • Outpatient

Elective Experience

  • Infectious Diseases: HIV
  • Home Infusion Pharmacy
  • Pain Management
  • Outpatient Pharmacy
  • Pediatric/Neonatal Intensive Care
  • Drug Information
  • Nephrology
  • Pediatric Asthma/Oncology
  • Transplant
  • Heart Failure

Longitudinal Experience

  • Community Service: Drug Take Back Days, Saban Free Community Clinic
  • Leadership Development 
  • Lunch and Learn CE Presentations
  • Pharmacy Student Orientation and Precepting
  • Western States

Requirements for Acceptance

  • Graduate of an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)-accredited (or ACPE candidate status) school of pharmacy. 
  • Must be licensed as an Intern Pharmacist in the state of California by the first day of residency program.
  • Residents who have not obtained a California Pharmacist license by October 1st are subject to suspension until license is obtained. If license is not obtained by December 15th, employment will be subject to termination.
  • State Board of Pharmacy Web Link: http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov
  • Candidates must be registered in the National Matching Services, Inc. (NMS).
  • Candidates must participate in the ASHP Matching Program.
  • Program NMS Code: 130413 and ASHP Program Code: 92140

Application Requirements

  • Statement of Interest/Letter of Intent
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Official Pharmacy School transcripts, sent directly from the applicant’s college or school of pharmacy
  • 3 letters of references/recommendations utilizing the form in PhORCAS
  • Application Deadline: January 2, 2024

Interview Details

**This residency agrees that no person at this residency will solicit, accept, or use any ranking-related information from any residency applicant**

Back to all programs

Apply Through ASHP

Apply using the ASHP standard application process on the ASHP PhORCAS website.

Apply now

Current Pay Rate

$23.38 per hour

Contact Information

Derenik Gharibian, Pharm.D., APh 
Area Pharmacy Director
Residency Program Director

Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center
1515 North Vermont Avenue, Suite 237
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Derenik.X.Gharibian@kp.org
(323) 783-7607

Sandra Torossian PharmD, BCACP
Clinical Pharmacy Director
Residency Program Coordinator

Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center
1515 North Vermont Ave Suite 237
Los Angeles CA 90027

Sandra.X.Torossian@kp.org
(323) 783-0178

Katherine Gyurdzhyan, Pharm.D
PGY1 Pharmacy Resident

Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles Medical Center
1515 North Vermont Avenue, Suite 237
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Katherine.C.Gyurdzhyan@kp.org
(323) 783-7878

Lanie Mendoza, Pharm.D.
PGY1 Pharmacy Resident

Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles Medical Center
1515 North Vermont Avenue, Suite 237
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Lanie.G.Mendoza@kp.org
(323) 783-3830

Back To Top