Alumni Resident Testimonials: Raymond Meddock

From an early age, I was introduced to the field of healthcare. My mom and both of my older sisters are nurses. Throughout my education I always knew I wanted to practice in the acute care setting like the rest of my family. Upon graduation, I knew an inpatient focused PGY1 Pharmacy Residency would best prepare me for hospital practice and allow me to hit the ground running as a pharmacist.

St. Elizabeth Healthcare’s PGY1 Pharmacy Residency Program first piqued my interest due to its robust elective rotation selection. My decision to complete a residency at St. Elizabeth was only reinforced as the right choice when the residency program director and preceptors worked with me to customize my residency experience. I discovered a passion for Neonatal Medicine after completing the Neonatal ICU elective rotation and completing my residency research project on the use of clonidine within the neonatal population. The pharmacy team worked together to develop a new rotation called Advanced Neonatal ICU, which allowed me to further develop my critical thinking skills in this special population and see the administrative drug policy side of practice by working on medication protocol development and attending multidisciplinary meetings. The rotation still stands, and several other residents have been able to experience it and foster their own passions for neonatal medicine since.

Initially, I was drawn to St. Elizabeth Healthcare because it is a large community health system. I favored my experiences in community-based settings due to the smaller, more personable atmosphere. Working at St. Elizabeth, I am constantly reminded of this patient-centered mindset every day when I walk into our new, state of the art cancer center. Rather than immediately being surrounded by waiting rooms filled with chairs, I see a peaceful garden, hear piano music in the lobby, or smell freshly baked cookies in our integrative kitchen. I am reminded that caring for oncology patients is more than administering chemotherapy. We must integrate the entire healthcare team and provide a holistic approach.

Since completing residency, my research into clonidine use in neonates titled “Evaluation of the Cardiovascular Effects of Clonidine in Neonates Treated for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome” has been published in the Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics and I am now the lead NICU pharmacist and the primary preceptor for the NICU residency experiences. St Elizabeth Healthcare truly fosters your professional growth, and I am so happy to be a part of this amazing team.