The clinical rotation in adult intensive care provides the Pharmacy Resident with training and experience in the various aspects of critical care pharmacotherapy. The rotation is based in the intensive care units at the Royal Jubilee Hospital (RJH), Victoria General Hospital (VGH), Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH), and Comox Valley Hospital (CVH). The tertiary care ICUs (RJH, VGH, NRGH) are similar in size, with approximately 10 beds per site. Patients present with various medical and surgical issues – RJH and NRGH provide greater representation of cardiac and chronic renal failure populations, whereas VGH provides greater representation of neurosurgery and trauma populations. In addition, CVH provides a community hospital ICU rotation, with 6 general medical/surgical ICU beds, and an associated 10 bed cardiac telemetry unit.

The ICU team typically consists of critical care physicians (rotating weekly), registered nurses, respiratory therapists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, social workers, and the clinical pharmacy specialist. Multidisciplinary students and residents are regular participants in all of the units, and members of the ICU team are eager to provide teaching in their respective areas of expertise. The majority of rotation time is spent on direct patient care activities, including but not limited to active participation in daily patient care rounds. The remainder of the time is comprised of working on assigned projects and/or presentations and participating in case-based therapeutic discussions which may be ad hoc or scheduled. The resident is provided with informal feedback on a daily basis and is formally assessed at the rotation midpoint and at the end of rotation.