Pharmacy Residency Programs

Helping to develop pharmacists with advanced knowledge and skills

Pharmacy residents Pharmacy residents

PGY1 & PGY2 Residency Programs

HSHS St. John's Hospital offers three PGY1 positions and one PGY2 Infectious Diseases position. Each program is a twelve-month, postgraduate training experience composed of required, elective, and longitudinal learning experiences.  The specific program is personalized to each resident’s goals, interests and previous experiences.

The pharmacy department at HSHS St. John’s provides a wide range of services across the 438 bed facility. These services include pharmacokinetic dosing, renal dosing, drug interaction monitoring, patient care rounding, therapeutic drug monitoring, drug information, and anticoagulation dosing in a decentral pharmacy model of patient care. Clinical pharmacists at St. John’s are distributed throughout the hospital and are a critical component of the high quality care delivered at our institution.

General Benefits

  • Lab Coats
  • Library Access
  • Shared Resident Office
  • Personal Laptop
  • BLS/ACLS Certification
  • Immunizations
  • Wellness Program
  • Health Coverage: Standard Comprehensive Coverage: medical, prescription, life and disability and Optional Coverage: dental and vision
  • Other FMLA & retirement planning
  • See benefits.hshs.org for more information. 

Additional Benefits

PTO

Paid time off (PTO) is accrued throughout the residency year. The residents will accrue approximately 23 days over the year.

Meetings & Conferences

PGY1 and PGY2 residents are required to attend a variety of meetings and conferences, including departmental, administrative staff meetings, committees, clinical meetings and professional meetings. Some of these meetings are standing meetings or the preceptor may assign them at the beginning of each learning experience.

Residents completing a residency program at HSHS St. John’s Hospital are expected to develop and maintain an involvement in professional society activities on a local, state and national level. Involvement is critical to the development of the resident and the achievement of professional and personal goals. 

Residents should be active participants in ASHP and ICHP or other nationally recognized societies of their choice. Activities may include attendance at meetings, serving on committees, and volunteering for service to the society.

Professional Meetings

  • ICHP Annual Meeting
  • ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting
  • Illinois Pharmacy Residency Conference
  • IDSA IDWeek (PGY2 ID Resident only)
  • Attendance to other professional meetings based on resident interest and program director approval

Travel Reimbursement

Travel reimbursement is available for reasonable expenses including meeting registration, travel, hotel, and meals.

Meet the Current Residents

The pharmacy staff at HSHS St. John's Hospital are committed to improving the community's health and helping to train the next generation of health care professionals. 

As a result, St. John's offers two pharmacy residency programs to help develop high quality pharmacy professionals for the future.

Jake Torbert

Jake Torbert | PGY-1

Hometown: Clinton, IL
Jake Torbert received his doctor of pharmacy degree from Butler University in 2025. HIs current practice areas of interest include infectious disease, internal medicine and ambulatory care. 

Outside of pharmacy, his hobbies include golfing, gaming, listening to music, hiking and seeing baseball games at Wrigley Field.
Mona Kanakrieh

Mona Kanakrieh } PGY-1

Hometown: Murfreesboro, TN
Mona Kanakrieh earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in 2025. Her Practice areas of interest include infectious disease, cardiology, and internal medicine.

Outside of work, Mona enjoys working out, spending time with family, and traveling
 
Richard Schultz

Richard Schultz | PGY-1

Hometown: Roscoe, IL
Richard Schultz earned his doctor of pharmacy degree from in 2025 from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, School of Pharmacy. His practice areas of interest include critical care, emergency medicine, and infectious disease.

Outside of the pharmacy, Richard enjoys tabletop games with friends, cooking, and spending time with his two cats.
 
Yuang (Michael) Zhu

Yuang (Michael) Zhu | PGY-2 Infectious Disease

Hometown: Chapel Hill, NC
Received PharmD degree from University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy in 2024. Completed by PGY-1 pharmacy residency at Mercy Hospital in Long Island. Current area of interest is multi-drug resistant organisms, specifically carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE). 

Outside of pharmacy, I like hiking, playing basketball, and watching movies.