Practice-related projects and pharmacy practice research are requirements to complete postgraduate pharmacy residency programs. Many residents will complete residencies without fully developing the skills needed to perform research required for new clinical and academic positions. Many studies have quantified successes and identified characteristics that may be associated with successful resident publication. There are many benefits to gaining research and publication skills during residency training for the resident, preceptor/mentors, and the residency program. Published works have also suggested approaches than can be taken to improve research within a residency program. The aims of this article are to discuss the publication rates of resident research projects, suggest ways to improve residency research, review benefits of residency research, and briefly review research training alternatives.

Formal guidelines for mentoring faculty members in pharmacy practice divisions of colleges and schools of pharmacy do not exist in the literature. This paper addresses the background literature on mentoring programs, explores the current state of mentoring programs used in pharmacy practice departments, and provides guidelines for colleges and schools instituting formal mentoring programs. As the number of pharmacy colleges and schools has grown, the demand for quality pharmacy faculty members has dramatically increased. While some faculty members gain teaching experience during postgraduate residency training, new pharmacy practice faculty members often need professional development to meet the demands of their academic responsibilities. A mentoring program can be 1 means of improving faculty success and retention. Many US colleges and schools of pharmacy have developed formal mentoring programs, whereas several others have informal processes in place. This paper discusses those programs and the literature available, and makes recommendations on the structure of mentoring programs.

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Objective. This study evaluated the ability of patients with type 2 diabetes to maintain systolic blood pressure (SBP), LDL cholesterol, and A1C at goal levels after being discharged from a pharmacist-managed ambulatory care clinic. The goals of this study were to 1) document the length of time to failure of maintenance of each goal and 2) characterize risk factors that may be associated with a shorter time to failure.Methods. Researchers reviewed the medical records of veterans with diabetes who were discharged from the clinical pharmacy ambulatory care clinic between 1 July 2007 and 30 June 2009 after attaining their goal SBP, LDL cholesterol, or A1C. The time to goal failure, medical history, laboratory data, medications, demographic information, and clinic appointment attendance were documented.Results. A total of 69 patients who were discharged from the clinic after meeting their SBP, LDL cholesterol, or A1C goal subsequently failed to maintain that goal. The mean time to failure was 9.4 months (SD 8.75 months) for SBP, 25.8 months (27.45 months) for LDL cholesterol, and 20.4 months (15.1 months) for A1C. Multiple risk factors were associated with a shorter time to failure of maintenance of SBP and A1C goals.Conclusion. Veterans with type 2 diabetes in this study demonstrated durable maintenance of their goal LDL cholesterol and A1C levels after being discharged from a pharmacist-managed ambulatory care clinic. However, maintenance of xSBP goals did not demonstrate the same durability. Patients who meet their SBP goal may benefit from receiving continued disease state management services from a pharmacist-managed ambulatory care clinic instead of being discharged to receive their usual care.

Constipation remains a challenging problem for patients and caregivers in home healthcare. Part 1 of this two-part series discussed the scope, physiology, and evidence-based practice for nonpharmacological interventions for constipation. This second article will focus on evidence-based pharmacological prevention and management of constipation, medication cost, and implications for palliative care.