Publication of Pharmacy Residency Research: A 12-Year Cohort From an Academic Medical Center

Abstract

Background: Pharmacy residency programs provide research training experiences to residents, and publication is considered an indicator of high-quality research experiences. Objective: This study described attributes of pharmacy residents, residency programs, and residency major research projects and their associations with the outcome of publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Methods: Pharmacy residents who graduated from one academic medical center between 2001 and 2012 were invited to participate via an electronic survey distributed in February 2014. The survey collected attributes of the resident, residency program, and research project. The outcome of publication was self-reported by residents in 2014 and updated in July 2019 using a validated search strategy. Results: This study included 53 resident graduates representing 66 major pharmacy residency projects. Eighteen (27%) projects were published, occurring at an average of 13.8 months after residency graduation. The outcome of publication was more likely for residents with human subjects research experience prior to PGY1 training, residency programs that cultivated resident expertise in Institutional Review Board submission and statistical analysis, and projects with Institutional Review Board approval, a larger number of co-investigators, non-pharmacy co-investigators, and a larger sample size. Conclusion: This cohort of residents, programs, and projects at an academic medical center identified many modifiable attributes that were associated with successful publication of resident research projects. Unfortunately, residency projects rarely used study design features that attenuate bias. Residents and preceptors were perceived as having limited expertise with statistical analysis and database management, which underscores the need to develop research infrastructure to enhance research training for pharmacy students, residents, and preceptors.

Pharmacy resident research programming at a community health system: Challenges, quality improvement, and outcomes

“…Pharmacy residency programs nationwide have struggled to provide effective research and scholarship learning experiences, fueling the chasm between the expectations placed upon early‐career clinical pharmacists and the skills provided by their training 5,7,12,14,21,22 . While the benefits of research training in pharmacy residency extend far beyond those of publication, the poor publication rates of pharmacy resident research projects have likely come at the costs of reduced knowledge dissemination and stunted early‐career scholarly productivity 2,3 .…”

“…Indeed, it has been recommended that community hospital programs consider partnering with academic medical centers to provide similar learning experiences 2 . Yet, only about a quarter of pharmacy residents at well‐resourced academic medical centers appear to subsequently publish their research, 12,13 and this rate appears to be only 1.8% to 16% nationwide 5,14 …”

“…5,7,[9][10][11] Indeed, it has been recommended that community hospital programs consider partnering with academic medical centers to provide similar learning experiences. 2 Yet, only about a quarter of pharmacy residents at well-resourced academic medical centers appear to subsequently publish their research, 12,13 and this rate appears to be only 1.8% to 16% nationwide. 5,14 Our community health system historically did not offer formalized research educational programming during pharmacy residencies, and pharmacist-authored publications system-wide were limited to ≤1 per year.…”

Research and scholarly methods: Creating a research protocol

“…Studies have shown the value of pharmacy students, residents, and fellows conducting research. [6][7][8][9][10][11] However, when pharmacy students, residents, fellows, faculty, or other early career pharmacists do engage in research, it is often their first time, or one of their first times, and they may therefore be unprepared.…”

“…Some pharmacy students, residents, or fellows pursue a career in academia where they are typically required to engage in scholarly activities. Studies have shown the value of pharmacy students, residents, and fellows conducting research 6–11 . However, when pharmacy students, residents, fellows, faculty, or other early career pharmacists do engage in research, it is often their first time, or one of their first times, and they may therefore be unprepared.…”