Report of the 2018-2019 Research and Graduate Affairs Committee

Abstract

The 2018-2019 Research and Graduate Affairs Committee (RGAC) was charged with critically evaluating the leadership development support necessary for pharmacy researchers, including postdoctoral trainees, to develop the skills needed to build and sustain successful research programs and analyzing how well those needs are being met by existing programs both within AACP and at other organizations. The RGAC identified a set of skills that could reasonably be expected to provide the necessary foundation to successfully lead a research team and mapped these skills to the six domains of graduate education in the pharmaceutical sciences established by the 2016-2017 RGAC (Table 1). In addition, the RGAC identified competency in team science and the bench-to-bedside-to-beyond translational spectrum as being critical elements of research leadership. The universality of these skills and their value prompted the RGAC to make two related recommendations to AACP: Recommendation 1: AACP should promote the development and use of strategies to ensure intentional and ongoing professional development, such as Individual Development Plans. Recommendation 2: AACP should explore collaborative research leadership development opportunities between faculty at research-intensive institutions and faculty at non-research-intensive institutions. The RGAC also examined programs available at AACP and other national organizations that could help pharmacy faculty develop foundational skills for research leadership (Table 2). The RGAC administered two surveys, one to administrators responsible for research at colleges and schools of pharmacy and one to faculty members at pharmacy schools, to gather information about training needs, programming and support available for research leadership development. Administrators and faculty agreed that research is important for career advancement for faculty, and almost all administrators reported their schools provide funds, release time and mentoring for participation in research career development. However, a lack of faculty awareness regarding programs and available support may be a barrier to participation. The RGAC therefore makes two recommendations and one suggestion related to AACP programming: Recommendation 3: AACP should expand research leadership development opportunities building from existing programs such as ALFP and AACP Catalyst, with consideration placed on developing programs that promote collaborative research. Recommendation 4: AACP should collaborate with other professional organizations to expand research leadership development opportunities across the academy. Suggestion 1: Colleges and schools of pharmacy should take a proactive role in promoting and facilitating research leadership development for faculty.

Building Implementation Science Capacity in Academic Pharmacy: Report of the 2020-2021 AACP Research and Graduate Affairs Committee

“… Identify and select appropriate scientific methodological design to carry out the research model and test research questions  Identify appropriate and valid outcomes measures of each variable  Conduct sample size calculation  Select appropriate analysis approach to test hypotheses and determine impact on outcomes  Consider internal and external validity  Develop protocol for recruitment, enrollment, intervention, data collection, evaluation Please provide feedback on how clarity and/or relevance could be improved for any of the items in this domain. [4], Not at all clear [5]; Relevance Scale: Very relevant [1], Somewhat Relevant [2], Neutral [3], Somewhat irrelevant [4], Not at all relevant [5]. )…”

“…Please indicate the level of clarity and relevance for each competency. (Clarity Scale: Very clear [1], Somewhat Clear [2], Neutral [3], Somewhat unclear [4], Not at all clear [5]; Relevance Scale: Very relevant [1], Somewhat Relevant [2], Neutral [3], Somewhat irrelevant [4], Not at all relevant [5].)  Explain rationale for implementation research  Compare and contrast implementation science vs efficacy research and comparative effectiveness research  Demonstrate critical thinking by responding effectively to unexpected problems that arise  Apply principles for ethical conduct of human subjects research  Demonstrate effective project management and leadership  Identify funding agencies and develop an effective grant proposal Please provide feedback on how clarity and/or relevance could be improved for any of the items in this domain.…”

“…Please indicate the level of clarity and relevance for each competency. (Clarity Scale: Very clear [1], Somewhat Clear [2], Neutral [3], Somewhat unclear [4], Not at all clear [5]; Relevance Scale: Very relevant [1], Somewhat Relevant [2], Neutral [3], Somewhat irrelevant [4], Not at all relevant [5].)  Identify and select appropriate scientific methodological design to carry out the research model and test research questions  Identify appropriate and valid outcomes measures of each variable  Conduct sample size calculation  Select appropriate analysis approach to test hypotheses and determine impact on outcomes  Consider internal and external validity  Develop protocol for recruitment, enrollment, intervention, data collection, evaluation Please provide feedback on how clarity and/or relevance could be improved for any of the items in this domain.…”

“…This survey found that some residency-trained pharmacy faculty lacked full confidence in their readiness to take on research leadership roles. 5 Programs and mechanisms that can facilitate research by this group have the potential to both aid their scholarship and advance the goal of practice transformation.…”

Trends in Research and Graduate Programs in Schools and Colleges of Pharmacy, Part 1: Programs

“…Following those earlier efforts, the 2018-2019 RGAC honed in on the need to expand collaborative research and leadership development opportunities. 13 For this investigation, AACP institutional research data were mined regarding extramural research funding, graduate student enrollees, number of PhD degrees conferred, and faculty composition, including discipline, rank, tenure status, gender, and race/ethnicity. These data are reported annually by pharmacy schools and compiled, analyzed, and summarized by AACP.…”