Teaching research skills to student pharmacists: A multi-campus, multi-semester applied critical care research elective

• Published in: Currents in pharmacy teaching and learning 2020-06, Vol.12 (6), p.735-740
• Main Authors: Smith, Susan E., Newsome, Andrea Sikora, Hawkins, W. Anthony, Bland, Christopher M., Branan, Trisha N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Collaboration; Critical care; Layered learning; Pharmacy education
• ISSN: 1877-1297; 1877-1300
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cptl.2020.01.020

Research electives are commonly offered in doctor of pharmacy programs but are typically limited to one faculty member mentoring individual students at a single site for a semester long self-study experience. The purpose of this paper is to describe pharmacy student experiences and perceptions of the research process after completing a multi-campus, multi-investigator critical care research elective. The Research in Critical Care Pharmacotherapy elective was launched in spring 2019 and implemented a novel approach to the pharmacy research elective that promoted collaborative research across four campuses that may be continued for up to four semesters of credit. Six second- and third-year doctor of pharmacy students enrolled in the course during the first offering. Three students were located on the main campus with one student on each of the extended campuses. Students completed a median of five unique research activities with at least one student participating in 15 of the 19 activities evaluated. Students were asked to complete a pre- and post-course survey assessing perceived research abilities using the Dreyfus model. There was a significant decrease in the number of novice responses in the post-course survey (pre- 10 vs. post- 2, p = 0.043). A multi-campus, multi-investigator critical care research elective provided broad research experiences and increased student confidence related to numerous research skills. •Six students enrolled in a multi-campus, multi-investigator critical care research elective•Each student completed a median of 5 unique research activities; in total, students engaged in 15 of 19 activities evaluated•Confidence in research abilities increased over the course of the semester