Impact of a clinical pharmacy research team on pharmacy resident research

A successful initiative by Kaiser Permanente Colorado (KPCO) to support pharmacy resident research projects and the publication of project results in peer-reviewed journals is described.

An observational study was conducted to evaluate the publication rates for resident research projects before and after the KPCO pharmacy department established a Clinical Pharmacy Research Team (CPRT) to encourage and enable resident research. All projects presented by KPCO residents at the annual Western States Conference (WSC) for Pharmacy Residents, Fellows, and Preceptors in the 10 years before the CPRT was established (1994-2004, the pre-CPRT group) and the 7 years after CPRT implementation (2005-11, the CPRT group) were included in the analysis. The proportions of presented projects in the two groups that were subsequently published in peer-reviewed journals were compared, with further analysis of project characteristics and publication outcomes.

A total of 66 resident research projects were presented at the WSC during the study period: 30 (45.5%) and 36 (54.5%) in the pre-CPRT and CPRT groups, respectively. Overall, 45 projects (68.2%) were published in peer-reviewed journals. Projects in the CPRT group were significantly more likely than those in the pre-CPRT group to result in peer-reviewed publications (publication rate, 86.1% versus 46.7%; p = 0.001). The median times from residency completion to publication in the pre-CPRT and CPRT groups were 30 and 23 months, respectively (p = 0.08).

An increase in the proportion of pharmacy resident research projects published in peer-reviewed journals was observed after the CPRT was established.