Evaluating the performance of clinical pharmacy faculty: putting the ACCP template to use

The responsibilities of clinical faculty members are often multifaceted and may include direct patient care, didactic and experiential teaching, research, and administrative duties. Specialization, poorly defined standards of care, and lack of direct supervision have traditionally made performance evaluation difficult. We implemented a method to evaluate clinical faculty as they carried out patient care activities using a revised template for the evaluation of a clinical pharmacist developed by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Clinical Practice Affairs Committee. In addition, it allows individuals to report and evaluate their own performance in the areas of patient care, instructional activity, university and public service, research and scholarly activities, and administrative duties. Teaching evaluations from clerkship students and residents are also submitted and assessed during the annual interview. To determine the usefulness of the evaluation, including the template, we surveyed the opinions of clinical faculty (nontenured) at four primary practice sites (response rate 92%). Mean scores for responses suggested agreement with statements as to the merits of the evaluation system; however, there was some variation among practice sites. Incorporating the template into a broad evaluation system was effective in facilitating improved job performance and career development. Adaptation of the template may be practice site dependent and should be coordinated by a participative approach. Additional assessment may be facilitated by physician, nurse, or peer evaluation.