What I Wish I Knew - Incorporating Research into Clinical Practice Post-residency; How to Continue to be Scholarly

Incorporating research into clinical practice post-residency can be accomplished in a variety of ways. New practitioners often are focusing their efforts on their new position and its accompanying responsibilities. Unless research is an expectation of the position, it can become an afterthought in the midst of providing direct patient care. Research is incredibly rewarding and when aligned with the practice, results can even improve your practice, the services you provide, or influence the practice of others in the profession. For many when they hear the word research, the first thing that comes to their mind is conducting large, randomized controlled trials that are difficult to get funded, require a lot of time to conduct, and that are not feasible to fit into a busy clinical or teaching schedule. Research efforts can come in many packages and be incorporated into everyday practice, if a concerted effort is implemented.

 

My pharmacy career post-residency began with a 100% research position. I was always interested in research, but never envisioned being a full-time researcher until the opportunity presented itself. The involvement in large scale research projects helped establish the foundation my career. During this time, I was working on the largest funded mental health study in the United States. I was challenged by my mentor and team, which led me to change my perspective on meeting personal and professional goals. Instead of looking at the end result, I had to restructure my goals and tasks into smaller incremental steps, rather than focusing on project completion and manuscript publication, which was years away. It became more about the journey than the result. I had smaller projects and manuscripts that I worked on during this time which I found challenging and as rewarding as the large study that was progressing. The results of these smaller projects and manuscripts may not have been as groundbreaking or have as much of a global impact, but I felt they would still make a difference. I found each project providing me with self-fulfillment and accomplishment. At this point, I knew I would always incorporate research into my practice to some degree no matter where the course of my career may take me. This assertion would be tested when I returned to a full-time clinical psychiatric pharmacy practice. How was I going to fit this in?

 

There are a variety of research or scholarly opportunities that bring value to our profession and demonstrate the improvement of outcomes. Research activities can even include quality assurance (QA) or quality improvement (QI) projects. These types of projects are conducted within all institutions but are often not shared or submitted for publication. The results of these projects can provide useful solutions to problems we all face in our day to day practices, such as unique clinical cases that require us to conduct a thorough literature review to provide the most evidence-based care or where we find there is limited data available to answer our questions. These cases provide an ideal springboard to author literature reviews or case studies that could assist others in the profession that may have encountered similar questions. These types of research projects have become an integral part of my clinical practice. I find research and scholarly projects strike a great balance with my clinical and teaching duties. This balance keeps me engaged in the practice of psychiatric clinical pharmacy and is multi-dimensional, which prevents me from getting burnt out in any one area.

 

Many projects can be conducted with colleagues and trainees, such as students, residents or fellows. Collaborative research helps reduce the work burden along with enriching the research by introducing different perspectives/experiences into the projects. It is also a wonderful way to expand and strengthen your interdisciplinary collaborations. Research provides invaluable experience for the trainee and helps guide deadlines and project completion. American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) accredited pharmacy residency programs (PGY1 and PGY2) require residents to complete a project and write a corresponding manuscript. As a research mentor and Residency Program Director, I have encouraged all my trainees to submit their projects for publication. I have found going through the process of manuscript submission and peer review is just as important as investigational review board (IRB) submission and conducting the research itself. If all this work has gone into a project, then why not try to publish it?

 

I have made research a personal goal even though it has not been a requirement in my clinical practice. I find research to be a rewarding endeavor. The results of these reviews, case studies, or projects no matter how small can make an impact. Whether it is answering a question that many have asked before or just providing yourself with balance, being involved in research makes a difference.