Department of Pharmacy Practice: An overview from the department head

Story written by: James Clem

Research and scholarly activity have always been an important part of the faculty’s work in the Department of Pharmacy Practice. What the research and scholarly activity have looked like over the years has varied quite a bit.

Expectations are spelled out in the department’s standards document and thresholds must be met to be successful in the promotion process. The important piece is the requirement that scholarly work be disseminated via peer-reviewed venues such as publications in professional journals or presentations at professional meetings.

One of the common areas of research focus for pharmacy practice faculty has been the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Due to the heavy teaching load of pharmacy practice faculty, it has been an area that would seem logical to expend effort in for their research and scholarly endeavors.

Faculty have done incredible things in this area ranging from new approaches to instruction to new rubrics that effectively evaluate student performance. The list of topics in this area is extensive. Faculty have been very successful with this scholarly work and have presented nationally.

Obtaining external grant funding has not been an expectation for pharmacy practice faculty due to their teaching requirements and providing clinical services to our partnering health care organizations. However, over the years, opportunities have presented themselves and have resulted in significant external grant funding.

Projects involving the effective treatment of diabetes in people who are underserved was funded by a large multiyear federal grant and was carried out in partnership with pharmacy practice faculty and the SDSU College of Nursing. More recent projects have been related to the opioid epidemic and wellness projects in rural areas of the state and have been funded through state and national entities.

These projects have been successful in developing new or innovative approaches to specific disease states for patient populations.

Another area has been faculty involvement with advancing pharmacy practice at the specific health care facilities where they provide clinical pharmacy services. Faculty are typically very involved in a variety of areas related to new pharmacy services, medication and treatment protocol development, and interventions to resolve medication issues.

These are only a few of the areas faculty have been active in as it relates to research and scholarship with helping advance pharmacy practice.