Table 2.

Examples of Successful Strategies to Deliver Research Content

Strategy	Description
Capstone projects Self-directed study Supervised by 2-3 member faculty committee Enhanced learning through communication and application	Course description: In conjunction with research specific didactic coursework, students assigned to faculty facilitator (1 primary, 2 secondary) to assist in the development of the research project. Spanning entire curriculum period, students formulate research question, develop and design study to answer the question, collect and analyze data, present results at institutional research day and prepare a manuscript suitable for submission to a peer-reviewed journal.
Pharmaceutical outcomes course Didactic coursework Team teaching Therapeutic specialists interpret in own area	Sample lectures: Integrating humanistic, and economic data into drug therapy plan, determining therapeutic endpoints for monitoring medication regimens, applying new knowledge to clinical situations, communicating recommendations.
Biostatistics and drug literature evaluation course Didactic coursework Generally one faculty Could be one or two separate courses	Sample lectures: key terms and concepts in statistics that are used in the medical literature, appropriate use of various statistical tests for data sets. Parts of a research article are identified and the elements that need to be included for the reader to confidently interpret the findings are discussed.
Clinical research and design (research methods) course Didactic coursework Team teaching Enhanced learning through communication and application	Sample lectures: clinical research terminology, principles of research design, methodology, and biostatistics needed for development of research proposals. Final exam: Complete a research proposal, including study design and analysis techniques.
Research ethics course Didactic coursework Team teaching Enhanced learning through communication and application	Sample lectures: history of clinical research ethics, historical and current regulatory considerations, and professional standards of human and animal research, FDA submission requirement and IRB policies and procedures. Final exam: Essay incorporating course objectives applied to published research within last year.
Applied research elective course Experiential One faculty Enhanced learning through communication and application	Course description: In accordance with institutionally allowed credit/hours, student participates in an ongoing research project of an established faculty member(s). May include bench or bedside activities (preferentially) or literature reviews (alternately). Degree of project involvement and magnitude of credit dictated by primary faculty. Must include some formal communication output at end of experiential.
Clinical research elective clerkship Experiential One faculty Enhanced learning through communication and application	Course description: A full time, 4 – 8 week experience in a research-only environment. Student is primarily engaged daily in routine operations of a clinical research center (including physical assessments, subject consenting, randomization, source documentation and query resolution, etc.) or service (i.e., investigational drug service). Minimal outcome objectives analogous to entry level study coordinator performance measures.
PharmD Paper and/or Seminar Self-directed Course coordinator Enhanced learning through communication and application	Course description: Student selects topic to prepare a critical analysis of available published data. Course facilitator serves as guide and liaison between student and faculty in that specialty area. Final: Manuscript suitable for submission (i.e., Therapeutic Frontiers, Practice Insights) or have abstract accepted at major medical conference for presentation
Summer research programs Self-directed/salaried Program director Enhanced learning through communication and application	Course description: This competitive, 8 week full-time (40 hrs/week) program engages students to conduct formal (IRB approved, if applicable) independent research projects (generally tangential to faculty mentor’s work) between spring and fall semesters. Final: Institutional research day presentation (poster or platform) as well as manuscript suitable for submission.
Dual-degree programs: PharmD + (PhD or MPH or MS) Graduate committee Enhanced learning through communication and application	General description: Institution specific, advanced training program run(potentially) simultaneously with standard PharmD curriculum. Second degree requirements vary extensively and may lengthen year(s) of study. Final: dissertation or governing body approved standards

¹IRB-institutional review board

²HIPAA-Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

³FDA-Food and Drug Administration