Factors influencing the involvement of doctor of pharmacy students in research and scholarship projects.

Introduction: The study objective was to determine factors that stimulate or hinder student pharmacist participation in research and scholarship, to determine factors faculty believe are motivators or barriers for student pharmacist participation, and to compare student and faculty responses.

Methods: An electronic questionnaire was developed and emailed to all students enrolled in the doctor of pharmacy program and to all program faculty. To increase response rate, students were provided class time to complete the survey. Responses were collected anonymously.

Results: A total of 404 students (69% response rate) and 35 faculty (78% response rate) participated. Motivational factors rated highly by both students and faculty were interest in the topic, comfort level in working with faculty, energetic quality of faculty, and becoming more competitive for post-graduate training. Students indicated that projects benefiting the profession/medical community was an important motivator, while faculty believed that pursuing a position that requires research/scholarship was a key motivational factor. The most highly rated barrier was lack of time.

Conclusions: Student pharmacist participation in research and scholarship with faculty is variable in our program and little was known previously about factors that led student pharmacists to engage in research and scholarship. There was general agreement among student and faculty regarding several motivating factors; however, some important differences did exist. Addressing these differences may help increase student involvement in research and scholarship in the future.