Evaluation of Research and Scholarship Activities with a Pediatric Curricular Track in a Doctor of Pharmacy Program.

The University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy created the Pediatric Degree Option Program (PDOP) to enhance the knowledge and skills of students in pediatric pharmacy. The purpose of the study was to identify the pediatric-focused research and scholarship activities and outcomes of PDOP graduates. This was a retrospective study of PDOP graduates from 2011-2022. The primary objective was to identify the overall number of activities conducted during the PDOP. Secondary objectives included the overall number of peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed publications, and comparison of the median number of scholarship activities per PDOP graduate between those who did and did not complete a PGY1 residency. Inferential statistics were performed using Mann-Whitney U and Chi-square or Fischer's exact test as appropriate, with an a priori p value <0.05. Fifty-two PDOP graduates completed the program. Following graduation, 23 (44.2%) individuals completed a postgraduate year-one (PGY1) residency. PDOP graduates completed a total of 53 research and scholarship activities. The majority (n=44; 83.0%) were original research projects, and 41 (77.4%) graduates published ≥1 manuscript. There was a significant difference in manuscript authorship between graduates who did and did not complete a residency (18 versus 7, p<0.001). Seventeen (26.2%) of the PDOP scholarship projects involved collaboration with a PGY1/postgraduate year-two (PGY2) resident. This study demonstrated that students enrolled in a curricular track were exposed to various aspects of the research and scholarship process. Many of the activities resulted in a publication or presentation for the PDOP graduate.