Are you interested in participating in research, but have little or no training? A good place to start is completion of your human subjects’ protection training. The ACCP Research Institute contracts with the CITI Program to offer research ethics education to all ACCP members, free of charge.

As of January 1, 2011, the ACCP Research Institute Board of Trustees and the ACCP PBRN central IRB require that all ACCP PBRN members who participate in research projects complete 10 modules within CITI Program Training. No other training is accepted. Members may access the training modules at http://www.citiprogram.org and select ACCP Research Institute as their institution. If you already use CITI Program Training at your site, you may also affiliate with the ACCP Research Institute and complete any of the PBRN’s required modules that you may not have completed already.

Upon successful completion of the required components, don’t forget to update your human subjects’ training certificate within your PBRNConnect portfolio. A list of FAQs regarding CITI Program Training is available on PBRNConnect under Step 3 at http://www.accpri.org/signin/index.aspx.

Please contact us with your questions at pbrn@accp.com.

The nice thing about all clinicians is that we have a laboratory. I’m sure that most of us encounter issues every day that deserve scholarly inquiry. My own career has benefited substantially from these events, and my participation in practice-based research networks has been defined by these opportunities.

Recently, a physician colleague of mine came into my office after precepting a resident physician and asked if I knew how many women of childbearing potential in our practice were receiving ACE inhibitors. I didn’t know off the top of my head, but a quick search of our electronic health record generated a worrisome answer: quite a few young women in our practice with hypertension and diabetes were receiving these medications. If they were to become pregnant, their babies might be at risk for congenital malformations. Because our practice belongs to a practice-based research network, we were able to engage others in answering questions related to this therapeutic issue. In relatively short order, seven practices in the Pacific Northwest were evaluating the effectiveness of a quality improvement intervention designed to improve the documentation of consent and use of appropriate contraception in women of childbearing potential who were receiving ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, or statins.

Working together on research teams enhances our ability to answer clinically relevant questions. Multicenter studies enhance the external validity of results and achieve power not available from smaller sample sizes. In addition, when we work together to address a research question, we are more likely to produce quality work; the more brains working on an issue, the better the solutions. Research teams realize efficiencies that are not possible when working alone.

It is our job as clinical pharmacists to move our profession forward. I would encourage everyone to consider joining the ACCP Practice-Based Research Network. This network offers all of us a larger laboratory in which to ask questions, generate answers, and ultimately improve the care we provide our patients.

ACCP members are starting to learn more about getting involved with ACCP Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN) research studies. For example, in the past 2 years, members of the PBRN were encouraged to participate in the MEDAP Study and are now being recruited to the Oncology Drug Shortage Study. However, members may not know much about the PBRN’s Community Advisory Panel (CAP).

The CAP is a standing committee to the ACCP PBRN with the mission to represent the breadth and depth of PBRN members. The CAP has members practicing in ambulatory care, cardiology, family medicine, health outcomes, pediatrics, and pharmacy administration from across the United States. The PBRN calls on the CAP to review proposals, do beta-testing for data collection methods, and provide input on IRB applications.

To increase participation and activity within the PBRN, CAP members are available to speak to your group – at your hospital or college of pharmacy, local meeting, statewide meeting, or regional meeting of any pharmacy organization. Members of CAP can provide an overview of the PBRN, the IRB submission process, the types of assistance provided, and the benefits of participating in the PBRN. Members can also provide printed materials to the group both for future reference and for taking back to respective groups. If you are interested in having someone speak at your meeting, please contact us (pbrn@accp.com).

In addition, if you are interested in working with the PBRN in this way, consider submitting your name to the CAP next year. Panel members participate for a 3-year term, and the chair/vice chair changes every year.