The state of clinical pharmacy practice in family practice residency programs.

BACKGROUND

Clinical pharmacists have been involved with family practice residencies for more than 20 years. This survey was designed to evaluate the current state of clinical pharmacy services in the family practice residency program (FPRP) in the United States.

METHODS

All FPRPs were contacted to identify clinical pharmacists involved with their programs. These pharmacists were directed to a password-protected Web address where the survey was posted. Completed surveys were submitted on-line, and data were retrieved for analysis.

RESULTS

Of the 579 residencies, 155 (26.7%) acknowledged 174 clinical pharmacists working within their program. Responses were received by 130 of the pharmacists (74.7% response rate). These pharmacists held academic appointments in both their institution's school of pharmacy (80%) and the school of medicine (53.2%). The mean age of the respondents was 36.5 +/- 8.2 years, and the mean salary was $66,000 (range $46,000-$125,000). A majority of the pharmacists received their funding from a single source, and 32.2% received full salary support from the FPRP. The respondents spent more than half of their time with the residency program. Overall, their time was divided into teaching responsibilities (42.7%), patient care activities (37.1%), research (12.1%), administrative functions (11.8%), and drug distribution (< 5%).

CONCLUSIONS

Pharmacists are actively involved in 26.7% of FPRPs. This survey demonstrates increased salary support from the FPRP in comparison to past surveys. Additionally, more pharmacists hold academic appointments within schools of medicine.