Article by Jessica Mourani, Clinical Outcomes Research Manager, Trellis Rx
At Trellis Rx, we have long been committed to advancing the health system specialty pharmacy practice by investing in initiatives to develop current and future pharmacists and pharmacy liaisons. We provide our team members opportunities to develop their analytical skills and contribute to clinical literature that enhances patient care by participating in our Outcomes Research Program. We also offer a Specialty Pharmacy Residency Program that gives new pharmacists hands-on clinical and leadership experience onsite at our partner health systems.
This year, we announced another initiative to support the next generation of pharmacy leaders: the Trellis Rx Longitudinal Student Research Program. The third of its kind across the country, this program enables third-year PharmD candidates to develop their research capabilities while learning about the impact health system specialty pharmacy services have on patients.
During their time in the program, students have the opportunity to manage an outcomes research study from start to finish – handling study design, data collection, and analysis as well as manuscript development and publication. To support their development and learning, students receive coaching and guidance from a clinical expert and a research mentor.
Today, I am excited to introduce our first longitudinal research program students: Jasmine King, Yeseul Lee, and Nancyann “Nann” Webster. Jasmine, Yeseul, and Nann are third-year PharmD candidates at Mercer University in Atlanta and were selected out of a competitive pool of applicants based on their academic performance, commitment to professional development, and prior research experience.
Jasmine King
Jasmine applied to our program to strengthen her understanding of the research process and gain hands-on experience conducting research in a supportive environment. In her time in the program so far, Jasmine has discovered that she especially enjoys working in a team setting: “My favorite thing about collaborating with other pharmacists at Trellis Rx is that we all have different perspectives. We can bounce ideas off each other and determine the best way to tackle an issue.”
Jasmine’s research study will focus on oncology, which has become a personal passion of hers after losing her sister to cancer last year.
Yeseul Lee
Yeseul’s interest in advancing her analytical capabilities and scientific writing skills drove her to apply for our program. She believed the opportunity to collaborate with mentors to design research studies, conduct data analysis, and ultimately prepare abstracts and papers for peer-reviewed journals would help her achieve this goal.
Yeseul’s research study will focus on autoimmune diseases. She shares: “I have been primarily interested in autoimmune diseases including rheumatology, and I hope to expand my knowledge about gastroenterology and learn more about the use of biological therapies for patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.”
Nancyann “Nann” Webster
Nann’s desire to gain a deeper understanding of the clinical outcomes research process and to further develop her skills as both a clinician and a researcher led her to apply to our program. Her research efforts will center on multiple sclerosis. As multiple sclerosis grows in prevalence, Nann believes “optimizing medication access and outcomes for this patient population will become even more important.”
In her time in our program so far, Nann has learned how to effectively conduct data analysis to determine the difference between study groups. She has also enhanced her proficiency in Excel by calculating medication script to mouth time for external pharmacies versus internal pharmacies.
To learn more about Trellis Rx’s longitudinal student research program, please contact us.