APhA staff members Gina Scime and Rob Hodges, along with a service dog, at the JFPS 2015 bookstore.
Have you ever participated in a survey or focus group for APhA? The chances are high that you have at least been invited, as APhA conducts nearly 100 surveys and focus groups among pharmacists and student pharmacists each year. The valuable information that is gathered through research helps APhA better serve its members.
I will take you on a journey of my work at APhA, and my life, with some help from Hollywood.
The first rule of research … you do not talk about research (Fight Club)
APhA’s research is essential to understanding the wants and needs of pharmacists and student pharmacists. Its research helps to evaluate member benefits, develop content for educational offerings and publications, create practice resources, determine programming for conferences, and assess members’ perspectives on critical issues facing the pharmacy profession.
APhA’s surveys are distributed nearly every Saturday via an e-mail invitation. Based on the number of responses, the results are considered representative of and projectable to the universe of pharmacists or student pharmacists. Focus groups are conducted in-person at APhA meetings or virtually via teleconference with participants from across the country. Although the results from a group of 8 to 12 participants are not projectable, they can help to guide APhA in a particular direction.