title: Pharmacy students' perceptions of a required senior research project.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine pharmacy students' perceptions of a required research project in a doctor of pharmacy curriculum.
  
  
  METHODS
  A survey instrument was administered to senior pharmacy students to determine their perceptions of the project advisor and overall project experience and their postgraduation employment plans.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two-hundred twenty-nine (81.5%) students completed a survey instrument. The majority agreed or strongly agreed that the project provided a valuable learning experience (88.2%), provided a competitive advantage for postgraduate job opportunities (73.2%), and should be a continued graduation requirement (74.2%). Respondents with plans for a residency or fellowship were more likely than those entering a community or hospital/institutional pharmacy to agree that completion of the project made them more qualified or marketable and should be continued as a graduation requirement (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A required research project was perceived by pharmacy students to be a beneficial experience. Students pursuing residency or fellowship were more likely to feel the project was beneficial than students entering the workforce.
authors: School of Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143-0622, USA.
authors: Sylvia E
authors: SE
authors: Kim
authors: Jalene I
authors: JI
authors: Whittington
authors: Lynda M
authors: LM
authors: Nguyen
authors: Peter J
authors: PJ
authors: Ambrose
authors: Robin L
authors: RL
authors: Corelli
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods*; D003479:Curriculum; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D010465:Perception; D018794:Problem-Based Learning / Q000379:methods; D013339:Students, Pharmacy / Q000523:psychology*