Student Experience in the ACCP Clinical Research Challenge

Mae Sarah Trinh, Jazmine Li, Brianna Gill, Pharm.D. Candidates of 2026

This semester we had the opportunity to participate in the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Clinical Research Challenge (CRC). The CRC is a team-based competition in which student teams from various national colleges of pharmacy participate in an online journal club, write a letter of intent, and draft a full research proposal. In the local competition and Round 1 of the national competition, we applied our biostatistics knowledge in order to correctly and efficiently answer the questions presented to us in the journal clubs.

After advancing past Round 1 and placing in the Top 40 teams, we were tasked with writing a letter of intent with the selected topic of solid-organ transplant and a budget of $50,000. Since we had never written a letter of intent and the focus was a topic that we were unfamiliar with, it was especially challenging. This required us to reach out to faculty experts and apply the research methods we were taught previously in class. We are currently in Round 3 of the national competition where the Top 20 student teams draft a full research proposal, expanding on their letter of intent. This competition was an excellent opportunity for pharmacy students and we are so grateful to have participated in it. During the course of this competition, we have learned how to apply the concepts taught to us in our professional courses to real world experiences. We were also able to broaden our clinical research skills that are essential for future clinical practice. We hope that by sharing this experience, it will inspire future P3 and P4 students to participate in this competition and further develop and apply their clinical research skills. Lastly, we would like to thank Dr. Briann Fischetti for organizing the local competition, guiding us and providing feedback throughout this process, and making sure all of our submissions were made before the deadline. We would also like to thank Dr. Douglas Jennings and Dr. Mina Chau for giving us background knowledge on solid organ transplant.