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Program Overview

The program provides a curriculum that augments current graduate and post graduate training. Trainees in this program will gain critical knowledge and skills that will better prepare them to make a contribution to healthcare and society.

Trainees will be encouraged to bridge scientific domains and participate in interdisciplinary research. Interdisciplinary research can be defined as "a team of researchers, solidly grounded in their respective disciplines, that come together around an important and challenging health issue, the research question for which is determined by a shared understanding in an interactive and iterative process"¹  (p.764). A systematic review on interdisciplinary research concluded that interdisciplinary research can be defined as "any study or group of studies undertaken by scholars from two or more distinct scientific disciplines.  The research is based upon a conceptual model that links or integrates theoretical frameworks from those disciplines, uses study design and methodology that is not limited to any one field, and requires the use of perspectives and skills of the involved disciplines throughout multiple phases of the research process"²  (p.341).

Discipline is defined as:    A branch of knowledge, learning, or teaching
Domain is defined as:       A sphere of knowledge or activity

Individualizing drug therapy draws on many scientific disciplines and requires them to work together to push the frontiers of knowledge forward. The main domains of science within this program are Biosciences; Clinical Therapeutics; Population Health, Epidemiology & Biostatistics; and Health Services and Policy.

This training program has identified specific content areas that will serve as the core topics for program components including integrative courses, basic concepts modules and research skill-building sessions. These areas constitute a substantial subset of topics related to medication use that cross scientific domains. This program also addresses a number of cross-cutting themes such as knowledge translation, health technology assessment, population health research and health policy decision making through the lens of optimizing medications. While we expect the program to foster trainees who can move science forward in these cross-cutting research areas, the program will serve as a nidus for researchers working to improve pharmacotherapy.

¹   Hall JG, Bainbridge L, Buchan A, Cribb A, Drummond J, Gyles C, Hicks TP, McWilliam C, Paterson B, Ratner PA, Skarakis-Doyle E, Solomon P: A meeting of minds: interdisciplinary research in the health sciences in Canada. CMAJ 2006, 175: 763-771.

²   Aboelela SW, Larson E, Bakken S, Carrasquillo O, Formicola A, Glied SA, Haas J, Gennie KM: Defining interdisciplinary research: Conclusion for a critical review of the literature. Heath Serv Res 2007, 42:329-346.