This post explains how AI-enabled qualitative research can clarify veterinarian-pharmacist collaboration by mapping roles, perceptions, and gaps identified in the literature. According to Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (published July 31, 2026), the evidence base is limited and regionally variable, making reproducible synthesis difficult for researchers and policy teams. Evidano is an AI-powered qualitative data analysis platform that helps researchers analyze interviews, open-ended surveys, and documents, and it can accelerate thematic mapping, frequency analysis, and cross-segment comparisons for interprofessional collaboration studies. This introduction outlines the PLoS One findings and gives concrete steps for applying AI methods to produce defensible qualitative insights on veterinarian-pharmacist collaboration.
Key Takeaways
According to the PLoS One scoping review (Kambayashi et al., published July 31, 2026), pharmacist contributions to veterinary teams are growing but unevenly documented and focused mainly on compounding and dispensing (PLoS One).
- The PLoS One review retrieved 239 records and included 16 studies in the final synthesis, with the final search completed on August 30, 2025, and the article published on July 31, 2026.
- The PLoS One review found compounding and dispensing described in 10 of 16 studies (62.5%) and drug information/consultation in 6 of 16 studies (37.5%).
- The PLoS One review showed geographic clustering: the United States produced 7 of the 16 studies, New Zealand 3, and Japan 3, with publications spanning 2007 to 2024.
- Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (2026) conclude that "pharmacists are expanding their role in veterinary medicine, evolving from traditional dispensing functions to active contributors to clinical care and medication safety."
What happened: scope and methods of the PLoS One review
The PLoS One scoping review mapped the literature on veterinarian–pharmacist collaboration to identify roles, practices, and perceptions.
According to Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (published July 31, 2026), two reviewers searched PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, Ichushi-Web, and Google Scholar from database inception to August 30, 2025, to identify English- and Japanese-language reports.
According to Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (2026), the authors screened 239 retrieved records, removed 58 duplicates, screened 181 records, and ultimately included 16 studies published between 2007 and 2024.
According to Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (2026), most included studies used cross-sectional survey designs and reported pharmacist roles across community pharmacies, veterinary hospitals, zoos, and academic networks.
Findings snapshot
| Date | Metric | Value | Implication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30, 2025 (search date) | Records retrieved | 239 | Broad initial capture but limited final evidence base |
| July 31, 2026 (publication) | Studies included | 16 | Evidence is small and heterogeneous |
| 2007–2024 (publication range) | Geographic counts | United States 7, New Zealand 3, Japan 3 | Practice models vary by region |
| As reported in PLoS One (2026) | Primary pharmacist roles | Compounding/dispensing 62.5%, Drug information 37.5% | Operational support dominates clinical integration |
Implications for qualitative researchers studying interprofessional veterinary care
Qualitative researchers should treat the PLoS One review (Kambayashi et al., 2026) as a baseline and design next-phase studies to produce transferable models.
According to Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (2026), the existing literature is dominated by perception-based cross-sectional surveys, so researchers should plan longitudinal or mixed-methods designs that operationalize measurable outcomes such as medication errors or adherence.
According to Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (2026), language barriers hide relevant models in non-English sources (for example, three Japanese studies were included), so qualitative teams should include cross-lingual search strategies and translation workflows to avoid Anglophone bias.
According to Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (2026), concerns about pharmacists' species-specific knowledge are a recurrent barrier, so qualitative studies should sample both professions and include observational or document-based data to triangulate perceptions with real-world practice.
How Evidano helps: from problem to AI-enabled solution
Problem: fragmented, perception-based evidence
Answer: Fragmented, perception-based evidence limits generalizable conclusions about collaboration models.
According to Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (2026), most studies were surveys with small samples, which constrains synthesis across settings.
Evidano feature mapping: use thematic extraction and cross-segment frequency analysis to aggregate survey and interview evidence across sites, dates, and professional roles.
Problem: non-English literature and inconsistent indexing
Answer: Non-English evidence is underused and hard to integrate without translation.
According to Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (2026), three included studies were in Japanese, demonstrating the value of multilingual searches.
Evidano feature mapping: Evidano supports document ingestion and translation workflows and can normalize multilingual transcripts for comparative thematic analysis; see Evidano Features for related tools.
Problem: need to move from perceptions to outcomes
Answer: Research must link qualitative themes to measurable clinical or safety outcomes.
According to Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (2026), there is a lack of quantitative outcome studies assessing pharmacist impact on adverse events or adherence.
Evidano feature mapping: combine coded qualitative data with survey metrics or Excel datasets in Evidano to produce cross-segment analyses and visualizations that support grant applications and implementation pilots.
FAQ: veterinarian-pharmacist collaboration
What is the current evidence base for veterinarian-pharmacist collaboration?
Answer: The current evidence base is small and regionally variable, totaling 16 studies in the PLoS One scoping review.
According to Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (published July 31, 2026), the review included 16 studies out of 239 retrieved records, with studies mostly published between 2007 and 2024 and concentrated in the United States, New Zealand, and Japan.
Which pharmacist roles are most commonly reported in veterinary settings?
Answer: Compounding and dispensing are the most commonly reported pharmacist roles.
According to Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (2026), compounding and dispensing were described in 10 of 16 studies (62.5%), while drug information and consultation appeared in 6 of 16 studies (37.5%).
What are the main barriers to deeper clinical collaboration?
Answer: Veterinarians’ concerns about pharmacists’ species-specific physiological knowledge are the leading barrier.
According to Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (2026), surveys and expert reports show veterinarians worry that pharmacists may apply human-focused pharmacology to animal patients, creating safety risks and limiting trust-based clinical integration.
How can AI-enabled qualitative research help advance collaboration models?
Answer: AI-enabled qualitative research can standardize codebooks, surface high-frequency themes, and link themes to segment attributes for actionable recommendations.
According to Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (2026), stronger, standardized evidence and interprofessional education are needed, and AI workflows can accelerate synthesis of diverse qualitative sources to inform curricula and pilot interventions.
Conclusion & Next Steps
Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (published July 31, 2026) document a growing but uneven role for pharmacists in veterinary medicine and call for stronger, more diverse evidence to support integrated practice.
According to Kambayashi et al., PLoS One (2026), addressing the knowledge gap in species-specific pharmacology and expanding translational education are immediate priorities for enabling deeper collaboration.
If your research team needs to synthesize survey responses, interviews, and non-English documents to design interprofessional pilots, Evidano can accelerate thematic analysis, cross-segment comparisons, and visualization for stakeholders; start by exploring Evidano Features.
Try Evidano for free to convert qualitative insights into reproducible evidence and operational recommendations: Try Evidano for free.