Impact, Growth, Capacity-building of Mixed Methods Research in the Health Sciences.

The use of mixed methods research (MMR) by health scientists has expanded in recent years. The growth of MMR reflects the complexity of health-related research questions including the need to understand stakeholder perspectives. MMR is further incentivized by the release of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) first version of "Best Practices for Mixed Methods Research in the Health Sciences" in 2011 and their revised version which was released in early 2018, and the increase in federal funding awarded to MMR projects. Realizing the need to train health scientists, several training initiatives are underway. In this commentary, we discuss: characteristics of MMR; the rise of MMR in the health sciences; the growing need and efforts to train health scientists in MMR approaches; and the graduate-level course in MMR that was launched at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.