Research Results for the Public Clinical Research Training

							National Institutes of Health


Fact Sheet                      Clinical Research Training at the NIH Clinical Center

Yesterday
 •    Historically, clinical researchers learned by doing       •   Sessions under way in 2006-2007 comprise nearly
      and through collaborations and interactions with              1900 enrollees, including about 800 at various
      mentors and colleagues.                                       locations around the world.

 •    Several recommendations in the 2004 NIH                   •   Included in the formal training is a curriculum in
      Director’s Blue Ribbon Panel on the Future of                 clinical research with three core courses:
      Intramural Clinical Research focused on the NIH               Introduction to the Principles and Practice of
      Clinical Center’s (CC) role in improving the                  Clinical Research, Principles of Clinical
      conduct of clinical research by providing education           Pharmacology, and Ethical and Regulatory Aspects
      in the discipline.                                            of Clinical Research. A graduate degree program is
                                                                    offered in collaboration with Duke University
 •    Re-engineering the clinical research enterprise is            School of Medicine.
      one of the NIH Roadmap of Medical Research’s
      key elements because there is a growing urgency to        •   Because it’s important to expose young
      safely, efficiently, and effectively translate medical        investigators to clinical research early in their
      research into medical practice. Clinical research—            careers, the NIH CC hosts the annual Clinical
      especially translational clinical research—is the             Investigator Student Trainee Forum. It provides an
      critical link.                                                intensive educational experience for medical and
                                                                    dental students who have taken a year off from their
Today                                                               home schools to participate in mentored research
                                                                    programs at NIH and other medical centers
 •    Clinical research and medical advancement depend              nationally. The forum and students’ training
      on having enough investigators who are prepared to            programs are aimed at helping the students prepare
      effectively translate promising discoveries in the            for careers in clinical and translational research. In
      laboratory to improve health and save lives.                  2006, approximately 250 medical and dental
                                                                    students from 73 U.S. schools participated in the
 •    Clinical research is an increasingly complex
                                                                    forum.
      enterprise, and clinical researchers in all disciplines
      are in short supply.                                      •   CC Nursing and Patient Care Services staff support
                                                                    clinical research training for nurses at all levels of
 •    Training clinical researchers—and building a
                                                                    career development from student nurses through pre-
      national infrastructure of training in the field—is a
                                                                    and post-doctoral fellowships. Education and
      top priority at the NIH CC.
                                                                    outreach efforts include national and international
 •    The CC’s Office of Clinical Research Training and             collaborations with several NIH institutes. A grant
      Medical Education develops, administers and                   from the National Center of Minority Health and
      evaluates clinical research training and medical              Health Disparities supports collaboration with the
      education initiatives. Programs and services are              Indian Health Service on a project that uses outreach
      available on the NIH campus in Bethesda,                      education, online collaboration and long distance
      Maryland, and to the clinical research community              mentoring to build a collaborative research program
      worldwide through distance-learning components.               to address health disparities in American Indians /
                                                                    Alaskan Natives.



National Institutes of Health                                                  Clinical Research Training at the NIH Clinical Center - 1
September 2007
 •    CC nurses provide advice and consultation             •   A new component under consideration is a senior
      nationally and internationally to facilitate the          fellowship in research management that would
      management of clinical research. Topics include           provide a broad educational experience within the
      intensity measurement, clinical research                  CC’s unique environment for clinical research.
      competency measurement, outreach strategies to
                                                            •   CC nurses have launched a four-year strategic plan
      involve minority communities in research and
                                                                to define the specialty of Clinical Research Nursing
      operational consultation for the development of
                                                                and to collaborate with nursing leaders from
      clinical research centers.
                                                                throughout the national clinical research enterprise
Tomorrow                                                        in establishing standards, competencies and a core
                                                                curriculum that could potentially lead to
 •    As the promise of medical discovery expands, so           certification.
      does the demand for a scientific workforce capable
      of exploring new options and approaches.
                                                                Contact: Office of Clinical Research Training and
 •    The NIH CC will continue to offer options for             Medical Education, NIH Clinical Center, 301-496-9425.
      clinical research training to help prepare the next       Email: cc-od-ocrtme@mail.nih.gov
      generation of medical investigators.




National Institutes of Health                                              Clinical Research Training at the NIH Clinical Center - 2
September 2007