My name is Bella and I am one of the students in the first cohort for the new MSc Clinical Research Delivery, a part-time online programme that trains students to lead and support the effective delivery of research within the NHS. There are often delays and inefficiencies in conducting research in the NHS; a trial can be scientifically sound in design but difficult to implement. This is why understanding how research is delivered is important as there are lots of other regulatory and ethical considerations which need to be built into study design for more streamlined execution.
So far, studying has been very interesting. I enjoy the autonomy that we are given; for the mandatory Research Practice Experience module, although we do have to show evidence of achieving the capabilities in practice, how we do it is left up to us. This self-led practical aspect allows us to work on some weaker areas to become a more well-rounded researcher. We were allowed to choose an area of interest for our assignment which evidenced achievement of one or two capabilities in practice and this allows for more in-depth learning.
We were also required to take two optional online modules. I chose the Clinical Leadership course run by Kings Business School, which has been well structured, and I will be doing the Health Economics module later this year.
Policy Idol
Policy Idol is an annual competition open to all current students at King’s College London in which contestants pitch their policy ideas to a panel of judges from the worlds of politics, academia and industry.
My policy was for dentists to be sent information about their patients’ participation in a clinical trial (this is currently standard practice for GPs but not for dentists). This is important for clinical patient safety, as an experimental drug may need to be stopped or its dose adjusted before dental treatment, or the procedure may need to be delayed or avoided altogether. There are also ethical considerations as both clinicians and patients need to be aware of the benefits and risks as part of the informed consent process.
It also has regulatory considerations for main stakeholders (namely the Health Research Authority, the Research Ethics committee and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) as this may improve safety reporting, adding another layer of pharmacovigilance to the clinical trial process.
It's a simple policy which would not cost a lot of money to implement, but could improve clinical outcomes and generate a wealth of safety data for the benefits of patients and clinicians. This would make the UK more competitive for running clinical trials.
I had been thinking for a long time that clinical trial information leaflets should also be sent to dentists, as this had caused issues in the past when running a clinical trial. I just needed a platform to highlight the problem, as this is something which would be very easy to remedy. I saw the advert for Policy Idol on the main King's webpage when logging onto KEATS, and I decided to apply.