Final Week.

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During this final week I was given the job of recruiting new participants. I really enjoyed this aspect of my clinical research experience- I spent most the early part of the week making a recruitment poster to inform potential new participants. I wanted to make sure the poster looked to have the right format and included all the relevant information; therefore, before I started to design the poster I did some research on existing posters that advertise various different studies. This really helped me to form a foundation, as before this I had no previous experience in designing posters of this kind. I wanted to convey the correct message to the potential participants, and ensure the best possibility of optimum recruitment.

On Wednesday me and Kyra had a meeting to discuss the progress of recruitment and to review my poster work. Kyra was really impressed with my poster and how professional it looked, this gave me great confidence for when I come to recruiting for my own study. Only a few minor amendments were suggested- I could see how they would improve my design so I was really glad to have Kyra’s critical analysis; Kyra is much more experienced in this field than myself. Before I could use this poster to recruit new participants it had to be submitted for ethical review, this was something I had not contemplated and was glad to be made aware of. Even though ethical review had been granted previously, any new additions had to be put through the same process.

Whilst waiting for ethical approval of the new poster, I decided to research new places in which I could recruit new participants. This would then mean that as soon as ethical approval has been given to the poster, I can go straight to these places and use my time efficiently.

Towards the end of the week myself and Kyra had another meeting to have a ‘handover’ of all the work I had done during this 6 week period. It was really important I gave Kyra all my work and explained how each bit related to the study- this will avoid any misinterpretation of my work and save Kyra time when reviewing my work. As we were going through all the work I felt a real sense of achievement, and felt proud of the fact I had helped contribute to the research process of this study. Kyra made sure I knew my efforts were appreciated and explained how she was going to use each different bit of my work- it was really good to see the overall way in which my work was going to be incorporated. Of course, I knew how each individual bit of work contributed- but it was really good to see the big picture and Kyra’s future plans.

As this is my last blog entry, I thought I’d take the opportunity to thank Kyra for this experience. I’m really grateful that the student vacation scheme is able to provide such exciting and unique opportunities for students. I would highly recommend applying for work experience like this as it really helps to develop a wide range of skills and I feel I have grown as a person in this 6 week period.

I hope you have all enjoyed reading my blog, I like to think I’ve provided you with a different insight into the clinical research process! 🙂

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