Clinical trial data helps researchers create new treatments and facilitates innovations in the field of medicine. These studies rely heavily on volunteers, and the data that researchers collect from study participants impact the drug development industry.
Medications available to the general public face rigorous testing and FDA screening process before they are made available to the mass market. Clinical study participants also help researchers understand the effects of experimental drugs or medical devices, and thus help improve the modern selection of medicines available to the general population.
A few things all study participants should understand are:
All clinical trials adhere to a master plan – otherwise known as study protocol – which includes the study duration. For example, the clinical studies at OCRC range from just a few days to 6-7 months.
Typical clinical study lengths are as follows:
– Phase I trials typically lasts several months
– Next, phase II may range from several months to approximately two years
– Phase III make take anywhere from one to four years
– Lastly, phase IV trials monitor the drug safety and may be ongoing after a drug has been marketed
All clinical trials have some level of inherent risk. A few of the benefits may include:
– Medical expertise, free of charge
– Access to medicine or devices that are unavailable to the general public
– Providing scientific research that may lead to medicinal improvements
Make sure you are comfortable with all study requirements and expectations. It’s also smart to have a few questions in mind that you can ask the medical staff at the clinic.
The average clinical trial criteria may include age, gender, race, current and/or preexisting medical conditions. Researchers may also have mandatory exclusions for a study, depending on which variables they are looking to isolate. For example, women have been excluded from recruitment for the low testosterone study at our clinic.
Funding for clinical trials may come from different organizations, both in the public and private sector. Large health maintenance organizations, the National Institute of Health and pharmaceutical companies are all frequent sponsors of trials. Learn more about what a sponsorship entails here.
It’s important to note that a percentage of clinical trial participants may receive a placebo medication. The primary reason why patients are not told which medication they are receiving is to avoid a human bias in the research findings.
We are committed to making all of our volunteers feel comfortable during their visit to our clinic. We explain our methodology to every participant and we pride ourselves on the policies we put into place to keep everyone safe — both our staff, and study volunteers.
All participants receive treatments and medical care related to the trial. Additionally, participants may be compensated for time and travel, and health insurance is never a requirement.
If you’re interested in signing up, please tell us a little more about yourself in the Contact section of our home page and we will respond to you to determine your eligibility for current and future studies.
