Human Research Protection Program

Clinical Research Training

UT Southwestern Clinical Research Accelerator Training Program

Our vision is to educate and support clinical research professionals across their career lifespan.

Our mission is to provide holistic education and development programs in order to recruit, train, retain, and promote a vibrant research workforce.

What is the Clinical Research Accelerator Training Program?

The Clinical Research Accelerator (CRA) Training Program is a comprehensive training program based on a core competency framework (CCF) created by The Joint Task Force for Clinical Trial Competency (JTF), an international team of investigators, educators, and clinical research professionals. These core competencies outline a framework that organizes the essential knowledge and skills necessary for clinical researchers to conduct safe, ethical, and high-quality clinical research.

At UT Southwestern (UTSW), the Office of Clinical Research (OCR), in conjunction with the Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) and with support from the Clinical & Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program, have adopted the JTF’s latest CCF (Version 3.1) with the goal to establish an institutional standard for the research workforce via the novel CRA Training Program. This Clinical Research Accelerator Training Program is part of a larger, long-term vision to create a research community at UTSW that benefits from institutional support, standardized training, and mentoring opportunities.

Levels of Clinical Research Training 

The CRA Training Program will be executed in a multi-phase approach, adopting the JTF’s leveled objectives to drive the structure and design of the training program. Finally, and most importantly, this in-house research training program has been tailored to reflect the needs of the research workforce at the foundational, skilled, and advanced levels:

  1. Foundational - “Can perform the task/and or exhibit the knowledge at an essential or fundamental level; may require some coaching or supervision”
  2. Skilled - “Can perform task or skill independently, consistently, accurately, and has a moderate level of expertise. Efficient and high-quality work; able to independently navigate resources and uses tools well”, and
  3. Advanced - “Demonstrates advanced skills and knowledge and the ability to teach, coach, or supervise others. Consistently applies critical thinking and problem solving”

Clinical research is patient-oriented research, and when combined with the manipulation of human subjects in a clinical trial/research setting, demands a workforce that is knowledgeable with both hard skills (e.g., informed consent under Good Clinical Practice (GCP) methods) as well as soft skills (e.g., critical thinking, public speaking, etc.). Therefore, in addition to creating a training program that introduces the UTSW research workforce to essential hard skillsets, the Clinical Research Accelerator Training Program has incorporated a mentoring program to assist researchers with obtaining the necessary soft skills, opportunities to practice, and networking opportunities to achieve their full potential at UTSW.

Getting Started with Clinical Research Training at UTSW

The Clinical Research Foundations program, the initial level of the Clinical Research Accelerator Training Program at UTSW, involves two discrete, yet complimentary, programs: Clinical Research Foundations Training (through CITI) and the Clinical Research Foundations Mentoring Program.

All new clinical researchers to UTSW are required to enroll in the Clinical Research Foundations (CRF) course, offered through the CITI training portal. Within the CRF course, staff review CITI-created content as well as unique content that was designed, recorded, and edited in-house specifically for UTSW and its affiliated hospital network. Combined, these modules offer a robust overview to the major departments, groups, and committees involved in the conduct and oversight of clinical research activities at UTSW, as well as introducing the essential concepts and skills necessary to quickly adapt to the fast-paced world of clinical research. The Clinical Research Foundations Mentoring Program is designed to augment the information obtained from the online training, as a senior clinical researcher (the mentor) is paired with a new researcher (the mentee) to provide an interactive, hands-on component to this structured program.

Finally, in addition to Clinical Research Training, there are other onboarding requirements which may be necessary as individual job requirements dictate. The OCR has created an Onboarding Checklist to assist clinical researchers quickly navigate getting set up at UT Southwestern Medical Center. All new staff are welcome to review this checklist with their manager to determine what additional training may be required for their role. 

The Office of Clinical Research is currently working on developing Skilled and Advanced levels within the Clinical Research Accelerator Training Program for the benefit of the current clinical research workforce. Further information about these offerings will be provided closer to launch. 

Training for Existing Researchers at UTSW

Each department at UTSW may require additional training requirements, which will be discussed and reviewed with researchers on a case-by-case basis. The UTSW HRPP, Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA), and OCR also offer continuous learning opportunities for existing researchers as their positions evolve and/or to strengthen existing skillsets.  For more information about training opportunities available for existing researchers from these entities, please go to the following:

HRPP: Human Research Protection Program (HRPP): UT Southwestern, Dallas, Texas

SPA: Sponsored Programs - UT Southwestern, Dallas, Texas

OCR: Clinical Research - UT Southwestern, Dallas, Texas

Creating a Clinical Research Community

“A scientific community consists of scientists working in a particular field of science and, most importantly, of their relationships and interactions… [and] is very important for the community to be dynamic and to promote fruitful discussions and collaborations. Scientific associations have an important role in enabling science by bringing people together and giving them a voice."(Michaut, 2011)

The Clinical Research Accelerator Training Program is one of several novel programs initiated at UTSW for the express purpose of building a stronger clinical research community. In addition to the personal benefit of strengthening focused skillets through a structured learning environment, the creation of an institutionally supported clinical research community aims to create a general ethos of self-respect and self-affirmation that will, in turn, further reinforce growth of the clinical research workforce at UTSW. Additional programs and events that are under development for the benefit of the clinical research community at UTSW include, but are not limited to:

  • Career Quarterly Advancement Talks
  • Clinical Research Professionals Day 
  • Open Office Hours Mentoring
  • Quarterly Clinical Research Newsletter
  • Book Club
  • Social Events (e.g., bowling, museum night, picnic at the park)

Sign up for the Office of Clinical Research’s listserv to be notified as any of the above programs or events are released. These program announcements may be released as mass emails or as live recorded Town Hall events.

How can I get involved in Clinical Research Training? 

There are many ways to get involved in the Clinical Research Accelerator Training Program. If you are experienced with three or more years as a clinical researcher either at UTSW and/or at previous research institutions and interested in sharing your knowledge and experience with others, we would love you to join our Clinical Research Foundations Mentoring Program as a Mentor.

If you are currently working in clinical research at UTSW and interested in participating in any of the programs and events to be released for the Clinical Research Community, please sign up for the Office of Clinical Research listserv to be notified as programs are released. 

If you are a current clinical researcher and interested in learning more about the Skilled or Advanced levels of the Clinical Research Accelerator Training Program, please sign up to the Office of Clinical Research listserv to be notified about program launches as these updates are released.

For general questions/inquiries please contact the Office of Clinical Research at: OCR@UTSouthwestern.edu.

Helpful Resources

This program was created with support from the Human Research Protections Program (HRPP), Office of Clinical Research (OCR), and the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program.

This content was last updated on 18th April, 2024. For any questions, OCR@utsouthwestern.edu.