Once ever so often, in public forums/conferences etc of the CR industry in India or behind the scenes discussions, I hear someone or the other raise this concern-The Principal Investigator is THE key player in the clinical trials we do and we hardly ever have Investigators participating/present in CR workshops or conferences. Shouldn’t we ensure that they too attend?
The discussions go round and round and reach nowhere really yet again!!
I don’t know what or how you feel about this but I can’t help but roll my eyes and groan –oh no, not again!!
Drastic reaction, do you think?
My two bits on this is-
1. The PI is not THE key player in CTs! Important yes, THE key to recruitment yes!
But THE key player- is the patient!
How come we are not talking about patient help or support groups and communities to be a thriving part of such gatherings?
Happens in the USA for instance, but very rarely here.
2. The PI (and the ones everyone wants as PIs anyway) are important busy people. Why on earth would they want to attend a conference/workshop that caters nothing for them?
One lone lecture by a KOL does not an important conference make.
If you look at the agenda of any one of the now many conferences that are organised around the country, it solely caters for those in the CR industry and pharma companies.
Why should then a doctor attend????
A gynaec doesn’t attend a conference on arthritis and a dermatologist will not attend one on irritable bowel’s, so why would they attend a conference that talks mostly of things they don’t really need to know. Just curious, How many of the people in CR industry attend Doctor’s conference except if invited as a speaker?
So is it that the twain shall never meet?
Not really, until we as an industry raise awareness about clinical research, its requirements and methodologies where it matters most.
Amongst the medical college graduates and postgraduates, disease support groups and media.
We DO need investigators, and good investigators at that. And we need them today and ten years later too.
We need to build capacity AND capability.
Like it is said that the best time to plant a tree was twenty years back, but the second best time is now.
We should have thought of all our key players ten years back, but nevertheless it is not too late yet.
Before training comes building awareness and the places to start are medical colleges and no not the professors, but the medical student’s, (graduates and post graduates) they are the PIs of tomorrow and more eager to learn and more often than not work as CRCS at academic sites.
Once that happens there automatically would be pressure on the senior docs to know more and be a more active participant to the process.
Then comes focused training of potential sites and PIs.
The current level of well meaning but fragmented efforts at PI training on GCP etc is good but by itself wont achieve the rate and results expected.
I had one grand dad write to me on wanting to find some information about CTs running in India on Duchene’s muscular dystrophy. Garnering the support of and educating Support communities for illnesses such as these makes a lot of sense for bringing the right trial to the right person and helping someone maybe, who is living on little other than hope.
There is a lot waiting to be done, but the number one is to start asking the RIGHT questions!!!
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