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Discussion Topic: Having a "clinical background"

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(@sam-doksh)
Posts: 115
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Biomedical engineers serve a coordinating function, They using their background in both engineering and medicine, Biomedical engineers are employed in industry, in hospital, in research facilities of educational and medical institutions. They work with doctors, therapists, and researchers to develop systems, equipment and devices in order to solve clinical problems.

 
Posted : 21/10/2019 9:52 am
(@traceymraw)
Posts: 81
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I've recently heard from multiple professionals in industry about the benefits of some type of clinical experience. Even if the experience it is less official than a position as a nurse or a doctor, experience in ways such as observing surgeries or interviewing surgeons is beneficial. In some positions that require direct interaction with patients it is clear why a clinical background would be preferred. Even in positions that don't require this type of direct interaction, I think having a better understanding of clinical environments through clinical experience is beneficial to any position relating to clinical work. 

 
Posted : 23/10/2019 6:27 pm
(@yifan-tao)
Posts: 39
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In my opinion, whether the clinical background is necessary depends on what your main work is. If you人work need to spend most of the time with the patient face-to-face contact, then the clinical background is certainly necessary. In contrast, if your work does not require direct contact with patients, then clinical experience becomes less important. Although for this topic, having clinical background will be very helpful for the progress of work, but some work can also be competent without relevant clinical experience.

 
Posted : 27/10/2019 12:41 am
(@jl959)
Posts: 77
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A clinical background is definitely desired for anyone involved with clinical trials, especially for roles with direct patient interaction. For example, an investigator would really benefit from a clinical background since they will be responsible for ensuring the subject's/patient's safety and understanding of the study as they conduct the experiment. In some cases, a professor with no clinical background may be the investigator. There are online training courses that can be taken to minimize jeopardizing the patient's safety and prevent collection of noisy/faulty data. The investigator can also keep in contact with physicians and other healthcare professionals who are involved or experts on the patients' treatments. Study coordinators are also directly involved with many tasks from writing the protocol to overseeing clinical trials. Due to their level of involvement in management of all clinical trial aspects in certain sites/hospitals, they should possess a clinical background. Other roles like monitors and statisticians should not require a clinical background, as long as they are well trained in their specific duties (such as document compliance/regulations and statistical analysis of clinical data).

 
Posted : 27/10/2019 7:21 pm
(@parth0796)
Posts: 36
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Having a clinical background according to me is not required. If you have good knowledge about the human anatomy is sufficient. Although having a clinical experience is very advantageous as they have dealt with patients and can add fruitful information in researches too. The roles also matter like for instance is you are applying for a clinical Statistician then having a clinical experience is not advantageous at all  but in a role of Principal Investigator which is associated with research having a clinical background is very helpful.

 
Posted : 27/10/2019 8:04 pm
(@nsam9295)
Posts: 40
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Any job in the world does not require previous experience to be good at. The main advantage for people who are hiring is that if someone has previous experience the time required for them to train them decreases significantly. Also, their previous experiences are also a way to prove to them that they are good at what they do. Especially, in the field of a clinical study where a lot of skill sets required takes a long time and hard work to acquire them these fields I would say requires a heavier emphasis on experiences. Therefore, for the main big job such as Investigator, I believe it should be more favored with someone who have previous experience in the fields. 

 
Posted : 27/10/2019 11:28 pm
(@quanzi)
Posts: 25
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I believe that it is important to have a clinical background when working on clinical research, Although this does depend on the capacity in which you are working with patients. This is because you are dealing with patients from drawing blood to taking vitals, x-rays, and using other technical equipment to measure health and to assess the efficacy of treatment.

However, I do not believe is necessary to have a clinical background when completing administrative duties related to paperwork for patients or entolling patients in clinical studies. Some job titles that would require clinical background include a laboratory assistant, a research associate, or a clinical research coordinator.A job title that could potentially not require a clinical background is a clinical research interviewer.

 
Posted : 01/08/2020 2:39 am
(@anvitha)
Posts: 40
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The need for having a clinical background is definitely dependant on the type of role and responsibility. For example, as stated in the question, a statistician for example does not require a clinical background in analyzing or developing code.

Saying this, I also think that although a clinical background is not absolutely necessary, it would prove to be advantageous especially while dealing with clinical trials and health care. It may be advantageous when dealing with patient care, collecting data on treatments effectiveness, studying and reading medical journals, evaluation of previous research, and research studies for publication. It could be that individuals with clinical backgrounds are preferred due to familiarity with various rules and regulations. Possessing good documentation/reporting practices and verbal/written skills which nurses and doctors have acquired throughout the years makes them a better fit due to clinical trials being strictly regulated. These skills allow better communication to parties outside the research industry which comes in handy while discussing different points of view with all the other people who have a clinical background. 

 
Posted : 20/10/2020 11:54 am
(@sts27)
Posts: 75
Trusted Member
 

I think that a clinical background is necessary but that the extent of such should vary. While someone may be able to do work in this profession, having experience working with people and being comfortable in a clinical setting is important as you are working directly with patients. I know plenty of engineers who can gather data and probably complete the work required for this profession, but who, without background experience, would very easily stumble over the patient-researcher interactions. When you are working directly with patients, it’s important that you know how to interact appropriately around them.  That being said, I think that the amount of training and experience in clinical settings required for working and getting this job should vary. Some jobs in this field require minimal patient-researcher interaction, and those applying for those jobs should only be required to have a minimal background in clinical research. It depends on the job really. 

 
Posted : 20/10/2020 12:17 pm
(@jmeghai)
Posts: 79
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Having interacted with an uncle who has a degree in Biochemistry and MSc in Environmental Change and currently a Clinical Research Associate (CRA), I came to realize that not necessary will you require to have a clinical background or directly work with patients like the nurses and doctors have. 

As a biochemist and having anatomy as one of the required courses needed, is it possible to carry out a clinical research. It all boils down to knowing the basics or the science behind what every research you are going into. Most times you don't have to be in the hospital or be the researcher, you can go on site where the research is been done and investigate how its done, what improvement is needed and how far long the study or research is going to take.

In sum, having a clinical background all depends on the role you are going for. If you have a science background, which is mostly required to take the CRA certification, then clinical background isn't much of a necessity even as a principal investigator, you just have to know and learn the terminologies which a science person should already have some basics in.

 
Posted : 21/10/2020 7:29 am
(@lechichr)
Posts: 39
Eminent Member
 

I agree with the different backgrounds addressing different roles such as statistican, regulatory submission expert or a biomedical engineer attached to the clinical study for provide technical support. 

I would however state that all folks involved in clinical work be knowledgeable about the overall process, roles and responsibilities, artifacts such as reports, etc. This may seem obvious, but the ability to collaborate and communicate with a common language is extremely important to execute the clinical process. I believe Dr. Simon indicated earlier in the lectures about look at clinical courses at universities or industry seminars. I think this is extremely important. The complexity does require SME for specific areas but also the project teams need to have common knowledge and the ability to execute.

 
Posted : 23/10/2020 1:02 pm
(@shereenmurrah)
Posts: 39
Eminent Member
 

Having a clinical background isn't necessary as long as the role doesn't deal with direct patient interaction. So depending on the role that the person is going for, the preference of a clinical background should then be determined. Having a clinical background is an advantage though, no matter what role a person may be in because they would know abound the human body and how to evaluate things in the process. It shouldn't be a requirement if it isn't a direct patient role, but the person should have knowledge about the biology of human bodies to be able to be a part of a clinical study environment. Certain procedures working with a clinical study team requires human biology understanding, but people who are dealing with patients should definitely have a clinical background because they would have the experience dealing with all types of patient dilemmas. If a company requires a clinical background that is missing from a persons qualifications then it should be for those who are dealing with the patients. Some are heavily experienced with a field that might benefit the company in the study, such as statistics, and others are clinically experienced. So, a balance is recommended and certain qualifications shouldn't always be required for all roles.

 
Posted : 24/10/2020 1:20 am
(@aohara)
Posts: 38
Eminent Member
 

I do believe that having a clinical background would be of benefit in certain roles, such as the Principle Investigator or the Study Coordinator. Mostly because these are individuals that would be dealing directly with the patients and reporting any sort of adverse reactions to the study. So in some cases, I would say it is very important to have a clinical background in this sort of aspect for a clinical trail. And although having a clinical background will not hinder anyone in this field, I also think that those with different educational experiences can be an advantage. For instance, a bioengineer may have relevant exposure to both the clinical side, as well as the reporting and scientific end of analyzing data. In addition, for roles such as the Sponsor or Monitor that take on a more administrative sense, it would be helpful to have prior knowledge that understands the importance of GCP's and documentation standards. I cannot speak for all doctors and nurses myself, but I do know that if I went to med school, I would want to be practicing medicine, not filling out paperwork. 

 
Posted : 24/10/2020 4:37 pm
(@mg482)
Posts: 64
Trusted Member
 

the need of a clinical foundation relies upon the job that one chooses to follow. I would state that jobs in clinical research require a clinical foundation due to the job requirement to execute the tasks needed. This is an individual accused of the obligation of getting ready, directing, and managing research grants. Having related knowledge is, thusly, a need for one to take up the function of a Principal Investigator. A clinical foundation absolutely has its preferences, particularly for a person on an administrative level. While numerous individuals can work in the CRA jobs without having a clinical foundation, for best execution, passion, drive, and a liking for medical services.

 
Posted : 24/10/2020 11:11 pm
 dyc6
(@dyc6)
Posts: 79
Trusted Member
 

I think having a clinical background is not necessary, since people can learn while interacting with the patients on the spot, however, there are many benefits to having a clinical background. Since having a clinical background is a plus, it should be encouraged in all roles. Even for statisticians, I think having an understanding of what the patients were going through or which procedures were carried out, allows the statistician to better understand the data. For statisticians, it is important to not only see the data as numbers, but to also know what the numbers represent, so that there is better comprehension of the data. Interacting with these patients makes the assignments seem more "real" in a sense, in which you can directly have a sense of impacting these patients. 

 
Posted : 25/10/2020 10:07 am
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