Skills needed to successfully recruit patients online for clinical trials - Viewpoint - careers advice blog Viewpoint careers advice blog

Skills needed to successfully recruit patients online for clinical trials - Viewpoint - careers advice blog A recent survey suggests the internet now rivals doctors as a source of information on clinical trials, with web searches and online advertisements playing a key role. Nearly half of respondents who took part in a clinical trial had found out about it online. “The reality is, it’s ‘Dr Google’ that provides the information patients are looking for,” says Julie Walters, founder and MD of Tudor Reilly Health, the company that ran the survey. She explains: “This particular survey involved people with hepatitis C, but it reflects broader changes that are happening globally. We’ve reached a tipping point. People are increasingly taking ownership of their health and they turn to the internet a lot now for information. They would prefer to get information from their doctor, but that doesn’t always happen. Almost three-quarters of people who completed our survey had never been informed about clinical trials by their doctor.” Online recruitment is increasing These findings emphasise the increasing potential of recruiting patients to clinical trials via the internet and social media. So what are implications for you if you work in this field? How do you go about developing the skills to exploit the full potential of e-recruitment, and do so in a way that benefits both the people who take part in trials and their sponsors? “To succeed, you need an awareness of the digital environment and how Google works,” says Walters. “We think people search for information about an illness, not for a clinical trial, so it’s important to define your entry point. We create credible, useful, relevant disease information, using language that people can understand. We make sure that information is easy to find. If people are interested in taking part in a clinical trial, they can find out through that entry point. Ultimately, of course, people have to sit down in front of a doctor, but some of the initial screening to assess eligibility for a trial can be done online, so we ask appropriate questions â€" not too long, not too forbidding.” She continues: “For people who are trying to break into this line of work, there’s a lot to learn, but the important thing is just to start. No one methodology for internet recruitment has taken hold yet. You need to be entrepreneurial and smart. Find the digital team in your company and work with them.” “There’s an opportunity here to be at the forefront of a really interesting emerging field, ” Walters concludes. Join the Life Sciences Industry Insights with Hays LinkedIn group to share your thoughts and stay up-to-date with the latest on business, employment and recruitment news in the life sciences industry. Join the conversation