A priority educational program at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

Abstract

189 Background: The clinical research environment is consistently evolving with new methodology, complexity and regulatory stringency. With this evolution, the need for a well-educated clinical research team is critical. There are approximately 300 clinical research staff at Princess Margaret, 100 Principal investigators. The Cancer Clinical Research Unit (CCRU) is a support department within the Princess Margaret Cancer Program and provides two dedicated staff to implement and facilitate clinical research education across the program. Methods: CCRU Education currently offers 50 unique education sessions with an average of 45 sessions per quarter. Starting in 2010, 9275 attendees have attended 892 CCRU in-class sessions. Since 2015, 224 sessions have been attended by 25 sites through teleconference. The CCRU has implemented an “Orientation Pathway” for new clinical research staff to provide clear guidance on mandatory research training activities, as well as role and task-specific training activities. In 2016, CCRU has included more workshop-style courses, providing scenario-based learning models. The CCRU uses a blend of online, in-class, and case-based learning sessions to promote critical thinking and stimulate vibrant group discussion. Interactive sessions and evaluation ensure learning needs are met. Results: Since implementing the interactive sessions, and the Orientation Pathways, the CCRU Quality Assurance department has seen a reduction of insufficient documentation findings. To measure this, the total number of Quality Assurance Review (QAR) findings on insufficient and/or incomplete documentation of the consent process was averaged and compared in 2014 and 2015 and a 25% decrease was noted. In addition, staff feedback is regularly collected through an online methods and is reviewed by the CCRU Quality-Education committee for training quality improvement. Conclusions: Positive staff feedback and a reduction of QAR findings has encouraged CCRU Education to continue creating workshop-based training sessions that are interactive, timely and effective. Efforts will continue to include CCRU-QA findings in the development of new course content to ensure staff are well trained and overall quality continues to improve.