Manchester Clinical Research Facility (CRF) offers a placements scheme to students training at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) and associated universities, in a range of professions related to clinical research. The duration of placements is flexible, and can be agreed depending on the student’s requirements.
Placement aims
- To provide a well-co-ordinated ‘research’ learning experience for students from a variety of backgrounds
- To promote inter-professional learning
- To enable students to combine research training with their professional training
- To expose students to research in practice within a dedicated research facility and promote the application of research theory to practice
- To provide access to research mentoring
- To build and support a skilled workforce capable of advancing high quality research with the aim of maintaining and improving health within a knowledge-based, patient-centred health service.
Learning opportunities
- Theoretical and practical hands-on training in clinical research
- Exposure to a wide range of clinical research from a variety of disease areas:
- Clinical Trials from Phase 1a to Phase 4
- Medical Devices
- Non-clinical Trials
- Observational studies including disease progress and complications
- Exposure to clinical research in rare conditions
- Good Clinical Practice (GCP), research governance, study conduct and management in practice
- Protocol review – scientific justification, safety of the participants, logistics for study specific procedures, Ethics checks, approvals, authorisations
- Setting up a study – checking logistics for studies including study specific assessments, required training for investigators and sub-investigators, laboratory procedures, pharmacy requirements
- Conduct of a study:
- Development of clinical skills
- Checking eligibility of participants
- Reviewing medical records for eligibility
- Carrying out study assessments including physical examinations
- Neurological examinations
- Psychiatric examinations
- Study specific tasks or examinations
- Reviewing ECGs, laboratory test results
- Prescribing study treatments and follow the participants until discharge including re-prescribing treatment and evaluating the side effects of treatments
- Making clinical judgments such withdrawals, concomitant and additional interventions/ treatments
- Evaluating and reporting adverse events, serious adverse events, adverse reactions, expected and unexpected serious adverse reactions
- Management of a study:
- Responding all queries of monitors and auditors; medical or non-medical
- Communicating the problems arise during the conduct of studies to sponsors, pharmaceutical companies or research organisations
- Suggesting or reviewing amendments to the protocols or study procedures
- Access to:
- Research seminars
- Interactive lectures
- Discussion groups such as case studies
- Weekly journal clubs to critically appraise published original articles.
Further information
If you would like further information about our multi-professional placements scheme, please email: rebecca.riley4@mft.nhs.uk. Please note we can only facilitate placements from MFT and associated universities.
