October 12 2022
Written by Joan Cahill, BNS, OCN, CCRP, Asst. Research Practice Manager (ARPM), Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke Cancer Center
It’s October! We are recruiting individual members to apply to the NRG Oncology Protocol Support Committee. The primary functions of the Protocol Support Committee (PSC) include support and quality control of protocol-related activities, education and training of NRG Oncology members on clinical research topics, and mentorship. The PSC includes two subcommittees, the Clinical Research Associate Subcommittee and the Clinical Trial Nurse Subcommittee. The PSC and its subcommittees are your contacts for voicing concerns, fielding requests for support and resources for the Clinical Research Associates (CRAs) and Clinical Trial Nurses (CTNs) in NRG Oncology.
CRA/CTN Subcommittee Overview:
Both the CRA and CTN Subcommittees are advisory/working committees, under the NRG Oncology Protocol Support Committee. The sub-committees help facilitate the goals of the PSC and provide support with quality control of protocol-related activities, education and training of NRG Oncology members on relevant clinical research topics and to provide mentorship to NRG members. The subcommittees meet twice a year at the NRG Oncology meetings and via conference calls as needed.
The PSC currently supports four working groups to complete its goals and objectives: education and training, mentorship, protocol review and quality control and communications. Members of the CRA/CTN sub-committees are also members of one of the working groups. These groups are led and facilitated by PSC Committee members and each have about 10-20 participants from the membership-at-large.
The four Working Groups of the PSC are:
- Education and Training Working Group is charged with planning and developing the educational programs for the CRAs and CTNs attending the NRG meetings, create protocol specific tools to educate research staff about protocol requirements as well as conduct training programs such as new member orientation and protocol training workshops
- Mentorship Working Group developed and continues to maintain an excellent mentorship program that provides individual support from experienced members with the objective of improving the conduct of clinical trials throughout NRG and promoting quality control.
- Protocol Review Working Group prospectively reviews protocols for clinically relevant matters by identifying potential patient care issues, identifying issues such as symptom management and study drug administration that may act as facilitators or barriers to successful study execution. The group also address potential barriers to protocol accrual.
- Quality Control and Communications Working Group promotes best practices in study execution concentrating on protocol compliance and audit trends. The group collaborates with the Mentor Program and NRG educational programs to resolve compliance and data issues. The group also coordinates submission of PSC articles for the NRG Oncology newsletters and maintains the PSC content on the NRG website.
More detailed information can be found here:
https://www.nrgoncology.org/Committees-Programs/Scientific-Core-Committees/Protocol-Support-Committee
We are asking members who work with NRG Oncology clinical research studies and who are committed to oncology research to submit an application. Members responsibilities and expectations include but are not limited to:
- Bi-annual attendance at NRG committee meetings (hybrid option is currently available)
- Regular attendance at committee/working group meetings via conference calls
- Participation in and active engagement in one of the 4 PSC working groups
- Collaboration across committees on projects, educational initiatives and mentorship
Becoming a member of the NRG Oncology PSC committees and working groups presents a dynamic opportunity for professional development. The purpose of professional development is to have opportunities to learn, apply new knowledge and skills to foster individual growth, role expansion and further your career. Professional development is all about building your skill set and knowledge base for your current and future roles. Being a member of the PSC meets all of these goals in addition to providing members with a unique insight on clinical research with peer-to-peer support, learning from and sharing solutions while networking with your peers. Professional development isn’t just beneficial for you, it benefits your workplace too. Enhancing your clinical research knowledge, can significantly increase your contribution to your team’s success in managing national clinical trials at the local level. You could become your team’s NRG clinical trials subject expert and make new friends!
Interested? The deadline for application submission is Friday, October 28, 2022.
Complete the application form (link below), an NIH biosketch or CV, a brief cover letter stating the reasons why you would like to join the committee, what contributions you expect to make to the group and a letter of support from the Institutional Corresponding Principal Investigator (PI).
The Protocol Support Committee (PSC) leadership reviews the applications along with accrual rate, delinquency rate and audit status of the institution with which the applicant is affiliated. These criteria, along with consideration for the representative make-up of the committee in terms of geographic location and type of institution will be used to select members. Appointments will be announced by November 18, 2022. Applications and information can be found here:
CTN Application
CRA Application
Working Group Application
For any questions or problems with this application process please email: NRGPSC@nrgoncology.org.
Reach out with questions, the PSC looks forward to hearing from you!