Completion of a standardizable competency-based research training program improves understanding and preparedness for both new and experienced clinical research professionals.

Clinical research professionals (CRPs) are integral to the academic medical center workforce, research operations, and daily clinical research tasks; however, due to inconsistent training, there is a shortage of qualified CRPs. The Joint Task Force for Clinical Trial Competency created a competency framework for CRPs, which has demonstrated positive results from various institutions, but training programs have been limited in standardization, replicability, and dissemination. To improve this, we designed the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center Clinical Research Foundations (CRF) training program, which is a competency-based online self-paced CRP training curriculum hosted via the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) portal.

Melanoma toolkit for early detection for primary care clinicians: a 1-year follow-up on outcomes.

Introduction: Primary care providers or clinicians (PCPs) have the potential to assist dermatologists in screening patients at risk for skin cancer, but require training to appropriately identify higher-risk patients, perform skin checks, recognize and biopsy concerning lesions, interpret pathology results, document the exam, and bill for the service. Very few validated dermatology training programs exist for PCPs and those that are available focus primarily on one emphasis area, which results in variable efficacy and single-topic limited scope.

Methods: We have created a free, online, continuing education program (Melanoma Toolkit for Early Detection, MTED) that allows learners to choose from a variety of multimedia tools (image recognition, videos, written material, in-person seminars, self-tests, etc.

The skinny on skin: The role of skin-aware professionals in skin cancer surveillance.

Licensed nonmedical, skin-aware professionals (e.g., hairdressers, massage therapists, etc.