Try "InfoShorts" for quick education strategy
Topics keep IRB up-to-date
[Jean Larson, MBA, HRPP education and community outreach manager for Yale University in New Haven, CT, recently rolled out a quick and effective education program for the IRB. Called "InfoShorts," the program keeps IRB members up to date on regulatory changes and other topics at meetings.]
IRB Advisor: What are InfoShorts and what gave you the idea for this educational program?
Larson: We wanted to give our IRB members a very brief educational moment at the beginning of each meeting on a topic of interest to them. We started InfoShorts with the topic of conflict of interest because the NIH [National Institutes of Health] conflict of interest regulations had changed, and we wanted to make sure our members were aware of that. For our newer members, InfoShorts also provide a brief review and additional information on a topic that is chosen every month. InfoShorts are short, but there is time for people to ask questions or have a discussion about the topic. They’ve been successful.
IRB Advisor: Who presents the InfoShorts, and what kinds of topics do you cover?
Larson: Presenters are whoever is available and interested. The chair has presented several of them; our IRB analysts have presented some, and I’ve done a couple. We want the monthly topics to be areas that we know will impart something valuable and of interest to our members. After conflict of interest, we had InfoShorts on compliance and children’s research, congruency, protocol approval criteria and informed consent requirements. We’ve also presented information about presenting a protocol and expedited review because that’s a high percentage of what we do as an HRPP. Next we are doing an InfoShort on our review and revision to policies and procedures. After the InfoShorts are presented, we post them on the website in a PowerPoint presentation. We keep these to eight or nine slides. The InfoShorts last five to 10 minutes. They are tickler education — not our only education, but a nice addition to the agenda.
