What happens during a clinical trial?
Register your interest
Let us know if you’re interested in clinical trials! We’ll review your medical history and match you with the clinical trial that makes sense for you.
Screening
Get all the details about the clinical trial, ask any questions you might have, and go through the health screening process (i.e. Blood Tests, Physical Exam)
Enrollment
If you are eligible, you’ll be invited to join the clinical trial. Once enrolled, you’re officially part of the clinical trial!
Conduction to End of Clinical Trial
Follow the clinical trial protocol until it’s completed. You’ll have access to our study team and medical professionals throughout your entire experience.
What to expect.
A clinical trial is an essential step in every medical advancement. It’s the most important step in confirming whether a new medication or treatment is safe and effective. We advance new treatment options by conducting clinical trials for a wide range of medical conditions.
You can participate in a clinical trial, either as a healthy volunteer or a participant with a specific condition.
We look forward to talking with anyone interested in clinical trial participation to see where you will fit best.
When you call us to inquire about being a clinical trials volunteer, our representative will speak with you about your medical history and clinical trial that interest you. If you meet the criteria for a clinical trial, we will ask you to come to the clinic for a screening visit and consultation.
During the screening visit, you will consult with our staff about the details of the clinical trial and discuss everything that we know about it. We will answer your questions about participating in the trial, and you will be asked to sign an informed consent document that tells you all of the clinical trial details and confirms your interest in further participating.
Is it safe to join our trials?
Our Trialmed team is deeply committed to your safety and informed consent. We ensure that you and your family are well-versed in all the potential risks and potential benefits of participating. Our clinical trials physicians are ready and willing to discuss the clinical trial and any concerns you may have, ensuring you feel secure and valued. We maintain excellent medical oversight of each participant throughout entire clinical trial and the clinical trial protocols that we work with have your safety prioritised.
Screening.
To determine if you meet the requirements for the clinical trial, a variety of screening and eligibility assessments may be performed. These may include:
Medical history review and physical examination with medical staff
Measurement of your height, weight, and vital signs (blood pressure/pulse)
ECG/EKG to measure electrical activity of the heart
Blood and urine collection for laboratory assessments
Other diagnostic tests as required by the clinical trial protocol
All information that you supply us and that we obtain in the screening process will be kept confidential.
If you are eligible as a volunteer for the clinical trial, you will be contacted to schedule your participation. As with any clinical trial, you are free to withdraw your participation at any time.
Whether you qualify for the trial or not, a clinic staff member will confidentially share with you the results of your physical examination and any screening tests that have been done. Should the results of your screening tests or physical examination warrant additional follow-up from a health care provider, the clinic staff will notify you.
Frequently asked questions
If you are asked to consent to be a participant in a clinical trial, or if you are asked to consent for someone else, you have the right to:
- Learn the nature and purpose of the clinical trial.
- Receive an explanation of the procedures and any Investigational Medicines, treatment, or device to be used.
- Receive a description of any discomforts and risks that you could experience from the clinical trial.
- Learn about any benefits you might expect from the clinical trial.
- Learn about the risks and benefits of any other available procedures, Investigational Medicines, treatment, or devices that might be helpful to you.
- Learn what medical treatment will be made available to you if you should be injured because of the clinical trial.
- Ask any questions about the clinical trial or the procedures involved.
- Leave the clinical trial at any time. Your decision will not be used as an excuse to hold back necessary medical treatment.
- Receive a copy of the signed and dated consent form.
- Decide to consent or not to consent to a clinical trial without feeling force, obligation, or coercion.
A clinical trial is a carefully designed research study involving human volunteers to investigate the safety and effectiveness of new Investigational Medicines, treatment, or device. Clinical trials are essential for evaluating the benefits and risks of medical interventions, ultimately informing healthcare decisions and regulatory approvals.
Clinical trials typically have four phases.
- Phase I tests the safety of a treatment and/or evaluates how the Investigational Medicine is metabolized in the body.
- Phase II focuses on its effectiveness
- Phase III compares the treatment with standard treatments
- Phase IV involves ongoing monitoring after the treatment is approved for use
Trialmed has clinics specialising in and clinical trials available in all phases of clinical research.
Informed consent is a process where you are given detailed information about the clinical trial, including the goals, potential risks, benefits, and your rights as a participant. You will discuss these details with our staff, and we’ll answer any questions that you might have.
We encourage participants to bring in any questions they have about the clinical trial or the research process in general.
Once you understand the details of the clinical trial and if you agree to participate, you will document your agreement on the informed consent form. You may withdraw your consent and stop participating at any time.
Trialmed recruits clinical trial volunteers for a wide range of early development and late phase clinical trials. Each of our clinics has different clinical trial opportunities and these opportunities are updated regularly. At some point in time, anyone may be eligible for a clinical trial.
Early Phase clinical trials usually need healthy participants, 18 years and older with no chronic medical conditions. Drug use, smoking, or regular use of prescription medications are often exclusionary in these trials.
Late phase clinical trials are usually looking for individuals with diagnosed conditions or on specific medications.
Everyone is a potential clinical trial volunteer. Eligibility for a clinical trial depends on the specific trial. Each trial has its own criteria based on age, health condition, and other factors. The clinical trials team will assess whether you meet the criteria during the screening process.
Please contact us to learn about our current opportunities near you. If we don’t have a trial fit for you today, we’d love to let you know when one is available.
To find a clinical trial that may be right for you, start by browsing the options that we currently have available. If you see something that looks like a match, we’d love the chance to talk to you about it. If we don’t currently have a match for you, we’d still like to discuss a few details with you so that we can notify you when we do have a match.
You will need to provide personal and medical history information, including any current medications or health conditions. This helps determine your eligibility for the trial. Most visits, especially your screening visit, will require you to bring at least your:
- Photo ID
- List of current medications, prescription and over-the-counter, including name, dosage, frequency taken, and reasons for taking
- Relevant medical records if available
Our team will inform you of any additional documentation required when we schedule your screening appointment.
Yes, you can withdraw from the clinical trial at any time, for any reason (you do not have to give a reason).
Clinical trial participants are willing volunteers and can stop participating at any time. Our medical staff will guide you on the safety of withdrawing from a study if you have already been dosed with an investigational product, but, it is up to you to make that decision at any time.
Each clinical trial starts with a protocol that is developed to Good Clinical Practice (GCP) standards, ensuring that safety and transparency are prioritized in the research project. We then refer each clinical trial protocol to an ethics committee composed of members of the public, including medical professionals, who are independent of the clinic or sponsor. The ethics committee evaluates each clinical trial protocol and associated materials to determine if it complies with international regulatory guidelines and local standards to further ensure participant safety and well-being.
All Trialmed clinical trials are reviewed by an independent ethics committee and authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
This independent committee is there to protect participants’ rights, safety, and well-being. The board reviews and approves all aspects of each clinical trial, including the type and dose of investigational medicine that will be given to you, all the measurements that will be conducted throughout the clinical trial and any payment that you may receive.
The doses of Investigational Medicines that volunteers are given are very carefully controlled. Sometimes there might be side effects. All known side effects will be explained to you before you decide whether or not to take part in the clinical trial for which you are eligible. Most side effects are mild in nature, but the clinical trial team, doctor, and informed consent documents will cover everything we know about the specific clinical trial and Investigational Medicines you are interested in. It is possible that you may experience some side effects while taking the Investigational Medicines. Our doctors are always available to talk to about any symptoms.
For your own safety, it is essential that you: 1. Always tell us about all prescription and nonprescription medicines and dietary supplements that you are taking, 2. Fully disclose all medical history and answer medical history questions truthfully, and 3. Do not participate in more than one clinical trial at a time.
Yes, each clinic has some house rules for participants to help ensure everyone’s safety & comfort and protect the quality of the clinical trial data. These may include rules on smoking, alcohol, caffeine use, and behavior. In addition, there may be rules that relate to a specific clinical trial. For example, you might be required to eat all the food provided or to refrain from physical exercise. All applicable details will be shared with you as part of the informed consent process.
Some clinical trials, usually in Phase I, require overnight visits for varying lengths of time. You will receive lots of additional details at your screening appointment, but almost everything you need during your stay will be provided by our clinic. We will have scrub bottoms and T-shirts available to you, but you must bring your own undergarments, and you may be more comfortable bringing your own clothes to supplement what is provided.
We also ask that you bring your own toiletries, but we do have some supplies to share if you forget something or one of your products isn’t allowed for some reason.
It is also highly recommended to bring entertainment items. We have several amenities such as game rooms, TVs, and computers available for use, but most volunteers prefer to bring their own computers, handheld game systems, books, or art supplies.
No outside food products, nicotine products or weapons are allowed. More details on what is and is not allowed will be provided at screening.
You cannot participate in more than one clinical trial at a time, and there is a minimum waiting period between clinical trials. This waiting period is known as the wash-out period and can last from a few days to several months, depending on the Investigational Medicines that was tested. Also, if you are a regular blood donor, you may need to meet a minimum wash-out for blood donation, which will vary from clinical trial to clinical trial.
We would love to have you back to participate in another clinical rial once you meet your washout requirements.
During the trial, you would continue to visit your doctor for your routine medical care. Even if you are participating in a clinical trial, you should still continue to see your doctor/healthcare professional for routine and non-clinical trial related care, and you should keep them informed on your clinical trial participation.
You should also keep your clinical trial team aware of all changes to your health for the duration of the clinical trial and report any suspected side effects or illnesses.
Some clinical trials offer compensation for participation, but this varies from clinical trial to clinical trial. You will be informed about any compensation details before you agree to participate.
Compensation, when applicable, depends on several factors. Most clinical trials aim to cover costs associated with travel, time commitments, and participation.
Sometimes, during a clinical trial, new information becomes available about the treatment/Investigational Medicine being studied. If this happens, the doctor will tell you about it and discuss with you whether you want to continue in the clinical trial. If you decide to stop taking part in the clinical trial, your doctor will advise on the most suitable treatment for you. If you decide to continue in the clinical trial, you will be asked to sign a new Consent Form. Also, on receiving new information, your doctor might consider it best to take you out of the clinical trial. He/she will explain the reasons and arrange for your care to continue. If the clinical trial is stopped for any other reason, you will be told why, and your continuing care will be arranged.
Whether you can continue the treatment after the clinical trial ends depends on the clinical trial and the Investigational Medicine/treatment involved. The clinical trial team will inform you of your options before the clinical trial concludes.