Tips/Hacks

These are some workflow tips/hacks I adopted that I found helpful. Take what you like, if any.

• Study maintenance

  • Print/bookmark the schedule of assessments for each studies

  • Print/bookmark the I&E criteria for enrolling studies for easy access

  • Bookmark EDC pages for each study

• Personal organization

  • Carry a small notebook for scribbles, notes, brain-dumping

  • Excel File Notebook (See attached file for the template of what I used if you want to refer to it)

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Sample Notebook - JY.xlsx

• Compile protocol summaries, Schedule of Assessments, etc. into 1 binder for quick reference

• Review next week's schedule every Friday and plan accordingly

• Remembering people

  • Use notepad function on EPIC to remember info about individual patients

  • Remember names of nurses, APPs, staff - it goes a long way. (The longer you wait to ask/confirm someone's name, the more awkward it gets to ask. Especially when you are new, just ask.)

• Making the most of the experience

  • Keep some kind of work reflection log (super helpful for keeping track of learning and acts as a base of anecdotes for application essays, etc.)

  • Ask physicians about additional shadowing (they are very open to it, I got to see amputations, open AAA repairs, carotid endarterectomies, etc. - that are not directly related to the research studies but super cool learning opportunity)

  • Be on the lookout for conferences or investigator meetings. Ask to go, apply for funding if possible. Can feel like a shot in the dark, but always worth the attempt.