Effectiveness of a Responsible Conduct of Research Course: A Preliminary Study

This article reports on the effectiveness of a short-term course in responsible conduct of research for medical students participating in an NIH-funded summer research program at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Survey results were analyzed in the areas of knowledge, ethical decision-making skills, attitudes about responsible conduct of research, and frequency of discussions about RCR outside of class. The only statistically significant improvement associated with the course was an increase in knowledge, while there was a non-significant tendency toward improvements in ethical decision-making skills and attitudes about the importance of RCR training. The results were not surprising, but the authors suggest that online-based tutorials might be an acceptable option as far as the retention of information if a longer in-person course is not an option.