MCW to host SoCRA Certification Preparation and Review Course and Certification Exam

Feb. 26, 2013 College News - The Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office and Office of Research are hosting the upcoming Society of Clinical Research Associates (SoCRA) Certification Preparation and Review Course and Certification Exam. 

The course will be held on Friday, March 1, and prepares clinical research staff for the Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP) certification exam. This course includes review of FDA guidelines and International Conference on Harmonisation/Good Clinical Practice Guidelines. 

The CCRP Certification Exam will be held on Saturday, March 2. The exam was developed to create an internationally-accepted standard of knowledge, education, and experience for clinical research professionals.  You can learn more about SoCRA and CCRP Certification here.

Over 30 clinical research professionals have registered for the class or exam.  In addition to 21 participants from MCW, other registrants from around the country include professionals from the Harvard School of Public Health, National Marrow Donor Program, GE Healthcare, BloodCenter of Wisconsin, Standard Process, Inc. (Palmyra, WI), the University of Minnesota, Terumo Medical Corporation (NJ), Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, University of Pittsburgh, and Aurora Health Care. 

The MCW Office of Research and Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office (CTO) worked together to organize, promote, and host this event, which is an opportunity to promote MCW’s clinical research capacities to the professional community.  

“We’re very excited to host the prep course and exam and hope to do so again in the future,” says Betty Oleson, Administrative Director of the MCW Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office.  “This was Paulette Jacob’s idea, and she has arranged it all with SoCRA and the Office of Research.”

Paulette Jacobs MS, CCRP is a Clinical Research Coordinator with the Cancer Center CTO, and she contacted SoCRA about hosting the exam at MCW. 

“When we formed the Clinical Trials Office, I knew that a lot of my colleagues had worked the number of years required to become certified, but had not yet taken the exam.  If we hosted the exam here, they would not have to pay to travel and spend the night somewhere.  So I contacted SoCRA.  They told me if we had at least 10 people participating that we could volunteer to host the exam, and if we had 20 people participate, we could also host the review course.”

MCW is the only site in the Midwest to host the prep and review class before the exam. With over 30 participants registered, the turnout is significant for a first-time event.

The Cancer Center CTO staff would like to thank the Froedtert Hospital Foundation’s donors for their support.