Making CT.gov Work for You - a podcast by Brad Hightower

from 2020-05-18T18:29:29

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For full show notes with screen shots, please visit our website at http://www.notetofilepodcast.com

When I first started in clinical research, I worked for a well-established neurology department at a university. At the time, it seemed like studies just flowed in without having to pursue them - until they didn’t. Faculty came and went. Research staff had turned over. Suddenly, we needed studies - bad!

At the time, I had no idea what I was doing. I took to clinicaltrials.gov and started sorting, reviewing and emailing any and all contacts that seemed appropriate. It was a tedious process. My response rate was abysmal and most the replies I did manage to get were saying the study was not adding sites. However, over time, I did manage to bring in some studies and get things slowly back on track.

This is a method that I still use today. Everyone should. Truthfully, it is often no less frustrating. I have managed to make some beneficial relationships and land some great studies though. One thing that made the search so much easier was creating an RSS feed that sent me all newly posted studies. I didn’t have to spend as much time filtering through every study every day.

Here are the steps for setting up an RSS feed so that you can spend less time clicking around on ct.gov:

Step 1: Navigate to www.clinicaltrials.gov and click on “Advanced Search”.

Step 2: Enter your search criteria. I would recommend keeping it fairly loose so that you capture all possible study opportunities. Hit “Search” once complete.

Step 3: You will be brought to your results. On the top of the results, to the far right, you will see “Subscribe to RSS.” Click the link and a new page will be opened.

Step 4: You will be presented with an option as to which type of feed you want. I prefer to include modified studies as a study may reopen to enrollment and I want to ensure that those studies make it in to my feed.

Step 5: The page that comes up next will look like a bunch of code and gibberish. From here, copy the link in the address bar. This is the link you will paste in to your reader.

Step 6: Add the URL to your RSS reader. At this point, your feed can be read in whatever reader you choose. Even Microsoft Outlook has an option to add RSS feeds. All studies that match the search criteria that you entered will be fed straight in to Outlook. You can read how to set that up here. If you choose to use a different reader, a quick Google search will turn up how to add feeds to your reader.

I personally use Feedly as my reader as it also pulls in any news sites you wish to add. From here I can keep up with the latest news and any new leads from clinicaltrials.gov all from one place.

That’s it. Pretty easy, right? However, this has made a big impact on how much time I spend trolling around ct.gov. What are your tips and tricks for better utilizing ct.gov?

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Website of Brad Hightower