Many times, when people think about joining clinical trials, getting a doctor’s referral is the first thing that comes to mind. Interestingly, that’s not necessarily the case. Unless stated otherwise, you don’t usually need a doctor’s referral to join a clinical trial. Given that these trials can expose people to groundbreaking treatment or diagnosis options, it’s essential to remove any perceived obstacles to care. This is especially true when it comes to Black Americans, as many clinical trials still have too few participants who are Black.
10 Steps to Getting Into a Clinical Trial
1. Find the Right Clinical Trial
Your journey with participating in a clinical trial starts with finding the right one. Your ideal clinical trial should match your condition, health status, and needs. You can consult with your doctor, but the decision can also be based on the information you currently have about your diagnosis and the current treatment plan.
2. Determine Your Eligibility
Every clinical trial is aimed at specific participants. This means they will have what are known as inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria are the standards you need to meet to be included in the clinical trial. On the other hand, exclusion criteria are the things that will keep you out of the clinical trial. This can include your gender, age, stage of your condition, your responsiveness to certain medications, as well as other pre-existing conditions.
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3. Reach Out to the Coordinator
Once you’re sure that you meet the inclusion criteria for the clinical trial you’re interested in, you should reach out to the person or persons who are coordinating it. After searching for clinical trials, you may see an email, phone number, or contact form that you can use. When you contact them, you should include which clinical trial you’re interested in and how to contact you.
4. Talk to Your Doctor
Although you don’t need a doctor’s referral, it can help to ask them to decipher the technical language of a clinical trial’s details. While you may have someone to explain everything to you if you’re accepted, that’s not usually possible when you search for them online.
5. Get Genetic Testing
Depending on the type of clinical trial you’re applying for, undergoing a genetic test can help you get a foot in the door. In some studies, people who already have the results of their genetic tests may be prioritized. Usually, genetic tests need to be ordered by your doctor and usually entail collecting a sample of blood, hair, skin, or other genetic tissue to be tested. However, there are some direct-to-consumer genetic tests available that may help.
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6. Make an Appointment With a Study Site
If you live close to a study site that’s associated with the clinical trial you’re interested in, it can help to make an appointment with them for care. Sometimes, these study sites will invite patients who are already in their care before anyone else.
7. Let Them Know if You’ll Travel
Another way to increase your chances of being included in a clinical trial is to show the coordinators that you’re willing to travel. You can include this information when you reach out, so they know you’re not limited by your current location.
8. Ensure That They Have All Your Contact Information
The last thing you want is to miss any kind of contact from the coordinators of the clinical trial, so you should include every way to contact you. Ensure that you check your emails and messages regularly.
9. Follow up
The experts suggest that you follow up with the coordinators monthly to see where the process is. It likely won’t make things go any faster, but at least you’ll know if you’re still being considered. Reaching out can also allow you to clear up any questions they may have.
10. Be Patient
Most importantly, it pays to be patient. It takes a lot to coordinate clinical trials, so anywhere from a few weeks to months can pass before they contact all the potential participants. While you’re waiting, it’s essential to keep up with any treatment routine that your current doctor has prescribed.
How to Find Reputable Clinical Trials
While clinical trials can be listed on various online sites, the most reputable is clinicaltrials.gov. This website maintains a database of available and vetted clinical trials across the globe. When you go to the website, you should use the ‘Find a study’ search bar and ensure that you select the ‘recruiting and not yet recruiting studies’ status box. Doing this will ensure that you’re being led to studies that are currently happening or soon to begin.
Once you’ve done that, you can search for the type of condition or illness that you’d like to see clinical trials for. Using the other available search boxes, you can narrow down the location of the clinical trial study sites that work best for you. Then you can click the ‘Search’ button. This action will generate a list of clinical trials that meet the criteria that you’ve asked for. Using the filter, you can then select ‘Interventional or Clinical Trial’ as your study type.
You may also find clinical trials listed on websites that are dedicated to different illnesses, such as breast cancer, muscular dystrophy, diabetes, and heart failure. Additionally, your doctor may have information about clinical trials that are specific to your condition.
RELATED: 5 Reasons to Enroll Yourself in Clinical Trials
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
Even if you don’t need your doctor’s referral to participate in a clinical trial, you may need their help in navigating the process. Part of that is because the language used in clinical trials can be quite technical and hard to decipher if you’re not already talking to someone in the program. In this case, you can ask your doctor for some guidance.
A good place to start is asking them if a clinical trial would be helpful for you. If the answer is ‘yes’, then you can move forward with getting more information. The next step is to find out which type of study would be best. There are different types of clinical trials, so it’s good to ask your doctor which one to investigate. Generally, you can have studies dedicated to preventive care, screening, diagnostic techniques, treatment, and palliative care.
With this information in hand, you can move forward with finding a reputable clinical trial. Since the details of the study will be available, you can bring them to your doctor for clarification. Some of the questions you can ask include:
- What is this clinical trial meant to do?
- Is this a new treatment or one that has been tested before?
- Is this a treatment that might be helpful for me?
- Does this clinical trial come with any risks?
- What do you think the outcome might be if I don’t do the clinical trial?
- Have there been any similar trials to this, and what were the results?
- Do I meet the criteria for this trial?
- Do you know how much clinical trials usually cost?
- Will I be able to continue seeing my regular healthcare professionals?
- Will I be able to keep taking my current medications?
- Will I need to be hospitalized?
- Do you know what kind of tests I might need to undergo during this trial?
- Can I leave the clinical trial before it’s finished?
- Do you have any suggestions for what I should ask the coordinators if I’m contacted?
This is only a suggested list, of course, and you may have additional questions based on your doctor’s response.
Many people can benefit from participating in clinical trials–especially Black Americans. Unfortunately, some people believe they need a doctor’s referral to get involved and never ask because they don’t think they’ll receive one. The good news is that you can start the process on your own and consult your doctor when you have questions, so you’re clear on what to expect.
