1. An educational program on financial conflicts of interest in clinical research needs to be developed.
2. It is essential that the University, working with the School of Medicine, allocates the necessary resources and identifies the necessary expertise to develop appropriate content and most effective delivery mechanisms for the educational program. This could be done in collaboration with the Advanced Research Computing Office, as was done with the web-based program on the education of human research subjects.
3. All investigators and other key personnel engaged in clinical research should be required to successfully complete the educational program.
4. The program should be web-based to the extent possible.
5. A model for such a program is the web-based program on the education of human research subjects developed at UCLA last year in response to Public Health Service requirements. At the completion of the program, the participant receives a certificate. Another web-based program is the UCLA Medical Enterprise Code of Conduct. An approach similar to these is recommended related to financial conflicts of interest.
6. The educational program on financial conflicts of interest in clinical research is best included as part of a broader required educational program on research ethics. Until a comprehensive program is developed, however, a program on financial conflicts of interest should be put in place as soon as possible.