UW, Department of Medical History&Ethics

Frequently asked questions for Trainees and PIs:

(Info for Trainees)

WHAT IS BRI?

The Public Health Service (PHS) and its research institutions require that all pre-and post-doctoral researchers supported by PHS training grants receive training in the responsible conduct of research. For this reason, the School of Medicine offers the Biomedical Research Integrity (BRI) series to meet the training requirements. The Department of Medical History & Ethics (MHE) now runs this training series under Director Stephanie Malia Fullerton. BRI usually includes three lectures and three associated discussion groups, each addressing the following required RCR topics (representing five of the sevenrequired topics):

Conflict of interest
Data acquisition and ownership
Peer review
Responsible authorship
Research misconduct

Note: Each BRI lecturer will also be asked to incorporate explicit reference to researcher/trainee responsibilities and/or collaborative science.
The MHE Department records and reports attendance at lectures and discussion groups to departments and Principal Investigators (PIs). Specific trainees’ participation is required and monitored by each department or PI independently. The PHS requirement can be viewed at http://ori.dhhs.gov/policies/RCR_Policy.shtml .

WHEN IS BRI OFFERED?

We offer this annual series each summer and cover at least three of the required topics each year through lectures and discussion groups. The BRI series usually ends in September, but the video tapes of the lectures are available on Reserve in libraries at most of our medical centers (see below for further details) . Our Series officially closes October 31st each year and the attendance report is sent to the PIs in November.

HOW DO I REGISTER?

Each year before the BRI opens, we send a notice to the BRI listserv announcing the dates of the lectures and discussion groups. The emails to the listserv and the website include the link to the current Registration Worksheet and the Catalyst Registration site. Because each PI establishes the specific attendance requirements for trainees on his/her grant, we recommend first printing the worksheet and discussing the information and requirements with your PI, Program Director or Department Administrator. Once you have compiled all your information and requirements, log on the Catalyst Registration site and fill out the form. This should take 10 minutes or less to fill out and submit.

Please register only once. Duplicate registrations create errors in the reports we extract for scheduling purposes.

Some specifics you should be aware of when registering:

Question 1 asks about your status at the UW (Medicine, other UW school, or UW affiliate), to which you should have at least one, but no more than one “yes” answer. If you do have multiple appointments, choose the affiliation that tracks with your training grant appointment or primary appointment.

Question 3 asks for information about your PI. This answer should be your PI, Program Director or Department Administrator - the person requiring your attendance. Our final attendance report for the series will go to this person.

Question 7 asks your position on the grant. Your answer should be your position on the grant or, if not grant funded, your position in the department.

DO I NEED TO REGISTER?

If you want or need your attendance reported to your PI or department, then you must register. The registration is only open until July 15, so will need to pre-register for lectures and discussion groups.

Anyone may attend the lectures. To have attendance recorded, you need to be pre-registered AND you need to complete the attendance form available at each lecture,

Discussion Groups are assigned from the registration database, so you will not be able to attend a discussion group without pre-registering. The discussion groups fill so we encourage early registration.

If you are a UW trainee located at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and you plan to participate in BRI lectures and discussion groups at FHCRC, you still need to register with us in order to have your attendance reported to your PI. The Catalyst Registration form will allow you to indicate that you have already registered for discussion groups at FHCRC. The Hutch shares attendance data with us and it is incorporated into the final attendance report.

If you are a FHCRC trainee without a UW affiliation (e.g. UW student, UW payroll or UW-based grant funding, there is no need to register for the BRI series. Your attendance is tracked separately by Lee Strucker at FHCRC.

WHICH LECTURES/DISCUSSION GROUPS MUST I ATTEND?

We envision the BRI program to include all three lectures and three associated discussion groups. However, each training grant has their own requirements for ethics education, so you will need to get the specific requirements from your PI, Program Director or Program Administrator. While we encourage attendance at all lectures and feel discussion group participation enhances the trainees’ experience, we do not set or monitor training requirements. Some departments and labs use individualized training to augment the series. Please ask your PI about what your training requirements are prior to registering and register only for lectures and discussion groups that you do plan to attend. If your plans change after the fact, please let us know ASAP so we can give your spot to someone else. Space is tight in all discussion groups.

WHAT IF I MISS A LECTURE?

We encourage participants to attend the lectures if at all possible; however, the lectures are video taped and you may watch the videos for attendance credit. The tapes will be made available at the UW Health Sciences Library, FHCRC Library, Children's Library and the VAMC Library. Special Video Attendance forms and a web-based evaluation will be available for you to sign certifying that you have watched the video in its entirety. The tapes are generally available within 2 weeks after each lecture. Please note that viewing the lecture is not a pre-requisite for discussion group attendance. If you are enrolled in a discussion group, please attend whether or not you have already viewed the lecture.

CAN I GET CREDIT FOR WATCHING A VIDEO AFTER THE BRI CLOSES?

The videos are available in the libraries for a year (until superseded by the new series), but we only include attendance reported to us by October 31st. If you miss this deadline, talk with your PI. S/he has the option of tracking this training in-house. Videos from past years are available for viewing in the Medical History & Ethics Department - please call or email to schedule an appointment.

WHAT IF I MISS A DISCUSSION GROUP?

We encourage you to plan carefully, but sometimes changes must be made. If you need to reschedule, please contact Margaret Mitchell, 206-221-6548 or uwbri@u.washington.edu as soon as possible. With early enough notice, we may be able to give the spot to someone on the wait list.

Reschedule requests will be put in the queue after all the groups assignments have been made and you may or may not get one of your top choices for dates.

In the event that you fail to attend a discussion group in which you have enrolled, an email will be sent to you and copied to your PI/Department. The email will include the dates/times of any future groups for which you are enrolled and will require reconfirmation of plans to attend. We cannot guarantee rescheduling for no shows.

HOW DOES MY ATTENDANCE GET REPORTED?

Each November we compile the attendance data for lectures and discussion groups. This Attendance Report is then sent to the PIs, Program Directors and Departments listed on the registration database. The PI can then include this information in the progress report to NIH. Our Report is a courtesy report to UW PIs/Departments and is not shared directly with any funding agency. It is a single report contains the records for all participants. As such, we do not send individual participants the Attendance Report, nor are we able to prepare individualized documentation of participation.

HOW DO I GET A RECORD OF MY PAST ATTENDANCE?

Please check with your PI or department. The PI can request reports from previous years.

HOW DO I KEEP UPDATED ON BRI ACTIVITIES?

We use the BRI listserv to distribute announcements for the BRI series, for the individual lectures and also for other lectures, events or anything of relevant interest. Please subscribe or unsubscribe by going to: https://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/bri-series.

(Info for PIs/Program Directors)

HOW DO MY TRAINEES GET REGISTERED FOR THE BRI?

Trainees should subscribe to the BRI listserv and visit the BRI website. They will need to print the Registration Worksheet and compile their department, grant information as well as confirm their PHS training requirements with you. Once they have completed this step, they should link to the Catalyst website from the BRI registration page and fill out the online registration form.

WHY AM I BEING ASKED TO HELP WITH DISCUSSION GROUPS?

Discussion groups are an important part of the training process for trainees. All discussion group leaders are volunteers (many have been nominated by their department chairs) and based on feedback, they value these sessions as much as the trainees. We strongly encourage your participation and welcome your feedback on the process.

Funding for the BRI series is provided by the School of Medicine and the Department of Medical History & Ethics and our budget is very limited. This is required training, and by providing the training centrally, the program aims to free up your time and budget.

We provide the background materials, suggestions for getting conversations started, videos of the lectures if requested and other assistance as requested.

We count on our discussion group leaders and are very grateful for their efforts!

HOW CAN I KEEP UPDATED ON BRI ACTIVITIES?

If you have news or events that you feel relevant to the BRI audience, please feel free to send the information to Dr. S. Malia Fullerton at smfllrtn@u.washington.edu or Margaret Mitchell at mmitchel@u.washington.edu.

HOW DOES TRAINEE ATTENDANCE GET REPORTED TO NIH?

We compile attendance data for the summer series each year and send the information in a consolidated Attendance Report to the PIs in November. The reports contain the records of all participants. Institutional reporting is not required, so our report is a courtesy report to the PIs/Departments and is not shared directly with any funding agency. The PI will need to incorporate the attendance data into his/her grant reporting.

WHAT CAN I REPORT TO THE NIH ABOUT THE ETHICS TRAINING MY TRAINEES RECEIVE?

(Answer to be posted soon)

For more information, contact uwbri@u.washington.edu or call (206) 221-6548.