bella7827

Find a PI at your hospital and let him/her know you are interested in breaking into research. You can take beginner/training courses through Barnett International but you don't really need anything in order to get started. I learned by jumping in and making a ton of phone calls to the Institutional Review Board and to the director of research regulatory and compliance at my hospital. They were not able to offer me much help in the way of training, but talking with them eventually helped me develop my own training. (I could probably do your beginner training- ha ha I learned the hard way so it is ingrained in me!) Most of the training out there is expensive and you don't really get what you pay for... Barnett, ACRP and SoCRA are really expensive and the courses I have done were not really worth the money. I did the Barnett Beginner CRA/CRC Program... it was $1800 and I didn't like it- the instructor was very unfocused and her child or dog interrupted the webinar every week (10 weeks, 3 hrs one night a week). I think the thing to do is find some beginner training and at least start off knowing a little bit about what you are doing, and then learn the rest along the way. You can certify through ACRP after a couple of years but the exam costs $450-600 depending on whether you are a member or not. I am not sure I recognize the value in membership with either of them (have been a member of both). Best of luck to you- I sincerely hope you are able to forge a career in research- it is truly fascinating.