SubscribeBenefits of becoming a member of the Institute of Clinical Research (ICR)
The Institute of Clinical Research (ICR) was established in 1978. Now, nearly 30 years later as a not-for-profit organisation managed by a board elected by the members, it has an expanding global presence of around 6,000 members and is established as the largest professional clinical research body in Europe and India with a professional staff recognised by Investors in People.
Academics, Clinical Researchers, Trainers and Physicians
Membership of ICR
Our members cover all aspects of work in clinical research and clinical trials, from project managers and academics to Clinical Research Associates, trainers, and physicians working in industry, academia and the health service. We have a membership career development structure where people can join as affiliates and progress through education and training to Registered, Professional and Fellow status.
As a licensed body of the Science Council we also award the designation, Chartered Scientist, to individual scientists who meet the high standards for the qualification. We work with universities to provide post graduate certificate, diploma, MSc and PhD qualifications internationally.
Continuing Professional Development
Our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) scheme is one of the key provisions in our comprehensive range of services to our members. The ICR's definition of CPD is: A structured approach to maintaining, improving and broadening professional knowledge and personal qualities that enables practitioners to advance their professional development and to fulfil their professional, technical and ethical responsibilities throughout their working life.
The scheme was developed in recognition of the reality that, while some employers have excellent personal development programmes in place, many of our members do not get enough support when it comes to planning and implementing their own career goals and ensuring consistently high standards of practice. In addition, the current climate of job insecurity means that members cannot depend on any one employer being able to provide for them throughout their working life.
Our policy on CPD recommends that members demonstrate they have kept themselves informed of current practices and developments appropriate to their role and responsibilities. They have to provide evidence that they continue to maintain their professional competence through systematic improvement and broadening of knowledge and skills, showing CPD commitment.
In addition to CPD, we are firm advocates of the increased use of designatory letters to help employers accurately compare one potential candidate with another. As the clinical research industry develops at a rapid pace across the globe, so does the wide variety of qualifications and accreditations held by the professionals within it.
Registered Member, Professional Member, Fellow and Chartered Scientist
The letters denote the ICR's membership categories; Registered Member (RICR), Professional Member (MICR), Fellow (FICR) and Chartered Scientist (CSci) and represent an invaluable opportunity for members to instantly demonstrate their qualifications and level of expertise.
They provide an excellent recruitment tool for human resources managers and are useful for professionals to proactively demonstrate their expertise. Simply noting "RICR preferred" on a job advertisement instantly conveys the level of candidate required and helps the efficiency of the screening process.
The professionals in this industry have a common desire to excel and are committed to becoming the best they can be. What they do not have in common is documented, objective, instantly recognisable and comparable expertise. With an increasingly global industry and an increasingly diverse workforce, human resource managers are faced with an ever greater variety of candidates and attendant qualifications.
A Registered Member (RICR) holds either a BSc in Life Sciences (or equivalent), a clinical research academic qualification, a nursing qualification or a cognate degree. They must also have at least one year of experience in clinical research, have committed to CPD and must abide by the ICR's Professional Code of Conduct.
A Professional Member (MICR) has similar traits but must have an additional four years experience in clinical research and must provide evidence of commitment to CPD on request. A Fellow (FICR) has all the qualities of an MICR but requires ten years experience in clinical research (minimum five years at senior level), must provide evidence of a minimum of two years of CPD and may be invited for a Professional Interview by peers.
However, by passing the ICR Certificate and Diploma examinations, which are open to all members, an affiliate member could be awarded Registered Membership (RICR) without meeting the other criteria until they applied for Professional Membership (MICR). The certificate exam is also used by companies following an induction programme for new starters or as a formal assessment to follow up learning programmes. The Institute Certification Exam is available for professionals to demonstrate application of their knowledge at a high level.
Chartered Scientist (CSci) membership is for Professional Members (MICR) or Fellows (FICR) who have an MSc or higher degree and are registered on a recognised CPD scheme where evidence can be provided. We also license our training internationally to organisations who share our standards in quality delivery and learning outcomes.
eLearning, Training Seminars, Events and Conferences
ICR around the world
In 2007, a diploma examination candidate in India achieved the highest exam result in the ICR's history and was rewarded with a series of clinical research monographs, a letter of commendation by our Education Manager and complimentary registered membership allowing them to use the letters RICR after their name.
I visited India myself in 2006 to appoint the country manager and was delighted to establish new working relationships with professionals in the country. We drew in 650 new members and arranged to print a version of our journal, CRfocus, in India, including an extra section specifically on India.
We are keen to interact with our members through training seminars, eLearning and most importantly, in person. Our Annual Spring Conference is Europe's largest clinical research event and this year attracted more than 140 exhibitors and 1,200 delegates over the two days. This is not only an excellent way of networking, generating new business leads and meeting other members but perhaps more importantly, allows us to interact with our members in a continuous effort to provide an exceptional service to our membership. We are also involved in recognising clinical research professionals' achievements through industry awards.
Complimenting the success of our Spring Conference, we organise a European Conference, which last year was held in Brussels in November. We know how important working with, and learning from, all our European members is and we are always keen to take advantage of this. The focus of our conference last year was: 'EUROPE - the best place in the world to do clinical research?' and our keynote speaker was the head of sector for the innovative medicines initiative at the European Commission. The 2008 conference will be held later in the year in Budapest.
However, our European activity is not only restricted to our annual conference. We hold forums and training seminars in all major European cities on a range of clinical research subjects, as well as at our headquarters in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire. In fact, we are extending our diary of events, as many are regularly oversubscribed.
To enable us to make even more events available for our members, we moved to a new 9,000ft2 office in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire in October. The new facility boasts a conference suite offering a comfortable training environment for up to 200 delegates with an adjoining area for break-out groups. It also houses a resource centre with our unique collection of clinical research resources providing a pleasant environment for our members to study and keep in touch with their emails during breaks.
At all of our training events and conferences, our information services team has a significant presence, offering face-to-face contact, advice and guidance. They display our full range of clinical research publications which cover topics from 'To be a CRA' and 'To be a CTA' through to 'communication and presentations skills' and 'assertiveness, negotiation and influencing skills'.
Information and advice about our training and eLearning programmes are available too. The eLearning modules are designed to provide a practical and flexible method in which clinical research professionals learn about aspects of clinical trials. The latest modules to be added to our portfolio cover data protection in clinical research in the UK and the EU directive 2005/28/EC.
The modules provide an awareness of issues and prepare for legislation and other requirements, allowing promotion of good practice and supporting standards that have the best interest of patients at heart. Certificated evidence is automatically issued on completion of an eLearning module to illustrate completion of a high quality learning programme.
As well as the training programmes on offer at the ICR, we equally promote sharing knowledge. We operate a range of special interest groups covering areas such as medical devices, clinical pharmacology and, most recently, paediatrics. In the groups are senior members of the ICR, whose valuable industry knowledge is shared amongst newer, less experienced professionals.
By being part of a special interest group, members are able to share their expertise and experiences and we are providing an opportunity to meet other members with similar interests and get involved in projects which may not be offered in the work place. Each group offers training courses, articles for publication, answers to clinical research queries, responses to consultation documents and some produce monograph publications on their area of expertise.
At the 2007 European Conference we also launched our European Advisory Board which will be instrumental in establishing special interest groups across Europe. It comprises an impressive group of members, representing different countries and will drive membership growth and membership activities for each country in Europe.
In short, we want to ensure that members of the ICR have consistent support throughout their career, with education, training, information, networking, conferences, workshops and special interest groups. All the information our members should need can be found on the website www.icr-global.org.
Our members value the support given by the ICR in raising standards, sharing knowledge and developing them throughout their careers.
By Dr John Hooper, CEO, Institute of Clinical Research
John started his career in Atomic Energy, gaining a BSc and becoming a Chartered Electrical Engineer. He moved into Glass Container Manufacture, followed by working in the Drinks and Confectionary industry. He worked for Glaxo Pharmaceuticals for many years, initially as Deputy Company Chief Electrical Engineer, moving into Special Projects for the Managing Director and into Marketing and Sales. During this period he carried out Research for an MSc in Heat Energy Recovery in the Pharmaceutical Industry and a PhD in Energy Management and Marketing in the Pharmaceutical Industry.
Since then, John has worked with a consultancy company throughout Europe and a Utility company through privatisation. He has also been Chief executive of three not for profit organisations, latterly at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). He is on the Examination Board of the Institute of Directors and is on the interview panel for Chartered Directors, having himself become the first Chief Executive of a Charity to achieve this.