Crafting Successful Relationships with the IRB

Medical educational researchers face frustration with IRBs for activities that formerly were exempt from review or were not treated as biomedical research with patients. The authors sought to identify methods for improving relationships between IRBs and medical education researchers.

The authors conducted interviews with medical school representatives about factors leading to relationships in which all parties feel that their concerns are being met, subjects are appropriately protected, and that the progress of evaluation or research activities is not unnecessarily inhibited.

Successful relationships require efforts at education of the IRB and the researchers. All institutions acknowledged the need to establish and maintain good communication. Some schools developed structures or procedures that resulted in more rapid review and increased satisfaction that interests of all parties were protected.

A relationship must be crafted between medical education researchers and the IRB. The authors found key elements to successful approaches.