At Wake Urological Associates, we are always looking for better ways to treat our patients. We accomplish this through clinical trials (also called medical research and research studies) and physician education. Clinical trials are used to determine whether new drugs or treatments are both safe and effective. Carefully conducted clinical trials are the fastest and safest way to find treatments that work in people.

Why participate in a clinical trial?

By participating in clinical trials, patients can:

• Play a more active role in their health care
• Gain access to new research treatments before they are widely available
• Help others by contributing to medical research

There are three phases to clinical trials

Ongoing

These are trials that are underway and no longer recruiting new participants.

Screening

In this phase, potential participants are interviewed to determine if they meet the criteria of the proposed clinical trial. Potential study patient's health histories are collected and reviewed to identify subjects for the study and to make sure that the study is appropriate for them. This screening involves a thorough interview with the patient, study coordinator and doctor and allows the patient time to ask questions pertaining to the study and gain information as to what is expected of them throughout the study as well as the study team's responsibilities.

Start-up Phase

At this stage the clinical trial team is organizing the study, working closely with the sponsor to assure that the protocol is acceptable and recruiting potential participants.