More than 90 participants attended the first session in the Research 102 series Tuesday hosted by the UTHSC Tennessee Clinical and Translational Science Institute (TN-CTSI) and the Office of Clinical Research Development (OCRD).
Research 102 is a series of six, one-hour lectures designed to address advanced topics related to conducting research. It’s designed for investigators, research staff, coordinators, and individuals eager to learn more about research study management. A previous series was held earlier this year, Research 101, which covered the training basics in research.
Derita Bran, MSN, RN, CCRC, program director for TN-CTSI partnered with Margaret Lynn, LMSW, RDN, CCRP, CIP, director of Clinical Research Development in the Office of Research, to launch the series which has been attended by UT campuses across the state, as well as hospitals and clinics through the city and the medical district.
“The goal for the next six sessions for Research 102 is to provide more advanced information for study conduct and management,” said Lynn. “We are pleased to offer this training which will strengthen the research community in Memphis and the entire state of Tennessee.”
The sessions will all be recorded and available online.
Sally Badoud, MBA, assistant vice chancellor for the UTHSC Office of Communications and Marketing, presented on “Effective Communication, Leadership, and Professionalism,” as part of session one for the series. The content presented was useful not only to researchers, but faculty, staff, and students who want to share information to an audience.
Badoud’s presentation covered the various types of communication, how to select the appropriate one based on audience, and identifying the importance of the relationship between communication, leadership, and professionalism and how they intersect.
“The benefit of communicating effectively is: First, an improved work or learning environment,” Badoud said. “Second, it improves the customer service experience.”
“Good communication and effective communication gets information out correctly the first time,” she said. “It helps build trust and confidence.”
Badoud highlighted the different ways individuals can share information, including word of mouth, email, social media, ads, news articles, banners, billboards, brochures and campus-specific channels, including the Daily Digest, the UTHSC Announcements Page, the Digital Boards, and the UTHSC Events Calendar. Other topics to consider when sharing information, include the message’s call to action, where it will be viewed, how long the message will run, and why the message is needed.
As part of the leadership portion of the presentation, Badoud spoke on the importance of reading the room and paying close attention to body language and social cues, being empathetic, and recognizing the value of relationships in ensuring a message is received correctly.
Badoud discussed “living the brand” and embracing the office culture, while being mindful of activity outside the office or on social media to maintain professionalism.
With the pandemic affecting face-to-face social interaction, Badoud said individuals will have to work against the mentality that communicating face-to-face is not important by utilizing the tools available to them, including Zoom and Microsoft Teams, to maintain connections with employees and colleagues, while working remotely.
Upcoming topics for Research 102 include Confidentiality/Privacy/HIPAA, Subject Recruitment, Advanced Consent Issues, Creating Site Worksheets /Visit Checklists, and FDA Audits and Common Findings. To register or see the full schedule, visit the Research 102 event page.