What is a clinical trial?
One way to earn extra money and help other people is to volunteer for a medical research study. Before a new drug or treatment comes out it must first go through a process of “clinical testing.” These clinical trials make sure that drugs and/or treatments are both safe and effective. Every drug must be tested before it is released to the general public—making clinical trials necessary and important for everyone’s health and well-being.
Depending on the research study you sign up for, you may have to actually have a current medical condition or a specific genetic trait.
You will have to give “informed consent” before beginning a clinical trial. This means that you will be given all of the information, including all risk factors, before you can consent. It is important that you consider all of the risks and benefits before signing up for any medical research study.
Before agreeing to participate you should try to determine what side effects you may experience and how unpleasant they might be. You should also find out exactly what you will be taking and/or what will happen to you. And definitely make sure that you can leave the study if the side effects are too much for you to handle. However, medical research studies vary and medications aren’t always involved. No matter what is involved, make sure you feel comfortable with everything you are going to have to do before you make the commitment to do it.
If you do have a medical condition you should speak to your doctor before agreeing to participate in any medical study. And, it’s very important to be completely honest about your health, past and present (including any illegal drug use) when signing up.
Some clinical trials involve months of visits and tests. You will often work with a research team. Make sure that you can commit all the time the study requires.
Check out this one-page brochure by the US government about joining medical research studies:
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