Case study: Sharing best practice from our registered Clinical Research Practitioner (CRP) community

We’re proud to be growing our community of registered CRPs across the West of England, and as more continue to work towards registration, our registered CRPs shared their top tips for the accreditation process and advice for anyone considering registering:

“My advice would be to not overthink it as I initially did! It may seem like a lot of paperwork at first, but if you break it down it’s very achievable. I would also recommend that you try not to get overwhelmed about the reflective pieces. Speaking with colleagues you work closely with is really helpful for this. We have done this at Royal United Hospitals Bath, and we have been able to come up with examples for each other that we may have forgotten about or thought weren't relevant. Additionally, the Academy for Healthcare Science National drop in meetings are a great resource if you have any specific questions about the process.” - Vicky Page, Clinical Research Practitioner, Royal United Hospitals Bath

“The documents around application have a number of ways that you can demonstrate your practice, which can be overwhelming. When writing your accreditation, try to choose a handful of these to focus on which are most relevant to your practice and separate them from the documentation. 

In my experience, you can very easily tie in completing the accreditation documents with your regular meetings around appraisal and personal development. Have a conversation with your manager about using the CRP registration documentation  as the format and direction for your meetings. Use those meetings to make notes on your experiences and set development targets. Before long you’ll have a complete application!” - Andrew Harris, Clinical Research Practitioner, CRN West of England 

“It’s all in the preparation! Particularly when it comes to your reflective pieces, gathering examples of your practice you want to use and spending some time familiarising yourself with a reflective model before you begin writing makes that reflective process much easier to get down on paper  in my experience! I’d also say be sure to utilise all the resources available to you - there are national drop in sessions, local reflective writing workshops, example portfolio pieces, FAQs and so much more available via the Academy for Healthcare Science and the Clinical Research Network West of England.” Zoe Lampshire, Senior Clinical Research Practitioner and CRN WE CRP Engagement Lead, CRN West of England

If you’re a Clinical Research Practitioner looking to join the Accredited CRP Register, or a Manager looking to support CRPs in your teams, get in touch with our CRP Engagement Lead and Workforce Development Lead to see how we can help.