Student 1

After experiencing the research conference, the first thing that came to my mind was how incredible it was for us community college students to have access to these very high-profile speakers from such immense institutions and companies. Though I did have a favorite speaker and I will highlight her later, each leader who spoke truly brought with them a plethora of knowledge and experience in research and made it understandable and palatable for the students.

A few takeaways that I gleaned from the conference:

• Laurie Kilpatrick from Temple provided an excellent understanding of how research works at her institution, and she specifically talked about how Diversity at Temple is paramount and that they are striving towards more equitable research doers and research participants alike.
• Dr. Martin Edelman provided a bit of comic relief and kept us engaged by going over his accomplishments so that we could see how one can live out the tenants of getting into and doing good research.
• Jennifer Sheller from Merck gave us a tangible understanding of what job opportunities are available at a company like Merck, and specifically highlighted their program (Early Talent Rotational Program) that assists new graduates who have not done research yet get into the research career.

I could highlight a great part of each presenter’s time (including Yvonne’s because how cool is it that a current student is doing big-time research at Penn!?), but my favorite speaker was early in the morning from Kathleen O’Malley from Jefferson.  Likely one of the top reasons I connected with her the best was because she is a nurse.  I want to be a nurse.  And she was able to provide a glimpse into the life of someone who can be a nurse and do excellent research. She also provided an extremely clear and helpful guide on the various jobs that robust research demands, what their duties are, what kind of education you need to fill them, and which ones are available currently.  Each presenter talked about what research is and how good research is conducted, but Kathleen’s approach to make it as accessible as possible to students who may have never done an experiment yet was invaluable.  Her passion for her job was also very evident, and it affected me.  I can see myself finding a similar path after working as a nurse for a while potentially. Overall, this conference was a treasure to CCP, and I hope that the speakers enjoyed it and thought it was worth their time to come back to campus and do it again next year. It is this type of accessibility that really opens up doors for students who would not be able to get this type of exposure any other way.

Student 2

The conference was such a great learning experience. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and am so glad that I was able to be a part of it. I am extremely grateful to have been in the presence of such great inspirational people. Overall, I think that all the speakers provided valuable information. Lisa Kim was a great speaker and I enjoyed how she shared her journey navigating her work life while also balancing her family. As a woman it is often hard to navigate work/family life balance. I also really enjoyed hearing that outside of traditional nursing there are opportunities for research nurses, I have never heard of this before. I think that for improvement, if there could be more tables of companies are looking to hire. Otherwise, I think overall the event was such a success. I cannot wait to attend next year and hopefully it can be a two-day event as this grows.

Student 3

The conference was an eye-opening opportunity for me because I was able to learn about the various aspects of clinical trials. I discovered that there is not one but a lot of diverse ways of researching that help with daily living. I was so fascinated about how long it takes to conduct research, conclude, and get it approved by FDA. It makes me appreciate the effort of the scientists that produced the vaccine for Covid 19 in just a little time. It seems like it will be exciting to learn ways to be of help to people in the lab by providing them with a vaccine and sending their tissue sample to the lab to create a specific treatment for their condition.   I was interested in the presentation given by Jennifer Sheller from Merck Global Clinical Trials Operations. I also enjoyed learning more about the history of clinical trials, jobs and internships that are available in all different associations. I have always wondered why we have no permanent cure for cancer and other lifelong illnesses but during the conference I realize that it takes challenging experiments and an exceedingly long time for researchers to create one treatment and that makes me appreciate their efforts and commitment.   I enjoyed every part of it, thank Dr. Razmara very much for creating such a wonderful learning opportunity for us.

Student 4

My overall thoughts of the conference were nothing but positive. I learned so much and received a lot of valuable information. A general message that I got from most speakers' speeches was that patient participation could use more diversity. A lot of research requires specific target groups for the test they do and medication they give. So, it's hard for them to find participants who are diverse because not many people are aware of the many benefits the trial researches have in health care. I also learned that when creating a new medicine, the process can take up to 10-15 years and costing round 1-2.6 billion dollars. A specific speaker that I enjoyed listening to was Dr. Martin Edelman. His topic on clinical research for lung cancer was really fascinating. I was surprised when he stated how women in the Asian community have almost a 30% higher chance of having lung cancer and they haven't figured out why. I also enjoyed Yvonne Balgenorth's speech because she talked about Alzheimer’s disease and how every 65 seconds someone is diagnosed and it’s only going to gradually get worse, so that’s why she performs the research she does. She seemed very passionate about her career and had a sweet and kind vibe, I think it’s great we had a former student from the college speak and show how far she has come, it gives us student more motivation!

Student 5

First off, I’d like to say thank Dr. Razmara for giving us the opportunity to attend the Clinical Research conference. It was quite interesting to listen to such a high caliber of professionals from all different companies and divisions in clinical research talk about their experiences within the field.

As a full-time working mother, I found it quite helpful to listen to Lisa Palladio Kim map out her journey of how she “fell into” clinical research. She talked about things like the importance of family and balance and how clinical research allowed her to find that medium. She was able to take her career overseas to Korea which shows just how versatile clinical research is. I also really appreciated her rawness in telling the women in the audience to make sure they negotiate their salaries. She wasn’t afraid to touch on that subject and encourage women to advocate for themselves within the field.

Our study group was able to connect with Kathleen O’Malley from Jefferson during one of the breaks and she was so helpful and encouraging. We let her know that we are all getting into nursing and she said she’d be a point of contact for us if we wanted to learn more or talk through how to get into clinical research while also being an RN (like she did). Lastly, I remember when I was little my parents always used to involve me in different research studies. At the time, I was rewarded with a Barbie or $20! The life of a kid, right? It was a fun thing to do for me as a child, but as a parent sitting through the conference on Friday, I realize just how important those studies were that my parents were involving us in. I also realize just how important it is to have a diverse group of participants in the study to yield results that can be applied to the general public. Fast forward a few decades and I still find myself participating in clinical research. I donated my placenta at HUP for research when I had my daughter 5 years ago and I also took part in a study that focused on the bacteria in the gut of pregnant women. I certainly plan to involve my kids in future studies as they are vital to the quality of our health/health care system in the future.

Thanks Dr. Razmara again for putting the conference together and opening the door to clinical research to so many. It was such a great experience. I appreciate her time.

Student 6

I thought the Conference was very interesting. I find that clinical trials are put through processes and require many years of resources and energy. The speakers were really great and offered useful information and advice not just for the clinical trial aspect but for us to apply in our everyday lives. I was very drawn to the speaker Lisa Palladino because she was very honest. I like how she was able to be relatable to and she did not allow her family life to interfere with her advancements in her career. I liked when the last speaker said to treat our classes as a long-term job interview. I will consider attending another conference if the opportunity presents itself again.

Student 7

After attending to the conference, I have learned something that I never knew before. As I remember there was a speaker from UPenn, she mentioned that if you are a nurse, you can still work in clinical research environment and be a clinical research nurse. It really opens more opportunities for a lot of people, and also my career path. I also learn that many vaccines and medical that have been tested many times in the lab before we use it. I was impressed about the speaker from Drexel that talked about the lung cancer, even though I have not understood it clearly, but it really opens my eyes that how clinical research can do. My favorite speaker was the one that from Rutgers, I love her story about going to Korea, and learning the culture and adopt that culture. I remember she said that she had met a lot of people from over the world in a conference that she attended in Busan, Korea.

Student 8

The clinical trial was very informative. Since I was present primarily throughout the morning part, I would mention what I learned from the trial. In the first half, there were booths where different universities, such as Temple, Jefferson, and Merck gave more information on their programs. The papers were informative, and they had cool pens and water bottles. Although I initially did not know much about clinical research, this presentation gave me a better understanding of what they do. The presentations gave information on getting into clinical research. The analogy that stood out to me was when Jefferson used the Eagles analogy throughout the presentation. This means that each role in clinical research requires many positions to succeed in their jobs. A team is necessary for clinical research. This team usually involves a leader, defender, offender, coach, etc. Throughout the presentation, they explained that they initially hired students and interns for these positions. These students would only last a short time and leave after a few years. They have been working on improving this system because they want students or graduates to work there long-term. Interestingly, they did not require higher education, such as a bachelor's or master's degree. This is an excellent opportunity to keep in mind. It was a great opportunity for Jefferson and Temple to have ready-to-work programs to better prepare students for their careers in clinical research. This is something I will keep in mind for the future. Throughout the presentations, they explained that most clinical research participants are white young men and pointed out how crucial it is to have a diverse community in clinical research. Each race or ethnicity has other necessities to better their clinical study. I've never thought about it this way. This clinical trial was not exactly what I expected, but it gave me more insight and great opportunities in this career field.

Student 9

The conference was a nice opportunity to hear some amazing speakers. One speech that stood out to me was from Dr. Robert Sterling; I thought he had a great energy! After hearing other speakers talk about what a career in clinical trial research looks like, it was refreshing to learn about the factors of a successful trial. He explained generalizability and measuring clinical trial result’s application to a broader population. He also made points about internal and external validity, which I thought was most interesting. He said (my memory is blurry, so you can correct me if I’m wrong) that certain studies that are internally valid with strong and specific results yet lack external validity where it generalizes to a bigger picture can still be useful. He even pointed out that it seemed contradictory to what he first said about generalizability. For that reason, his speech stood out to me. If there are any repeat guest speakers next year, I think Dr. Sterling should definitely be one of them. I also thought Mrs. Lisa Palladino Kim’s story included valuable advice. Once again, thank you for hosting this wonderful conference and I hope that more students get to experience it!

Student 10

On 3/31/23 I had the privilege of volunteering for CCP Clinical Trial Conference. Initially, I had no idea of what to expect from the clinical trial as I had never attended any Clinical Conference before. I had no expectations only hopes to learn something new. There were several vendors representing Jefferson University Hospital, Temple University and Hospital, Merck, Drexel University, Rutgers University, and HUP. I will share some of interesting facts that I learned from the conference in this paper. The first presenter Kathleen O’Malley from Jefferson University Hospital was one of my favorite presenters. I had no prior knowledge of the clinical steps that new medicine must pass before its transition into the clinical market. She discussed the variant processes of the medicine from being passed by the Food and Drug Administration, Research process and time frame as well as the final cost of the medicine; ranging from 2-5 Billion dollars. Dr. Sterling presented from Drexel University. The topic of his presentation: Generalizability and the Importance of Clinical Trials. This presentation grabbed my attention as former Graduate student, I always wondered why the population and generalizability of research trials were very limited. They were usually contained to a very small area, with no cultural variance. I often wondered if other variables were explored in clinical trials would the results be the same. I also questioned generalizability of many researchers thinking how can the data be accurate if we generalize every variable? Honestly, I thought that the populations choose were convenient to the researcher and according to Dr. Sterling ‘s transparency he agreed. The last presentation that I found very informative was Lisa Palladino from Rutgers. Her presentation focused on how to establish your career from entry level to management, work life balance, negotiating your worth, and learning from mentors. This presentation focused on many areas that I could relate to as a woman. Her presentation was very transparent by using her own life as a template to use for future success. Her ability to re-invent herself in her career and develop a program that creates additional jobs was very impressive. Overall, I enjoyed the Clinical Trial. I was able to sit as a volunteer/student and obtain information about Clinical Trails from employment opportunities as a future nurse, clinical research barriers, and learning tips on re-inventing my career.

Student 11

First, I want to say thank Dr. Razmara for the conference; it was great. There was a lot of valuable information during the conference, but unfortunately, I only memorized those that were interesting to me. The first thing I remember hearing about was the first clinical trial that was recorded in the Bible, which was something about the comparison of diet. The second thing I could remember is from my favorite speaker, Lisa, which was Lisa, who said that it takes quite some time to get a new drug out on the market to be used because there will be much testing, and a lot of money will be spent on that specific drug. The number of years that it may take is from 9 to 15 years. Also, she said something about Covid-19 which I never knew before. Lisa said that Covid-19 was already out there, and they were already working on the treatment for it to get it out as soon as possible, hence that is why they were able to come out with the vaccines that quickly during the pandemic. Obviously, there was a lot of other information, but these are the ones I could explain in my own words.

Student 12

I would like to start off by thanking Dr. Razmara for giving us the opportunity to attend such a high-quality and particularly important conference. This conference brought to my attention the dire need for more medical professionals in the clinical trial research field.  

One of the best speakers I believe was Kathleen O’Malley. She made it easy to understand the rest of the conference due to her thorough explanation of Clinical trial research. She came to us during one of the breaks to lend her hand to any one of the students if we ever had a question about her presentation or any further information about clinical trial research and gave us her email. I also enjoyed Robert C. Sterling, mostly for being interactive with the audience. He made it clear of real-life examples where clinical trial research would be monument for finding medical breakthroughs and confirming that they happened across multiple sources. 

I personally feel as though I am more well versed in understanding what clinical trial research is and now, I am aware of a different path I can take to start my nursing career If need be. I am very task-oriented and organized, and I will have something to offer to this field later.  

Overall, I did enjoy the conference. If I had to suggest, it would probably get the audience more involved with the guest speakers somehow. There could be more interaction, and with more interaction, there is more learning.

Student 13

I am encouraged that the need for the once singled out races and sections of peoples are being carefully considered in order to make things safer to their benefit. I was very excited to take back what I learned to the young and those who may want to change their professions in my life. I hope the positive change they seek, especially in the community and in the sections of Philly that I hold dear.

Student 14

At the clinical trials conference, I was given the opportunity to make connections and gain valuable information about those who are in the researching field. I was unaware at how many opportunities there are in the research field and how much goes into successfully running research. One thing that was mentioned at the clinical trial that really stuck with me is making connections. It was constantly mentioned throughout each speech that making connections is important to success in any field. I think hearing from the student speaker impacted me the most. Being able to see someone who is in the same position as I succeed and work in a field where I thought you needed to have many degrees was very motivating for me. From the clinical trial, I applied for a job at Jefferson to conduct trials on patients in emergency care. I was also able to reach out to the director at Fox Chase Cancer Center for an internship opportunity. I recently submitted my application to Jefferson University and am still currently waiting to hear back from them about an interview. Without the conference I would not have had these amazing opportunities. In my opinion, the conference was a success, and I am hoping there will be more opportunities like this in my future at CCP.

Student 15

During the Clinical Research Trials conference, I was able to gain more knowledge about the profession. Personally, I don’t believe I would be interested in a career in clinical research. However, I understand how interesting and rewarding the field can be. The other attendees and I heard from different speakers from various universities and organizations. They informed us on topics such as the purpose of clinical research, phases of clinical trials, skills that compose a successful clinal researcher, and the wide range of jobs available in the field. We heard from a CCP student who was already working as a clinical researcher. She detailed her day-to-day tasks and informed us about her journey to further her education and career. There were a few “fun facts” I learned throughout the conference. One fun fact I learned was that there are workforce development programs offered for newly grad students to gain experience and improve skills. I found this very helpful because typically employers look for people who have been working in the field for a certain amount of time and this can be difficult for people who recently graduated school and need to gain experience. I will look for similar opportunities post-graduation as I feel this would be very useful in my transition from classroom to hospital. Overall, I found the conference very interesting and extremely useful for people pursuing a career in clinical research.

Student 16

Overall, the conference was very informative, offering a wide range of speakers from very diverse backgrounds. To have such a conference open to undergraduate students is truly remarkable and has opened my eyes to another possibility in the extensiveness of options within the healthcare and science fields. Keynote speaker Kathleen O'Malley's presentation stood out to me as a prospective nursing student. It was interesting to hear how about her career as a nurse in the healthcare system and the way she branched off into clinical research seamlessly, making her career more colorful. Another speaker that stood out to me was Associate Vice President of Merck Global Clinical Trial Operations Jennifer Sheller and her work with Moderna on mRNA cancer vaccinations. I found this very interesting as it pertains to our biology course and her explanation on how these vaccines work was very accessible to the non-professional.

Student 17

I had an opportunity to attend the CCP Clinical Trial Conference. The purpose of this conference was to talk about the importance of clinical trials and the training needed to operate in the clinical research industry. Many high speakers from different universities, including Thomas Jefferson University, UPENN, Merch, and Temple University, spoke at the conference. This report aims to summarize the key points discussed at the conference and my experience volunteering at the event.

There were discussions focused on job opportunities in the field of clinical trials. The speakers discussed various roles, including clinical research coordinators, clinical research associates, and data managers. They also talked about the job outlook in the field and the growing demand for skilled professionals. They also talked about the drug development process.

As a volunteer, I got the chance to help with seating arrangements and the distribution of informational leaflets.

Overall, attending this conference was a terrific experience that taught me a lot about the importance of clinical trials and the qualifications needed to work in this profession. I also valued the chance to network with industry experts and learn useful information about the job market. The CCP Clinical Trial Conference was a huge success. High-level speakers from a range of universities discussed their perspectives and experiences while highlighting the value of clinical trials for the development of medicine. The discussions on education and job opportunities provided valuable information to those interested in pursuing a career in this field. I am grateful for the opportunity that was given to us.

Student 18

The conference about the clinical trial research was very helpful and full of relevant information. There was spoken about topics like where clinical research usually takes place, what the research team includes, responsibilities that they carry, why diversity matters in this field, Bioresearch Monitoring Division in Philadelphia, and many others. It was very interesting to learn about the different career opportunities you can find in clinical research as well. Overall, they are all meant to improve health and advance patient care. The different types of clinical research that I learnt about were Prevention Research, Screening Research, Quality of Life Research, Diagnostic Research, Epidemiological studies, and Genetic studies. The one that I was interested in the most was the Quality-of-Life Research.  First, this type of a trial explores ways to improve comfort and the quality of life for individuals with a chronic illness. Second, I’m always for people to live the healthiest lives. I would love to explore what ways there are to offer to people so that they can start applying them in their lives to improve their health. Because I’m sure that people do not know much how they can do it and you need to dig deep to get the right information. Also, there are many misconceptions: different people say different ideas and assumptions. But when you’re an expert in this matter and can offer your help to a person, I’m sure it will always be effective. Another topic that caught my attention was about clinical research professionals. Before this conference, when I heard about clinical research, there would be only one profession come on my mind: a general clinical research expert. But I found out that there are so many different positions out there that can be a great fit for a person if he is interested in one. There are clinical research coordinators, as well as regulatory specialists who maintain and submit strategies and reports, data managers whose responsibility is to do a database design, as well as project and program managers who are involved in it, etc. In conclusion, the goal of any position in a clinical trial research is to advance knowledge and improve health through patient care and research. It’s also a highly regulated field where the rights are protected as well as the safety of the people participating in research. This is a place where you can expand your knowledge and apply it in a particular field of research.

Student 19

First, I would like to say "Thank Dr. Razmara So Much" for this opportunity that she has worked very hard to make this amazing conference happen. And I am so appreciated that you give me a best chance to be a volunteer for this event. 

It was a very informative conference speech. I love all the speakers. Each of them has showed and explained how the clinical research work and they have guided students how to get involved with the clinical research. So, this way all students, including me, are able to gain more experience. I was surprised to know that it takes 15 years to develop new medicine. For the career fair, each university has their unique information that helps me to think about the jobs and in the future, I might be interested in doing the clinical research. Thus, this conference speech was great and incredible.

Student 20

Upon entering the building where the Clinical Trials Research Conference took place, you are immediately met with a person right by the security desk ready to welcome and guide you towards the event. All confusion was avoided as you would encounter another guide and tables with representatives from each institution that attended. Past the tables, elegant classical music soothes your ears amongst the mellow conversations deriving from the guests as we wait for the conference to begin. We are accompanied by a sheet of paper listed with a schedule of the times each speaker will present. This organization allowed for smooth navigation throughout the day. We are first introduced and welcomed to the event by Dr. Marjaneh Razmara followed by our Community College of Philadelphia leaders. Representatives from Thomas Jefferson University, University of Pennsylvania, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Merck Global Clinical Trials Operations, Temple University, Drexel University, and Rutgers University, each took their time to explain their current professions and their experiences within a clinical research trial. Although the definitions were repeated, this allowed for a well-rounded comprehension of what takes place within the research that occurs behind the scenes of our daily lives. Further down the line of speakers, we were met with breaks that included a great variety of refreshments and lunch options. As though the breaks were perfectly placed between each presentation. The courtesy of remembering our comfortability throughout was clearly taken into consideration in this aspect. As for my favorite speaker, I would have to go with Robert C. Sterling from Drexel University. He has such an easygoing personality that made him very approachable. His presentations were more interactive in comparison to the others, and he was able to keep the audience engaged as the hours went by. Speaking of the hours, I would say that the length of the conference could have been shorter or had each speaker brought something different to the table. Hearing repeated information lost some attention and that consequently led to a smaller and smaller audience. By the time the questionnaire panel came around, not only the audience but the speakers seemed drained. Other than that, everything was well thought out—enough to believe that this was not the first occurrence of a Clinical Research Conference.

Student 21

The Clinical Trial Research Conference was an invaluable resource for students and faculty alike. The guest speakers provided firsthand accounts of their experience and insight in the field of clinical research and opened the doors to the details of their work. The conference exposed students and faculty to a world of professionalism that they might not normally get to experience as well as open interaction with the people advancing the field further each day. I really enjoyed the conference, from the very beginning the scene filled the halls with a professional atmosphere that made me wonder if I was still at CCP. Once I found a seat, my anticipation really started to grow as Dr. Shah gave an inspirational prelude to what we were about to experience. As the speaker after speaker took the stage, we learned about the basics of clinical trial research and how it works. We learned about regulatory organizations such as the FDA and the involvement of the IRB in ensuring the research meets all the necessary requirements of the trials. Speakers also went into detail on certain resources such as the NSF and NIH, and explained how different projects receive funding for their research. If I had to choose a favorite speaker, I think it would be Yvonne Balgenorth. Ms. Balgenorth gave us details on her day-to-day experiences as a clinical trial coordinator which seemed to have more raw insight on jobs that we could find ourselves in within a relatively short period of time. It was inspiring to see someone who so recently studied in the same classrooms I find myself in now up on that stage and she made us feel like we could someday be up there too. Aside from Ms. Balgenorth, I think my favorite part of the conference was the panel. It seemed to take away from the formality of the presentations and give the speakers a chance to field questions on the spot. As a Drexel alumnus, I was sorry to miss Dr. Sterling’s speech (I had to step out for my exam) but he did leave us with a valuable message. Dr. Sterling reminded us to “be bold” and to do our research on the research. He mentioned that researchers are always looking for students interested in their work and to find projects that may interest us and simply reach out to the facilitators to express that interest as we just may find ourselves a part in that very project. Overall, this conference was one of the highlights of my CCP career so far and I'm happy to have had the opportunity to join.

Student 22

On March 31st, 2023, a Clinical Trial Conference was held at Community College of Philadelphia on the Main Campus. In terms of organizational endeavor, everything was up to the task and well balanced. All the big-league Universities of the area (Drexel University, Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Jefferson University) and beyond (Rutgers University) were present to deliver a wealth of information in the biological field and allow us, students, to have a glimpse in the “Secrets of the God”. The speakers have defined and elaborated clearly on their respective subjects. Some sensitives subjects and/or questions were aborted such as during the height of the COVID pandemic, why the vaccines were manufactured so quickly? What are the steps to be taken for a new drug to be accepted by the authorities? How is a Clinical Trial conducted? The 4 phases of a Clinical Trial. The Pharmaceutical Company Merck was present as well to offer some opportunities to students. Rutgers, somehow, has proposed the same approach of helping students. From the event, we know that NIH has slotted over thirty billion of dollars for research! Which is encouraging. We know also historically that the largest Clinical Trial ever conducted is the polio vaccine trial. I wish that such events could take place more often and the participation of students more pronounced through questions in concert beforehand with their respective teachers. Who knows? Maybe at one such event, students may be able to present their own biological work. Overall, the Clinical Trial Conference has been a success, we are looking forward to participating in such an event soon.

Student 23

The clinical research conference that I attended at Community College of Philadelphia was truly one of a kind. I was happy to be a part of making this opportunity possible for the 350+ students and guests that were in attendance. The most valuable part of the conference for me was the networking opportunities presented. There were several professionals from across the industry from various institutions including Drexel, Merck, Temple, Rutgers and that’s just to name a few. Something that stood out to me was that the barriers to entry in clinical research careers are relatively low thanks to efforts from across the industry to get underrepresent communities involved in the process. I am fortunate enough to take a class on clinical research sponsored by Merck, so attending the conference solidified my decision to consider clinical research as a career choice. I also enjoyed hearing a former CCP student share her success in working in clinical research. I would imagine this was impactful for many CCP students because it shows that we all have an opportunity to work in this rewarding and interesting career. I hope that there will be more clinical research conferences at Community College of Philadelphia in the future because events like this will help bring awareness to the field, and give people an opportunity they would probably never have otherwise. An interesting point to note is that it is very rare that students on our level are exposed to this, they are usually expensive and limited to more advanced professionals but the conference provide a unique opportunity for us to learn about this early on so that they can truly take the time to consider it as a career. I was also able to find out more information about the different roles someone can take on in clinical research. Becoming a clinical research coordinator is something I am considering because I am getting a nursing degree and it allows me to still develop my skills as a nurse without working in the typical hospital setting.

Student 24

Overall, I really enjoyed the clinical trials conference. It was very informative & actually made me want to pursue a career in clinical trials & research. I always see openings at CHOP for this and didn’t have a clear understanding of what it was. Kathleen O’ Malley’s part was the most interesting to me she really gave me great insight on clinical trials. I didn’t know that for 1 pharmaceutical drug it can take between 10-15 years and cost up to a 2 million dollars. I thought that was actually mind blowing. But it makes sense also enjoyed how she talked about how people really aren’t informed on clinical trials in hospitals and it needs to be talked about more. The part that resonated the most with me was given by Lisa Kim. She really helped me understand that finding a balance is so important and finding who you are. She also gave good insight on how to find out what’s next in your life and to really take chances and not be afraid. Sometime I need to hear this. More often than not because I always get scared of where I’m going when I don’t know or feel like I don’t know. I love that she prioritized her child and her career at all times and wants to continue to grow with what she does. It was amazing to see that. It shows me that there can be a balance when pursuing careers in this field.

Student 25

The clinical research conference was different being as though I never experienced one before, but it was interesting. The conference enlightened me on the different types of research jobs that are in the medical field. Personally, I enjoyed the second speaker (Laura Fluharty) the most because her presentation and delivery was intriguing. Overall, the presentations were great, and I got the opportunity to learn something new from each one. I am glad I was able to experience this conference because I saw how data analysis research works behind the scenes.  I also enjoyed the refreshments. 

Student 26

The Clinical Trail Conference was great, and very well put together. With the vendors explaining what they're trying to do and the research that's being done. As well as the speakers being great, I learned so much from every speaker. With my favorite speaker probably being Dr. Martin Edelman, I loved learning about advancements within oncology and lung research. Overall a great event that I had a lot of fun with. I'll go and recommended the next one for sure.