There was a great interest for the course, with more than 80 participants.
The intention with the course was to increase the understanding of clinical studies and provide insight into how the healthcare sector and pharmaceutical industry can collaborate about the best treatment for patients. In addition, the course demonstrated benefits that doctors/researchers and industry achieve through such a collaboration.
Vice President of Helse Bergen, Clara Gjesdal, opened the course and stated that Helse Bergen will invest in clinical studies. We need infrastructure and clinical studies to create a culture for knowledge-based treatment, which might also help us to recruit the best people to our staff. We are facing enormous healthcare priorities in the years to come. This means that we have to work hard and knowledge-based to be in front with the best treatment for our patients. Clara Gjesdal pointed out that Helse Bergen wants to set a goal for clinical studies and that they are working on a new R&D strategy. The course participants were invited to send good ideas to strategy@helse-bergen.no.
The lecturers represented clinicians doing studies at the hospital, regulatory organizations, industry, research administration and various support functions for research and innovation. The presentations were all of great quality, and feedback obtained by a course evaluation showed that the course met the participants’ expectations.
Good care for patients
Engagement in clinical studies provides health professionals with experience, in addition to systematic training in the use of new medications and techniques on how to use new equipment. Chief physician Hans Petter Eikesdal summed up the day and emphasized that new knowledge acquired first and foremost should result in good care for the patients. Being able to offer new and promising treatment is essential. This will force us to apply new and academic thinking in patient treatment and to create improvements in health care.
The participants were encouraged to ask questions during the course and a number of people took advantage of this opportunity. There exists a need for more courses and network meetings in line with this topic Biomedical Network will continue its efforts to increase knowledge of clinical studies and create an even better interaction between academia, clinical researchers, industry, healthcare providers, regulatory organizations and various support functions.
All presentations from the course on clinical studies can be found here.
The next meeting in Biomedical Network will be 29th of May, where we will present experience and challenges and take a closer look at the values clinical studies represents. More information about the next event can be found here.
About Biomedical Network
Biomedical Network is a network collaboration between Haukeland University Hospital, University of Bergen, Legemiddelindustriforeningen (LMI) and Bergen Teknologioverføring (BTO). The network aims to become a common platform for innovation and project development across academic and between public and private actors, supported by the Norwegian Research Council. Read more about Biomedical Network here.