Cutting the red tape for clinical pharmacology internships

'A hospital internship is part of the clinical pharmacology training programme,' says Director of Education Dr Jeroen van Smeden. 'For our researchers, it is instructive to see how the drugs they develop are used in practice. And the doctors among our Clinical Scientists often want to continue their training as medical specialists after they finish their PhDs. For them, it is extra relevant to see how clinical pharmacology can be applied in actual clinical situations.'

Until now, however, a clinical internship often meant a lot of red tape. A formal background check had to be done for each new internship, and each time, an account had to be requested again to be able to access confidential patient data. This has now been greatly simplified. During the whole period of their training as clinical pharmacologists, CHDR staff at LUMC receive a zero-hour contract in the LUMC Clinical Pharmacology department. A similar arrangement has been made with the HAGA hospital, explains Van Smeden: ‘The hospital provides dedicated supervisors who guide our trainees, as well as administrative staff who arrange all documents and access permissions. This saves all of us unnecessary work. And even more importantly, it shows once again the strength of the collaboration with our partners in the region.'