Many people aspiring to work or already within the clinical research industry have dealt at least once in their careers with a similar problem: inability to secure a much needed ICH-GCP training course for themselves. The reasons might be numerous but most often they boil down to 2 basic ones:

1. The training provided by the employer is not convenient in terms of time and/or location. It is kind of tough to satisfy the schedules of, say, a hundred people, right?

2. The training is often quite expensive and presents a logistical challenge to organize, so it is often scarcely scattered in timelines, maybe even limited to once per year.

3. There is no employer to provide training, in the first place, in the case of university graduates, for example.

This is only true with traditional classroom-based Good Clinical Practice courses, of course. Undeniably, technological developments in recent years, combined with the afore-mentioned pronounced shortcomings of the traditional training approach, have continuously opened the doors for online learning in clinical research. In fact, online training, education, and certification tools have gained significant popularity, especially over the past 2-3 years and this is just as true when it comes to Good Clinical Practice. Online GCP learning tools have been providing their increasing contribution to improving clinical research standards, while in the process gaining increasing exposure.

Unfortunately, the image of online training has not always been painted as a positive one. Simply put, some people have been suspicious of the unknown or unorthodox and online training is still not the norm – classroom is. Thus, many clinical research professionals worldwide have been reluctant to try an alternative to the norm, even when they have been confronted with any of the traditional issues described in the beginning. Consequently, similar attitudes have sometimes manifested themselves as part of corporate thinking.

Common concerns with online courses in general have been related to data security, compliance, and of course, the lack of live instruction as means of ensuring understanding of the material. At the same time, some traditional weaknesses have been commonly overlooked. For instance, classroom-based training often enough includes no examination and, thus, no way to check individually the level of newly acquired knowledge about the basic principles and guidelines of ICH-GCP. This is especially true in cases where large numbers of staff need to go through the training in a matter of a couple of days.

So what exactly is online Good Clinical Practice training and how does it compare to classroom-based one? Is it panacea or just a trick? Neither, really. It is an approach to ICH-GCP training, which reflects and is set to satisfy today’s and tomorrow’s realities, namely, the desire to get more done for less time and, preferably, for less money.

Online GCP training is designed to be used both as main and auxiliary training and certification tool. Online training does not exclude classroom training and in fact, often facilitates the latter in at least a couple of ways: first, it allows professionals who have not been able to attend live training to not be ignored; second, it provides a time- and cost-efficient option for a refresher, which is recommended to take place every 2 years.

Online ICH-GCP training is accessible, flexible, and comprehensive. Last but not least, it often bears an institutional endorsement, which only adds to its worth. One only needs to have a computer, some access to Internet, and good will, in order to complete such GCP course. All other details, such as time and space restraints, learning approach, and learning curve are up to one’s abilities and preferences. This is regardless of whether one is a single individual or a member of a body, whose staff is required to be trained and certified. However, the above-described liberal approach does not take away from accountability, especially in the second case. A specially designed software set, often designated as administration tools, takes care of the issue. It allows for a broad scope of measurable data to be accessed by one or more designated people and progress reports to be generated, as well as exhaustive statistics to be kept in a convenient format. Encryption of connection and data confidentiality are also part of the online course’s priorities, too.

All in all, many online ICH-GCP training programs have arguably reached the point where they are just as good an option as classroom instruction. In order for true change to take place, however, another change needs to take place first: one in thinking. At this point people are the ones who limit the possibilities online clinical research tools, and GCP training in specific, present. If people give online training a chance, the realization of its genuine potential is imminent.