After implementation of the new GCP, our hospital was staffed by clinical research coordinators (CRC) to smoothly conduct clinical trials of higher quality. At present, two pharmacists, two dental hygienists, and one nurse are working concurrently as CRCs in our hospital. An unique feature of CRC work at our hospital include 1) dental hygienists working as CRCs, and 2) CRCs of different specialities are coordinated on the same trial and contributing according to their specialties, participation of each clinical trial, one by one. Previously, in our hospital, clinical trials for medications had been allocated to nurse CRCs, while dental hygienist CRCs support for clinical trial of medical devices. However, a dental hygienist have participated as a CRC for the first time in a clinical trial for a medication in 2009, a pharmacist CRC cooperated the clinical trial with the dental hygienist CRC, and this trial was successfully completed. We anticipate that dental hygienist CRCs supporting clinical trials in dental practice will play an indispensable role in smoothly conducting clinical trials with high quality. In this report, we will present the current status of CRC work, which has been accomplished by cooperation with pharmacists and dental hygienists.
