Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, The Rockefeller University and Weill Cornell Medical College sponsor this annual program in collaboration.

All participants are mandated by either institutional policy and/or federal government mandate to attend. Currently, all first-year graduate students and MD-PhD candidates are required to take this course as a pre-requisite to receiving their degrees. The federal government requires that anyone appointed to NIH funded National Research Service Award Institutional Training Programs (NRSA T32, T34) must complete a course in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) either prior to or during the lifetime of the funding period. If completed elsewhere, there must be documentation available to certify that said completion was for the equivalent course.

Course Goals and Objectives

• Awareness: heighten awareness of trainees to ethical considerations relevant to the conduct of research
• Knowledge: inform trainees of federal, state, and institutional policies, regulations, and procedures
• Skills: provide trainees with critical analysis and problem solving skills for ethical decision-making

Course Components & Criteria

Trainees are required to complete the eight-week online course component and attend three face-to-face sessions. If you have any questions regarding your obligation to participate, please contact your training grant director or advisor.

Blackboard Registration - Creating an ID and Logging On

You must create an ID for the course web site. The instructions below are detailed, but fairly straightforward. Please pay special attention to the last few.

1. Go to http://guestid.cit.cornell.edu/reg/register.cfm
2. To access the GuestID Registration form, you will be prompted to enter the following user name and password (not your own):
   The username is blackboard
   The password is getguestid

Completing the GuestID Registration Form

1. Fill in your first and last name.
2. Your GuestID will be constructed from your name. For example, if your name is John Doe, your GuestID will be "john.doe". Spaces, numbers, and punctuation (except for hyphens) will be removed. So, if your name is "Mary Jane O'Donnell-van Zandt", your GuestID will be "maryjane.odonnell-vanzandt". If your name is John Carter Jr., your GuestID would be "john.carterjr". For this reason, you may want to think about how you enter your name. You'll have the opportunity to modify your name - but not the GuestID - later. [Obviously you'll end up typing this again & again, so be careful that you choose something reasonable.]
3. Enter your email address.
4. Pick a password you'd like to use. You'll need to enter it twice. The password is case-sensitive, and must contain at least 8 characters. It must have at least one upper case letter, one lower case letter, and one number.
5. To facilitate forgotten passwords, enter your birthday (month and day, not year), choose a hint question from the list, and provide your answer to the hint question. You will need this if you forget your password!
6. Select your Blackboard course: MEDRCR-Fall2007A from the list provided. If your course isn't listed, choose "Other."
7. To help prevent unauthorized use of the Registration form, you'll need to enter the characters specified in a graphic. This part is not case-sensitive. Every time the form is displayed, a different graphic appears.
8. Read through the "Terms of Use", and click the "I Agree" button.

What Happens Next

1. After you fill out the form, you will almost immediately receive an email asking you to confirm that you want a GuestID. Click on the link in the email. You'll be taken to a web page where you'll confirm your birthday, and click on "Submit".
2. Then you'll get another email letting you know that your GuestID has been created.
3. Forward this email back to djf2004@med.cornell.edu to confirm that you have your ID and can be added to the course. PLEASE BE SURE TO DO THIS STEP.

Logging on to Begin the Online Course

Step 1	Go to: http://www.blackboard.cornell.edu
Step 2	Click on the Log In button on the upper right of the screen.
Step 3	Enter your information: NetID = GuestID that was assigned to you using the above registration process
Step 4	Password = the one you chose when applying for the GuestID
Step 5	Click OK
Step 6	Step 6 On the welcome screen under My Courses you will see this course listed as: medrcr Fall 2007a: Responsible Conduct of Research
Step 7	Click on it to enter the course
Step 8	Start with Course Information for Navigation Tips, Overview, General Information and Guidelines for Case Analysis

Online Course Work

The course will be accessible beginning September 2, 2007. It is recommended (although not necessary) that you complete one topic per week as per the following schedule:

Week 1: Week of September 4th	Research Misconduct (inc. Whistle
Week 2: Week of September 11th	Data Management
Week 3: Week of September 18th	Use of Animal Subjects
Week 4: Week of September 25th	Use of Human Subjects
Week 5: Week of October 2nd	Conflicts of Interest & Commitment
Week 6: Week of October 9th	Authorship
Week 7: Week of October 16th	Peer Review & Publication
Week 8: Week of October 23rd	Collaboration & Mentoring

You may work in advance to accommodate travel or conflicting schedules, but all course work and assignments must be completed and posted by October 26th in order to receive a certificate of completion at the last session on October 30th. Absolute deadline for submission is Sunday, November 2nd. No submissions will be accepted after that date.

Weekly mini-tests: After completing a topic, go to the Assignments Section. There you will find a corresponding short-answer test for each topic. You can stop and start a test at any point, or retake it if you need to improve your score. You must score at least 7 out of 10 questions correct to "pass" (and passing is mandatory).

You can access a video of an expert offering his or her opinion on the various case studies relating to each topic. These can be found in the Video Presentations Section. We recommend you use QuickTime to view videos. Click here for free download if needed: www.apple.com/quicktime/

On October 30, 2007 trainees will work in small groups to discuss a special case study. The groups will be pre-assigned and online discussion will be encouraged between group members. (Trainees will be notified by email of their group assignment two-three weeks before the final session.) The case study will be available for viewing on the course website along with complete preparation instructions. Trainees will be required to submit a written response to the final POV case study question in advance of the October 30th session. Each group will be assigned a particular Point of View (POV - i.e. Sponsor, Dean, Investigator, Subject, etc.) from which to analyze the case study. During the plenary session, one trainee from each group (each representing a different POV) will be chosen at random to participate in a moderator-led panel discussion.

Evaluation Forms and Certificates: When the course has been completed on October 30, 2007 you will be asked to complete an evaluation form. Once submitted, if all other criteria have been satisfactorily met, a certificate of completion will be granted.

Attendance - Face-to-Face Sessions

There are three mandatory face-to-face sessions: the opening Orientation, a Mid-point Presentation, and the Final POV Plenary. Attendance at all three sessions is REQUIRED in order to receive credit for course completion. Absence due to dire extenuating circumstance may be appealed to the course director/coordinator in writing.

Trainees will be required to sign an attendance sheet at each session.

Dates and Session Topics may be subject to change.

Orientation:
Welcome and Overview: Debra Schaller-Demers, RCR Course Director/Coordinator
Guest Speaker: Dr. Joseph Fins, Chief Medical Ethics, Weill Cornell Medical College
Tuesday, September 4, 2007

4:00-6:00 PM (Check-in starts at 3:30 PM)
Weill Cornell Medical College
Uris Auditorium, 1300 York Avenue, 1st Fl.

Mid-Point Presentation
Guest Speaker: Dr. David Skorton, President, Cornell University
Tuesday, October 2, 2007

4:00-6:00 PM (Check-in starts at 3:30 PM)
Weill Cornell Medical College
Uris Auditorium, 1300 York Avenue, 1st Fl.

Final Point of View (POV) Session:
Panel Moderator, Dr. Barry Coller, Physician-in-Chief, The Rockefeller University
Tuesday, October 30, 2007

4:00-4:30 PM - Small Groups meet
Weill Education Center, rooms A-U
1300 York Avenue, 2nd Floor

4:45-6:00 PM - POV Panel
Weill Cornell Medical College
Uris Auditorium, 1300 York Avenue, 1st Fl.

Refreshments

All pertinent materials, policies, guidelines and instructions will be distributed at the orientation session.

Questions or concerns can be addressed to the course director/coordinator:

Contact

Debra Schaller-Demers
RCR Course Director/Coordinator
Research Integrity Coordinator/Conflicts Manager
Office of Research & Sponsored Programs
Research Integrity Division
Weill Cornell Medical College
1300 York Avenue, Box 6
New York, NY 10065

E-mail: des2010@med.cornell.edu

Telephone: (212) 821-0710
Fax: (212) 821-0702


Problems acquiring a GuestID or logging on - Contact:
Dorean Flores, RCR Course TA
Research Integrity Education/Tech Assistant
Email: djf2004@med.cornell.edu
Telephone: (212) 821-0697
Fax: (212) 821-0683