Cancer clinical trials office recruits career opportunities for military-affiliated community
Pictured from left to right: Lauren Wall, Jacob Morris, Jessica Morris, Raven Edgeworth-Smith, Amanda Spratt, and Terrell Odom.
Life after military service is a time of transition for service members and their families. Some of the major challenges include finding a home, moving a family and beginning a new career that matches their skills and experience.
A unique partnership between the U.S. Department of Defense and the University of Chicago connects these individuals with opportunities that ease the transition from active duty to civilian life. The conduit for this partnership is the Office for Military-Affiliated Communities (OMAC), which welcomes, supports and grows the veteran and military-affiliated community at the University of Chicago through resources, events and programming.
One of those programs, The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC) is one of those partners. Odom has been working with UCCCC Clinical Trials Support Office (CTSO), to match qualified SkillBridge interns with positions related to clinical research.
Many veterans, transitioning service members and their spouses have experience in operations and logistics or have served as military medics, medical scribes and medical interpreters. These skills could qualify them for career opportunities within the field of clinical research.
Clinical trials investigate new ways to detect, prevent or treat disease. They are an integral part of all medical research, especially for cancer, a complex group of diseases that require new and improved approaches for prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment. As one of only two cancer centers in Illinois designated by the National Cancer Institute, the UCCCC is a national leader in conducting cancer clinical trials.
“Highly trained and motivated service members' expertise and skills directly translate to the talent we seek in clinical researchers,” Wall said. “To run complex multidisciplinary oncology trials, you need individuals who can perform under pressure, learn new skills and concepts quickly, understand the value of accountability and respect the importance of following procedures and protocol.”
In the short time they have worked together, Odom and Wall identified several talented SkillBridge interns to join the UCCCC clinical research workforce.
A unique partnership between the U.S. Department of Defense and the University of Chicago connects these individuals with opportunities that ease the transition from active duty to civilian life. The conduit for this partnership is the Office for Military-Affiliated Communities (OMAC), which welcomes, supports and grows the veteran and military-affiliated community at the University of Chicago through resources, events and programming.
One of those programs, The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC) is one of those partners. Odom has been working with UCCCC Clinical Trials Support Office (CTSO), to match qualified SkillBridge interns with positions related to clinical research.
Many veterans, transitioning service members and their spouses have experience in operations and logistics or have served as military medics, medical scribes and medical interpreters. These skills could qualify them for career opportunities within the field of clinical research.
Clinical trials investigate new ways to detect, prevent or treat disease. They are an integral part of all medical research, especially for cancer, a complex group of diseases that require new and improved approaches for prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment. As one of only two cancer centers in Illinois designated by the National Cancer Institute, the UCCCC is a national leader in conducting cancer clinical trials.
Clinical Trials Support Office
The CTSO provides the infrastructure to support the activation and ongoing oversight of cancer clinical trials at UChicago Medicine. Through centralized services, the CTSO provides support for regulatory, clinical research operations, data management, staff supervision and training, financial management, safety event reporting and ongoing training and education for clinical researchers. Most importantly, their primary responsibility is to protect the rights, safety and welfare of patients who consent to a clinical trial.“Highly trained and motivated service members' expertise and skills directly translate to the talent we seek in clinical researchers,” Wall said. “To run complex multidisciplinary oncology trials, you need individuals who can perform under pressure, learn new skills and concepts quickly, understand the value of accountability and respect the importance of following procedures and protocol.”
In the short time they have worked together, Odom and Wall identified several talented SkillBridge interns to join the UCCCC clinical research workforce.
Real-Life Examples
U.S. Army veteran Jacob Morris and his wife, Jessica, are both building up clinical research experience in the CTSO as a clinical research coordinator and data entry manager, respectively.
In addition, Morris is pursuing his educational goals as a