192 Research Essentials Playbook: A bootcamp for new research staff

Objectives/Goals: The UIC Center for Clinical and Translational Science offers a robust training infrastructure for research staff including a certificate that can be completed in ~18 months. New staff, however, needed a concentrated experience with hands-on training and institution-specific content. We developed an in-person bootcamp in response. Methods/Study Population: Research Essentials Playbook was a 1.5 day bootcamp-style workshop targeting research staff with up to 2 years of experience at UIC. Topics were based on stakeholder input and the ACRP Entry Level CRC Competency Development and Assessment Roadmap divided into Day 1 in the morning: Didactic sessions (e.g., Project management, safety and ethics, and promoting respect for participants); Day 1 in the afternoon: choice of two hands-on sessions (e.g., clinical research lab, informed consent – practical skills, recruiting participants made easy); Day 2 in the morning: UIC-specific policies. Before and after the workshop, participants indicated their agreement with the statements “I am confident in my knowledge, skills and abilities as a research staff at UIC.” and “I feel like a part of UIC research community.” Results/Anticipated Results: 38 people registered and 34 attended at least one day. Participants were primarily from the College of Medicine but represented all health colleges. 20 participants had 0-2 years of experience at UIC; 6 people had 3–5 years of experience at UIC, 6 people had 5–10 years of experience at UIC, and 6 people had 10+ years of experience at UIC. While most participants had job titles that are typically associated with research staff, 5 participants held faculty titles. After the workshop, in response to the questions about confidence and belonging, respectively, 94% and 88% of participants agreed or strongly agreed, 89% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the hands-on sessions were helpful, and 100% agreed the content was relevant to their job responsibilities and the workshops fulfilled their expectations. Discussion/Significance of Impact: This in-person bootcamp succeeded at its training and community-building goals and helped us identify candidates for a new Research Coordinator Mentorship program. Research Essentials Playbook will be offered at least once a year for newly hired staff and adapted for inclusion in new faculty orientation and onboarding activities.