Patient empowerment in clinical trials

• Josep Vergés highlights the need for patient empowerment in the Master’s Degree in Monitoring and Management of Clinical Trials at the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid.
• An empowered patient is better informed, more autonomous and can better manage his/her pathology.

From left to right: Professor Antonio García, Professor Josep Vergés, Professor Pedro Sánchez and Arturo García, Director of the Teófilo Hernando Foundation Institute, at the headquarters of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology of the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid.

Dr. Josep Vergés, President of the OAFI Foundation, has participated as a lecturer in the Master’s Degree in Monitoring and Management of Clinical Trials at the Autonomous University of Madrid, in which the Teófilo Hernando Foundation Institute actively collaborates. The master’s degree is aimed at graduates or doctors in biomedical careers or degrees (mostly in Pharmacy and Biology) who receive theoretical and practical training in all facets of clinical trials, which will enable them to work as a key agent in the development of a clinical trial in humans.

Specifically, Dr. Vergés has focused on the study of clinical trials in patients with osteoarthritis. During his presentation, he stressed the importance of patients in any research process. “The patient must be at the centre of the osteoarthritis disease, we must empower them and encourage them to actively participate in the care related to their health. We must empower them to participate in clinical decision making, so that they are more informed, more autonomous and better able to manage their condition”.