The medical device industry has been experiencing continuous market growth, leading to an increasing number of clinical trials for medical devices. Clinical trials inherently involve risks that may not have been fully identified, as they are conducted...
The medical device industry has been experiencing continuous market growth, leading to an increasing number of clinical trials for medical devices. Clinical trials inherently involve risks that may not have been fully identified, as they are conducted on human subjects before the safety and efficacy of the devices are fully established. Therefore, clinical trial personnel must receive appropriate qualifications, education, and training. However, unlike pharmaceutical clinical trials and in vitro diagnostic(IVD) device clinical performance studies, which specify annual personnel education hours and content, there are no legal requirements for personnel education involved in medical device clinical trials, leading to ambiguity in training standards.
Accordingly, this study explored the necessity of medical device clinical trial personnel education and, using the Delphi technique, aimed to establish a standard education model for the curriculum on how to conduct the training and what to cover if medical device clinical trial personnel training is provided. Twenty people who are currently Institutional Review Board (IRB) administrators and clinical trial institution training managers at 77 medical device clinical trial high-frequency conducting institutions announced by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) in 2023 and have completed training for pharmaceutical clinical trial personnel or IVD study personnel education were selected and conducted three Delphi surveys.
In the first Delphi round, the necessity of education for medical device clinical trial personnel education was examined through open-ended questions, collecting information on key discussion points if such training were to be implemented. This process led to the development of 56 survey items: 43 items related to the institutional aspects of medical device clinical trial personnel education and 13 items concerning the educational model.
The second Delphi round involved evaluating these 56 items. Statistical analyses, including the Content Validity Ratio (CVR), convergence, consensus, and coefficient of variation (stability), were conducted to validate the results. As a result, 8 out of 43 institutional items and 10 out of 13 educational model items reached expert consensus.
In the third Delphi round, expert recommendations and additional opinions were collected on the 18 statistically validated items. The study found that medical device clinical trials have relatively less accumulated expertise compared to pharmaceutical clinical trials due to fewer past cases. Moreover, with the emergence of new regulations such as the Digital Health Product Act, there was a consensus on the necessity of fundamental education on medical device clinical trials. Considering the multiple legal training requirements in the medical field and the risk of excessive workload, the study also proposed establishing specialized panels for medical devices to prevent redundant training. Additionally, the study suggested mutual recognition of overlapping content across different clinical trial personnel education programs and the implementation of remote education, conditional on periodic exams and random attendance checks.
The study identified priority educational topics for medical device clinical trial personnel education, ranking them in order of importance: regulatory guidelines and legal frameworks for medical device clinical trials, fundamental principles of clinical trials, and practical aspects of conducting medical device clinical trials. Based on these priorities, a structured curriculum can be developed.
As a result, this study provides insights into the implementation methods and necessary content for medical device clinical trial personnel education. Establishing such an educational framework is expected to contribute to a safer environment for conducting medical device clinical trials. The findings of this study are anticipated to serve as a foundational reference for the development of medical device clinical trial personnel education.