What This Course Is, and What It Is Not

Part of Pediatric Trials: Starting from where you are.

About 3 minutes. Free, in your language, no account needed.

This is general education about clinical research — not medical advice, and not a way to join a study. Talk to your own doctor about your situation.

You may be reading this because a study has been mentioned for your child. You may be reading it because you want to understand something before it is ever mentioned.

This course is here either way. There is no schedule and no hurry.

What this course does

This course explains how research involving children works. It explains the words, the steps, the protections children are given, and the rights that belong to you and to your child.

It gives the most space to one idea: the difference between your consent and your child's assent. That idea is the heart of pediatric research ethics, and it is the part most often explained too quickly.

The purpose is understanding. When you understand the words, you can follow the conversation, ask a better question, and notice when something has not been explained.

What this course does not do

• It will not tell you whether your child should take part in a study. Not directly, and not by hinting. Nobody should make that decision for you.
• It will not give medical advice. It does not know your child's diagnosis, history, treatment or how they are today.
• It will not help you find a study. It does not search, match, or refer.
• It will not suggest that research is better than usual care, or worse. Both of those statements would be dishonest.

If any part of this course reads like a nudge in one direction, that is a mistake in the writing. Please tell us, so it can be fixed.

Why it is written this way

A decision about a child's care depends on that child: their diagnosis, their age, their temperament, what they have already been through, and what your family can carry.

None of that is visible to a course. It is visible to your child's own doctors and nurses, and to you. What education can do is make sure you walk into that room already knowing what the words mean.

A word about the word "parent"

This course says "parent" throughout, because it is the shortest word.

It is meant to include anyone who holds legal responsibility for a child: mothers, fathers, guardians, adoptive and foster parents, grandparents raising grandchildren, and legally appointed representatives. Research documents often use the phrase parent or legal guardian, or in some countries parental permission. The words differ by country and by legal system. The role is the same.

How to use this course

Read in any order. Stop when you need to. Come back later, or not at all.

Some modules end with a few short questions. They are there to help you check your own understanding. Nothing is scored, there is no pass mark, and there is no certificate. You cannot fail this course.

Your child may want to read parts of it with you, depending on their age. Module 6 is about talking with them.

In short

• This course explains research involving children, so you can follow the conversation about your own child's care.
• It gives the most space to consent and assent, because that is the heart of the subject.
• It does not advise, recommend, match, or refer, and it never will.
• "Parent" here means anyone with legal responsibility for the child.
• Nothing is scored. You cannot fail it.