CITI Course on Human Subjects Protection

Wright State University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) requires all investigators (including faculty, students, and staff) who will be engaged in research with human subjects to complete the Biomedical Research Investigators course (formerly the Basic Course in the Protection of Human Research Subjects) offered online by the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI). This policy is set forth in the IRB Charter and Standard Operating Procedures; see Policy 5 (DOC) for details. Notation of CITI training is required on the Petition for Approval of Research Involving Human Subjects (DOCX), which must be approved by the IRB before a research project begins.

WSU is a CITI participating institution, and the course is offered free of charge to WSU personnel. WSU requires the renewal of CITI training every three years.

Medical students who take SMD 8160 (Scholarship in Medicine) and CMH 811 (Medical Education Research) are required to complete CITI training during these research electives. In 2012 a CITI training requirement was adopted for all other B1 and B2 research electives, including student-initiated research electives (SIE’s). Medical students who seek extracurricular research opportunities involving human subjects (e.g. clinical research) are strongly advised to complete CITI training before contacting potential faculty mentors. Faculty mentors should inquire about CITI training before students are added to an IRB research protocol. Failure to complete the CITI training may result in untimely delays for research projects  

How to Access the CITI Course

1. Go to the CITI website and register as a new member, if you have not registered previously. Select  Wright State University as your participating institution. You should register using a computer connected to the WSU network. Once you have a username and password, you can access the CITI course remotely from any computer.
2. On the CITI main menu page, follow the link for “View Wright State University instructions page." Follow those instructions, choosing the Biomedical Research Investigators course.
3. This course includes modules with readings and quizzes. You do not have to take the course in one marathon session. You can stop and resume the training in multiple sessions that fit your schedule.
4. When you have completed all the modules, you will be able to “print” a course completion report, which means downloading it as a PDF. Be sure to save a copy of your completion report for future reference. WSU’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs also maintains a record of your course completion, which is checked at the time of IRB submissions.  

If you have completed the CITI course at another participating institution within the last three years, that may satisfy WSU’s requirement for training in human subjects protection. Contact Robyn Wilks, WSU’s IRB coordinator (robyn.wilks@wright.edu; 937-775-4462), for more information.

• See additional resources for WSU Human Subjects Policies.