The appropriate training method depends on the whether the external personnel are affiliated with an institution or entity with an IRB or not. Please see the corresponding section below for more information. NOTE: existing external personnel who already have a NetID should continue to access training through CITI.

For questions about human subjects training, contact citisupport@research.wisc.edu or 608-262-1703.

For Good Clinical Practice (GCP) training options for external personnel, see GCP Training Options for External Personnel.

External Personnel Affiliated with an Institution or Entity with an IRB

Personnel affiliated with an academic institution or other organization with an IRB or FWA must complete human protections training as required by their institution. The relying site’s HRPP is responsible for ensuring its personnel have completed the training required by their institution. Training certificates do not need to be provided to the UW-Madison IRB.

External Personnel Not Affiliated with an Institution or Entity with an IRB (Individual Investigators)

There are three primary HSP training options available, as described in the corresponding sections below. Each training may be best suited for a particular audience. CITI training may be most appropriate for learners who have experience conducting human subjects research. CIRTification was developed specifically for community members engaged in research. Research Ethics for All was designed by and for community research partners with developmental disabilities. Please select the training option that is best suited for the learner.

NOTE: In the rare case that none of the above options are feasible (e.g., there are language or technology barriers), please email citisupport@research.wisc.edu to discuss alternative training options. The appropriateness of alternative training will be determined on a case-by-case basis, and alternative training should not be used without prior consultation with IRB staff or citisupport@research.wisc.edu.

UW Human Subjects Protection Training via CITI

External personnel can create an account in CITI that is affiliated with UW-Madison and complete UW-Madison’s CITI training by following the below steps:

  1. Register via the CITI Program
  2. In the section titled “Select Your Organization Affiliation”, type and select “University of Wisconsin – Madison”. DO NOT select “University of Wisconsin – Madison (SSO)”.
  3. Read and check “I AGREE to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy for accessing CITI Program materials” if you agree.
  4. Check “I affirm that I am affiliate of University of Wisconsin – Madison”
  5. Click “Continue To Create Your CITI Program Username/Password”
  6. Continue through the additional steps to set up your profile. An email address issued by UW-Madison is NOT required under “Institutional Email Address”.
  7. Complete question 2 and click submit at the bottom of the page.
  8. Once you have the courses in your account, click on the course title (UW Human Subjects Protections Course) to begin the course and follow the instructions within CITI to complete your training. On average, it takes 2-3 hours to complete the course. Courses can be completed in multiple sessions.
  9. Successful completion requires a composite score of 85% on the quizzes. Quizzes can be repeated in order to achieve this score.
  10. Once the course is complete, click “View-Print-Share Record” next to the course in your course list. Then click “View / Print” to print your Completion Certificate. Provide this certificate to the UW-Madison study team to document training completion.

Link to this section

CIRTification Online (Community Involvement in Research Training)

CIRTification is a training developed at University of Illinois – Chicago and is tailored to the unique roles of community research partners. This training is available in English and Spanish.

To complete this training, external personnel should complete the following steps:

  1. Enroll in the course using “Non-UIC Registration” and following the steps as prompted.
  2. Once logged in, click on “Course Catalog” at the top of the screen.
  3. Click “Learn More” under “CIRTification: Community Involvement in Research Training.”
  4. Click “Enroll” and complete the enrollment questions.
  5. Once enrolled, click “My Courses” at the top of the page. Then click “Launch” in the applicable language.
  6. Complete each module. Once all modules have been completed, you will receive a date-stamped certificate of completion. Provide this certificate to the UW-Madison study team to document training completion.

Link to this section

Research Ethics for All (RE4All)

RE4All is a trainer-led, interactive human research training developed by people with developmental disabilities, disability services providers, researchers, and IRB administrators and members. It was designed to be accessible to adults with developmental disabilities and allows for the trainer to make accommodations to support optimal learning.

Because RE4All is trainer-led, the appropriateness of using the training will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Prior to using this training, study teams must first consult with UW-Madison IRB staff or citisupport@research.wisc.edu.

If use of RE4All is approved by IRB staff or citisuppport@research.wisc.edu, the training must be administered by an experienced UW-Madison researcher, such as the Principal Investigator. The UW-Madison trainer should review and complete the “Training Preparation Checklist” found here and complete the training with the external personnel. Once training is complete, the trainer must work with each learner to individually check their understanding of essential information required for certification by completing the certification activities.

When the trainer is satisfied that the learner has a basic understanding of the content, the trainer can create and download a certificate to document the learner’s training completion. The certificate should be provided to the learner, kept in the study team’s records, and uploaded to ARROW.

Link to this section