Bringing a Miami clinical trial to your doctor: a practical referral checklist

Make it easy to discuss the actual study

You found a research opportunity in Miami and want your doctor's perspective. Bring the study name, its NCT number if available, the page link and the research center's contact information. A specific page gives the conversation a shared starting point; 'I saw something about a new treatment' leaves too much to reconstruct during a short appointment.

Write one sentence about why you are considering it. Maybe you want to understand the research, contribute to future knowledge or explore what options exist. Your reason helps your clinician understand the question you are asking, even if you have not decided whether to pursue it.

Ask how research would fit with current care

The National Institute on Aging encourages people considering a trial to tell their healthcare provider, who may communicate with the research team to help coordinate care. Use that conversation to identify who should answer which questions. You should not have to guess whether an issue belongs with your usual clinician or the research center.

Ask what information your clinician would want before discussing the opportunity in more detail. It may help to send the study link through the office's usual communication channel before the visit, if the office permits it. Avoid sending a long stack of unrelated documents when one clear study description would be easier to review.

Keep referral and eligibility separate

Ask the center whether a referral is needed and what form it should take. Do not assume that a referral, a recommendation to learn more or a transferred record means a place has been reserved. Ask the research team to explain what still has to happen before any enrollment decision.

Create a small handoff note with the names of both teams, the reason for the request and the next action. For example: your doctor's office will send a requested report, and you will call the research coordinator after confirming it was sent. That is clearer than having both offices wait for the other to move first.

• Who requests the records, and who confirms they arrived?
• Which contact should each team use?
• What do I need to do while the information is being reviewed?

Keep medication questions with the clinical teams

If a study description raises questions about medicines or procedures, mark them for discussion. Do not change your treatment to prepare for a research inquiry. Ask the qualified teams how proposed study activities would relate to your current care and who would communicate any agreed clinical instructions.

Bring an accurate medicine list and note who prescribed each item when you know. If you have several specialists, say so. The point is not to ask every office to repeat the same work; it is to make sure the people discussing a change know which other clinicians are involved.

Close the loop after the conversation

Clinical Trial Miami is affiliated with WCR. Its Miami Lakes center page can help identify the local team when you are preparing an inquiry. Use that contact to ask about the process for the study you found, without assuming a general referral applies to every opportunity.

After speaking with both teams, write down your next step and any unanswered question. Keep regular-care appointments on your calendar unless your treating team gives different instructions. Our question builder can help you separate questions for your usual clinician from questions for the research coordinator, so neither conversation has to carry everything at once.