First, we at the IRB office and throughout the UAMS/ACH research community want to thank all of our members for their IRB service. We know that you have a lot going on in your lives, and we are grateful for the not-inconsiderable time and effort you devote to your IRB obligations.
Our longest-term members may remember the days when IRB meetings routinely stretched past 5 p.m. Luckily, those days are behind us, with most meetings lasting less than 2 hours, and sometimes much less than 2 hours.
We try to keep agenda lengths manageable, and to carefully balance review assignments to ensure the right mix of expertise looks at each item, while trying not to overload anyone. Keep in mind that some weeks are easier in that regard than others, depending on what turns up in the review queues any given week. We will try our best not to overload anybody, and will call on alternates if needed during weeks when some regular reviewers are absent and we’re facing a large agenda.
If you are unable to attend a meeting, have a conflict of interest on a review, or feel you simply cannot give a particular study the attention it deserves for some reason, please let the office know as soon as possible, so the item can be reassigned. We really, really, really hate to have to pull items off an IRB agenda (the researchers awaiting approval really, really, really hate it too), so please give us the opportunity to rebalance assignments if you feel we need to. Please also bear with us when it feels like you have a lot on your IRB plate on a particular week. Upon closer inspection, you’ll notice that everyone else on that agenda also has a pretty heavy workload, and it’s just one of those weeks.
Last but not least, here’s a reminder that The Powers That Be have decided that the IRB Office staff is nonessential personnel, and therefore the office closes on inclement weather days. Heaven forbid that such a day occur on a Tuesday afternoon, but that has, in fact, happened, which means our weekly meeting is canceled. And it’s a little nightmare each time it does — we either try to schedule a makeup meeting, or that meeting’s agenda gets shifted to the following week(s), meaning everyone’s workload gets a little out of whack. Please bear with us if we find ourselves in that situation this year.