Profile
Nicola Farrar
My CV
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About Me:
I’m a final year PhD student at the University of Bristol – I speak to patients who have been asked to take part in medical research about their experiences.
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I live in Bristol, having been to University here for my first degree and returning to do my PhD. I love to bake and have spent 2020 trying to grow different fruit and veg in my little garden. Most recently this has resulted in a lot of carrot cake!
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When people are asked to take part in medical research, they have to make a decision which will impact their future treatment. In studies called ‘randomised controlled trials’, this involves the treatments available in the study being allocated to them ‘at random’. This is so that nobody can influence the allocation, and prevents bias.
I interview people who have been asked to take part in randomised controlled trials – RCTs for short, and ask them about why they decided to go in to the study and allow their treatment to be decided by the study, or not. This is because lots of money is spent each year on funding RCTs, and many of them don’t manage to recruit enough patients. This means we don’t know whether a new treatment is better than an old one, or if an old one works as well as we think it does.
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My Typical Day:
I chat to patients on the phone about their medical condition and their decisions about treatments. This means I spend lots of time planning when is best to speak to people and making sure they have the right information about chatting to me.
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My Interview
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What did you want to be after you left school?
A 'buyer' for a big department store
Were you ever in trouble at school?
For talking to much!
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Dua Lipa
What's your favourite food?
Pizza!
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