Q: Do you have to be a National Institutes of Health (NIH) or other Federal employee to register for the Course?

No, anyone may register for our course so long as they will be able to attend the live lectures on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland or the telecast of the lectures to an approved remote partnering site.

Q: How much is tuition for the course?

For students who have registered on-line for the course through the NIH Clinical Center only but who are not taking the course for graduate credit, there is no tuition. The majority of students fall into this category. However, there is a recommended text for the course that is based on the course. Most lecturers contributed a chapter in the book. The textbook can be purchased from most book retailers or at The Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences, Inc. (FAES) Bookstore.

For questions regarding the cost of tuition, or other related matters, for taking the course for graduate credit through the FAES Graduate School, please contact the School directly at (301) 496-7976. For details regarding the cost of tuition, or other related matters, for students enrolled in the NIH-Duke Training Program in Clinical Research, please contact Duke University at (919) 681-4560.

Q: How long is the course?

The course runs from the beginning of September through the end of April. It consists of a series of 31 lectures. However, FAES and Duke University break the course down into 2 semesters (2 credits for each semester).

Q: When and where are the lectures held?

The lectures are held on Thursday evenings from 6:30 p.m. until approximately 7:45 p.m. in the Lipsett Amphitheater in the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

Q: Are there homework assignments, quizzes and exams? 

There are study problems in the recommended textbook in Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5. However, we do not collect those exercises, and the answers to the study problems are in the textbook. For students who are not taking the course for graduate credit, there are no quizzes or exams. For students taking the course for graduate credit, they are strongly encouraged to complete the above-mentioned study problems in the textbook, although the answers will not be collected. There will be no quizzes, but there is a final exam for those students taking the course for graduate credit.

Q: Do you give Continuing Medical Education (CME) credit for taking the Course either with or without graduate credit?

No, CME credit is not granted, regardless of whether or not the course is being taken for graduate credit.

Q: How do students receive a Certificate of Participation for the Course?

Students must attend a minimum of 75% of the 31 lectures in the course and document their attendance by initialing the sign-in sheet each week at class.