Field Research Programs The most obvious reason for the differentiation AOs in different facilities is the size of that center’s research program. It is useful to understand that research programs at VA Medical Centers vary in size and affiliation. For some large research programs, there are mirror components that are comparable to the support components of the Medical Center: Small A Research Program with no <100 Usually uses the affiliate Budget Analyst projects IRB and/or Medium A Research Program with a Budget 100-300 has its own IRB Analyst, Procurement Technician, and projects and IACUC one or more Committee Coordinators (usually Program Specialists) Large A Research Program with a Budget 300+ May use the affiliate IRB Analyst and many staff in support of projects and/or IACUC, and its research administration functions affiliate is a large research university At facilities with a large research program, the AO is usually knowledgeable of but delegates many of – – the duties for which they are responsible. The AO is equivalent to an Operations Manager (or, perhaps, the conductor of an extremely diverse orchestra). At facilities with smaller research programs, the AO must be a jack-of-all-trades, and does many different tasks to support a smaller number of research projects. However, whether there are 10 projects or 500 projects, the regulations apply just the same. At facilities with a moderate amount of research studies, AOs can delegate more than trial counterparts at facilities with smaller programs, but they also perform more of the actual tasks than someone at a facility with a larger program.
Field Research Programs The most obvious reason for the differentiation AOs in different facilities is the size of that center’s research program. It is useful to understand that research programs at VA Medical Centers vary in size and affiliation. For some large research programs, there are mirror components that are comparable to the support components of the Medical Center: Small A Research Program with no Budget Analyst <100 projects Usually uses the affiliate IRB and/or Medium A Research Program with a Budget Analyst, Procurement Technician, and one or more Committee Coordinators (usually Program Specialists) 100-300 projects has its own IRB and IACUC Large A Research Program with a Budget Analyst and many staff in support of research administration functions 300+ projects May use the affiliate IRB and/or IACUC, and its affiliate is a large research university At facilities with a large research program, the AO is usually knowledgeable of – but delegates – many of the duties for which they are responsible. The AO is equivalent to an Operations Manager (or, perhaps, the conductor of an extremely diverse orchestra). At facilities with smaller research programs, the AO must be a jack-of-all-trades, and does many different tasks to support a smaller number of research projects. However, whether there are 10 projects or 500 projects, the regulations apply just the same. At facilities with a moderate amount of research studies, AOs can delegate more than counterparts at facilities with smaller programs, but they also perform more of the actual tasks than someone at a facility with a larger program. trial
AO_ACOS_Manual.docx