Are there any VA or non-VA clinicians on here I could chat with about seeking to volunteer assist with ongoing research near us, VA or not?

Each VISN has an Education Department that arranges things like student preceptorship, employee continuing education, etc. Each VISN (as far as I know) also has a Research Department. AND, each VISN has a Voluntary Services Department. I believe which one you need to contact depends on your background and intentions.

If you are a looking to conduct research as part of a doctoral dissertation (or some other educational requirement), I would speak with the Education Department. If you would like to be another set of hands, you can speak to the Voluntary Services Department about getting placed with the Research Department as a volunteer. This would obviously be highly dependent on your background and the department's willingness to take you on as a volunteer. If you have a suggestion for a research study, you can contact the Research Department with your idea. Again, while they may listen to your pitch, they would have to be very open-minded to proceed with all the extra work it would take to allow you to conduct any type of study at the VA as a non-employee.

At the end of the day, I think that if you are not a student and/or an employee, then you are not going to get anywhere. You will be battling several things working against you. First, there are likely policies in place that prevent this type of scenario. You are non-affiliated with the VA and would be conducting research on VA patients. There are definitely liability and privacy issues here. Second, you would need VA employees (government employees... ugh) to go above and beyond to make it happen for you. You would have to go through the same background checks, fingerprinting, and credentialing that employees must pass prior to starting... and without the benefit of the VA getting another employee. You better have some amazing credentials to be worth all that. Third, the research department has their own goals and mandate; they likely would not be welcoming to an outsider wanting to use Research Department resources to conduct their own research.

If you would like to get to your ultimate goal, I would consider volunteering in whatever capacity they will have you, just to get your foot in the door. https://www.volunteer.va.gov/ After you get started and get to know the staff, make your intentions known.

Best of luck to you!

I can tell you that you are trying to crack a nut that is not easily (uncrackable). You won’t graduate. You can ask your school to send out a mass email requesting that vets participate through your vet center and then ask your school training director to connect via list-serve to other training directors to do the same using a very brief, well crafted and consideration email, with you doing all of the leg work. The same with your survey! No high ind loose, all peer reviewed, proven research. Proven lit, well utilized surveys that you have asked for permission from each developer to use and your university clearances better be dotted and crossed at all levels, from IRB to each SOB :). Not toy with DOD, VA, unc Sam don’t play. As student in our program caught hell. No longer a student in the program at all. I work vet issues. Doc student myself, do lots of research if you can’t tell. Now, to all reading this, don’t get frisky, steal my leg work, and inundate their cigs with student research. We have to be gentle to the vets taking the surveys and the directors sending it out. Otherwise they won’t send it, and the vets won’t do it. Keep your surveys short. How long will you set and answer a strangers dumb, prying questions. No more than 10-15,20 min top with insensitive. Space it out. Do other research with other populations. Mil Spouses, college students, gen public in your area of interest (trauma, drug dependency, sleep) study different factors, ages, and Facets. Don’t get caught up on one thing and get to rigidly stuck. You want to be a well rounded expert in your field. Not to mention, diversity of knowledge, it’s beautiful. You don’t know what you live till you love it. You May live several areas and rock the hell out of more than one. The VA and DOD conduct their own research intrinsically. So, they are their own research institute os sorts. The collect tons of data every year. In post doc or maybe if you have a doc internship, look for one that actually requires VA research. Then, you have a shot of actually getting ahold of vet info. Being a part of, or Actually leading VA research. I’m in a super big rush so please don’t judge my typos, but I felt you pain. Like very recently.

NIH, UMMS, or IRB