CITI is an online programme that provides a fundamental understanding of protecting human subjects in research. Students are required to complete CITI course comprising of 12 modules that focus on Financial Conflict of Interest, Social, Behavioural and Educational Research (SBER). Each module involves first reading a written article on a topic about ethical issues (length of article varies for each module), followed by some (3 to 5) multiple choice questions. It is expected to take around 3 to 4 hours to complete the SBER basic course and Financial Conflict of Interest modules. A minimum of 80% passing score for EACH module is required to pass the course. Students only need to complete and pass the CITI course ONCE throughout their study at SMU. The CITI programme is a graduation requirement for PhD students. Students are expected to complete the training before submitting an IRB application (include new IRB applications, Continuing Review applications and Protocol Modification Request applications) or before they file for graduation.
