Clinical Evaluation
Clinical evaluation of musculoskeletal therapies or surgical devices is readily available. Over 600,000 patients from 35 states and numerous foreign countries came to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (WFUBMC, based on FY 1997 data), of which over 61,000 patient encounters per year are through the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. The WFUBMC is a major teaching hospital with 880 beds and 725 professional faculty (more than 500 clinical physicians and basic science faculty). The WFUBMC is a Level I trauma center serving northwest North Carolina and southwest Virginia.
The Institution Review Board meets every two weeks to review clinical protocols. In addition, the General Clinical Research Center is staffed with nurses specially trained for clinical research studies. Finally, the Division of Public Health Sciences within WFUBMC is an internationally recognized source of expertise in the design, execution, and analysis of clinical trials and outcomes research. The Office of Clinical Trials Research is charged with facilitating clinical trials throughout the institution.