Title of Study: Waste Audit Among In-Office Ophthalmological Procedures
IRB #: NCR245556
Principal Investigator Name: Dr. Mehdi Tavakoli
Version Date: 03/27/24
You are invited to participate in a research study under the direction of Dr. Mehdi Tavakoli of the Department of Ophthalmology at George Washington University (GWU). Taking part in this research is entirely voluntary. The status of your employment will not, in any way, be affected should you choose not to participate or if you decide to withdraw from the study at any time. Further information regarding this study may be obtained by contacting the research team leaders at mrocks@gwu.edu or pbhatnagar23@gwu.edu. The purpose of this study is to better understand knowledge, perspectives, and attitudes towards medical waste management practices in the Ophthalmology outpatient setting.
What are the reasons you might choose to volunteer for this study?
You may choose to participate in this study if you are a clinic staff member that helps manage administrative tasks, patient care, and clinic hygiene and safety in your workplace. By helping us better understand your perspectives on current waste management practices, we will better be able to support clinic operations and make them more environmentally conscious.
What are the reasons you might not choose to volunteer for this study?
You may choose not to participate in this study if you feel you do not play a role in administrative tasks, patient care, and clinic hygiene and safety. If you choose to take part in this study, you will complete a survey that asks questions about your knowledge, perspectives, and attitudes towards clinic waste management.
The maximum amount of time you will spend in connection with this study is 10-15 minutes. You may refuse to answer any of the questions, and you may stop your participation in this study at any time. We optionally collect your name and email address for participation in a raffle to win a $50 Visa gift card at the completion of the study.
Possible risks or discomforts you could experience during this study include loss of confidentiality, although this risk is minimal given that we do not correspond your name and email, should you opt to share this information for the raffle, with survey responses. You will not benefit directly from your participation in the study. The benefits to science and humankind that might result from this study are helping augment the field of healthcare sustainability and move towards environmentally conscious practices in the healthcare field. The data collected from this study will contribute to a larger movement in the healthcare field to address wasteful practices in medicine.
Every effort will be made to keep your information confidential, however, this cannot be guaranteed. We have made the survey anonymous to protect your identity. If results of this research study are reported in journals or at scientific meetings, the people who participated in this study will not be named or identified. Your de-identified data may be used in future research to compare changes in perspectives over time. The Office of Human Research of George Washington University, at telephone number (202) 994-2715, can provide further information about your rights as a research participant. Your willingness to participate in this research study is implied if you proceed. Please download this document in case you want to read it again.
