What is CITI?

The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program is a leading provider of research ethics, compliance, and professional development education. Many organizations and more than 1 million learners around the world use CITIs online courses annually. Duke has subscribed to the CITI Program for its human subjects research training requirements, as well as many other research-training topics. Learn more about the CITI Program at their website.
All Duke Health researchers must complete the Duke Health affiliated web-based biomedical modules within the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) for certification in Human Subject Protection (HSP) Training. The Duke Office of Clinical Research (DOCR) is responsible for administrating and tracking module completion.
The designated Duke Health affiliated CITI training must be completed by all Duke Health researchers before protocols can be submitted in iRIS/to the IRB.
DUHS SOM Guiding Policy
Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Module Requirements for Duke Health Human Subject Protection (HSP) - This policy describes the Human Subject Protection (HSP) certification requirements for all Duke Health clinical research personnel who interact with study participants or who have access to study participant private information. This policy can be found on the DOCR Policies and Procedures page under Training Policies.
Duke Health CITI Affiliation and Required Courses
Learners desiring access to the Duke Health Institutional Review Board (IRB) must complete the Duke Health affiliated training in CITI. There are four required courses to complete to become compliant for Duke Health IRB access:
- Biomedical Research with GCP - Basic/Refresher (Expires every three years from completion)
- Vulnerable Subjects - Research Involving Children
- Vulnerable Subjects - Research Involving Prisoners
- Vulnerable Subjects - Research Involving Pregnant Women, Fetuses, and Neonates
Accessing Your Duke Health CITI Account
Duke University has several affiliations within CITI. It is imperative that you affiliate with Duke Health and complete that required training for compliance with the IRB. There is a 5-minute training available on Creating and Properly Linking Your CITI Account to Duke Systems.
Click on "Log In Through My Institution". Find Duke Health in the list, and click on the link to go to your organization's log in page. After you log in, you will be redirected to the CITI Program website.
Go to www.citiprogram.org and Click the “Register” button located in the top right corner of the homepage.
Step 1: Enter “Duke Health” in the Select Your Organization Affiliation field
Step 2: Select Continue To Create Your CITI Program Username/Password
- The email address you associate with your account will be your contact address for announcements and assistance.
- Enter your first and last name along with your email address. Please enter your name here as you would like it appear on your completion report.
- Secondary email address is not required; however it is encouraged. It will assist in the recovery of your account if you forget your username or password and no longer have access to your primary email address.
Step 3: Choose a username, password, and security question.
Note: Passwords are case sensitive. You will use SSO Single Sign on to log in and out of CITI once you are registered, however you will still create a CITI User name and password. This will be used should an SSO issue arise.
Step 4: Enter your Country of Residence as requested.
Step 5: <Optional> if you wish to seek CEU credits, you will need to fill out the information below and any cost associated is your responsibility.
Step 6: These fields are Duke specific.
Please fill out all required fields noted with a red *. Please ensure your Institutional Email Address (netID@duke.edu NOT first.lastname@duke.edu) and Duke Unique ID is entered correctly as Duke uses these to upload your CITI completion record and it must match your Duke record.
Step 7: Please read each question in this section carefully to ensure you are enrolled in the correct course.
Click ‘Yes’ to ‘I conduct research with human subjects’. Click Next
Choose “Yes” research involving children as this is a requirement for all Duke Health affiliated users. Click Next
Choose “No” to take the Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Course. Click Next
Click ‘No’ to ‘Are you an IRB Administrator or an IRB Member?’ Click Next
Step 8: Your registration with Duke Health is complete, click Finalize Registration.
Step 9: The following will display. Click on ‘Duke Health Courses’
Please complete “The Integrity Assurance Statement” presented at the top and click Submit. Modules are not available until this is completed and submitted.
Complete all required modules. Score of 80% is needed to be successful. (Quiz may be retaken) You do not have to complete all modules at one sitting – you can return and finish them at a later time.
Durham VA Medical Center Personnel and Access to the Duke Health IRB
Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Module Requirements for Duke Health Human Subject Protection (HSP) allows for an “acceptable alternatives” from Durham VA personnel who have completed Durham VAMC CITI modules, which have been deemed as GCP Compliant by the Durham VAMN Research Office. These personnel must show proof of completion of the three Vulnerable Subjects CITI Courses, or they must complete those three Vulnerable Subjects Courses under the Duke Health affiliation in CITI.
CITI and iRIS
In addition to other IRB requirements, before Duke Personnel are available to be added as Key Personnel in iRIS, they must have completed the required Duke Health CITI training.
If a user's training record does not seem to be syncing properly between the iRIS and CITI systems, the individual should update their Institutional Email Address within CITI to the user’s Duke NetID email (NetID@duke.edu) as this is the email format that iRIS utilizes to identify you.
After making this change, allow at least 8 hours for the two systems to synchronize again before assuming that this potential fix did not work. For instructions on how to update your Institutional email address in the CITI system, watch the video below.
Check out this video for instructions
CITI Frequently Asked Questions
Below are captured questions that are often asked regarding CITI. If you are unable to get answers here, please feel free to contact DOCR Training and Communications at DOCR-Training@dm.duke.edu.
CME Credits are attainable through the CITI Program. Individual learners may contact CITI directly to qualify for and purchase credits. Duke Health does not provide CEU or CME credits for CITI courses.
Quick Steps for Obtaining CME Credits
- Go to https://about.citiprogram.org
- Click Log in and click Log In Through My Institution
- Choose Duke Health from the Institution List
- Select CEUs from the Main Menu
- Read the section Your CE Credit Status. Note: The learner (You) are responsible for payment
- To proceed with applying for credit, select Yes
- Select the type of credit you would like to earn
- Your CE credits are now active. You will be prompted to click and acknowledge CE credit at the start of each course
- For courses you have already taken, a button will be accessible to request credits if they are available