I was chatting with a fellow patient recruitment specialist recently, and he used the phrase ‘any idiot can do patient recruitment’.

I won’t reel off the list of names that came into my head that might fit the bill for that comment.

And, of course, I guess my own name should be on that list.

Admittedly, we were discussing the kind of thing he might post as a way to stir up some controversy.

But I think the central point was that, realistically, even people without recruitment experience should be able to recruit one patient.

It’s being able to do it consistently, effectively, and efficiently, that becomes more difficult.

I’d also add that the fundamentals of patient recruitment are not a million miles removed from what might be termed ‘common sense’.

Such that, maybe not ‘any idiot’, but at least anyone with even a small amount of understanding of what it means to be human should be able to implement good practices for attracting trial participants.