What happens during and at the end of a clinical trial?

During a clinical trial, the patient's treatment team -- including doctors, nurses, social workers and other health providers -- will provide care in a hospital or clinical setting.

To make sure the final results of the clinical trial are accurate, every patient must follow all of the treatment team's instructions. That includes coming to visits, completing study tests, filling out questionnaires, and taking any medicines exactly as prescribed. Patients may also be asked to do tasks at home. For example, they may be asked to complete daily logs that track symptoms and the foods eaten each day.

When the clinical trial is over, the treatment team will notify patients and direct them on next steps. Participants should feel free to ask what treatment -- either experimental or standard -- they received. Clinical trial team members will share this information as soon as they are allowed to do so. They will also share clinical trial results -- typically in a published article, but in some cases individually -- when they become available.