DreamRCT begins

DreamRCT is a creative writing project for nephrologists. The assignment is to scour the landscape of nephrology knowledge for a corner that is dominated by dogma and retrospective evidence. Once the target is identified, the writer needs to summarize the gaps, and think up a creative way to shine science's greatest flashlight on the subject, a randomized controlled trial.

We have recruited 16 people to submit DreamRCTs which were published today on MedPage Today. Thanks Ivan, Kristina and Elbert. It is a amazing collection of creativity; there are trials on kidney stones, electrolytes, dialysis, proteinuria and lupus. Please go check them out; read them and see which are great and which should be relegated to The Journal of Craptology.

After reading the DreamRCTs move on over to Jordan Weinstein's excellent UKidney where it is time to channel your inner Mark Cuban and play Shark Tank with the DreamRCTs.

Which trial should be funded which shouldn't. How much should each trial be awarded. You will get $100,000 to distribute among the trials. Think KickStarter meets NIH. You will not be alone in this endeavor. We have recruited an expert panel of clinical researchers to score the trials. At the conclusion of the contest we will look at how the experts spent their cash and how the crowd did. We will also award a small prize to the funder whose distribution best matches the expert panel.

DreamRCT only works if we get a critical mass of people to participate. Please check out the trials at MedPage Today and then go to UKidney to vote with your (completely virtual, don't ask me for a refund) dollars. Announce the project at morning report, assign your fellows to vote and then submit discuss and submit your own DreamRCT, because in the end DreamRCT is not just a game but a shorthand expression for what we need to do to fix nephrology and heal our patients.