Distinguishing between clinical practice and clinical research: A Review of definitions and ethical issues

While Clinical research and clinical practice are closely related, distinguishing and maintaining the boundaries between them has form determining debates in contemporary bioethics. The most important implication of the research-practice distinction is to identify which clinical activities need review and oversight by research ethics committees. Adopting distinct approaches to clinical research and clinical practice will also help physicians better distinguish their dual role of physician and researcher and manage potential conflicts of interest.   This study is a narrative review aiming to provide the criteria for distinguishing between clinical practice and clinical research, as well as to discuss its ethical dimensions. The results show that this distinction makes a necessary fundamental measure to protect individuals participating in clinical research. Despite considerable efforts to develop national biomedical research ethics guidelines in Iran, a comprehensive approach to the basic concepts of biomedical research and underlying theoretical framework still seems lacking. This study is an attempt to provide the required knowledge and attitude to address this functional gap.