TY - JOUR T1 - Our first experience of an ethics committee: entering the Dragon's Den JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 70 LP - 70 DO - 10.3399/bjgp11X549117 VL - 61 IS - 582 AU - Jagdeep Sandhu AU - Nyla Khan Y1 - 2011/01/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/61/582/70.abstract N2 - A recent editorial in the BMJ proposes that undergraduate researchers face significant barriers in the form of ethics and NHS research governance approval procedures which are bureaucratic, excessive, and de-motivating.1 As medical students who had to negotiate the system for our Primary Healthcare intercalated BSc2 this academic year, we could not agree more. In addition to the unnecessary red-tape involved, our very first experiences of the procedure were frankly distressing and demoralising. Our account should serve as a timely reminder of why fledgling researchers may be put off in pursuing their interests in fields which are already starting to suffer.We were called to our ethics meeting on a particularly cold February evening; perhaps the weather should have forecast the bitter encounter … ER -