XooCode(){

MedicalTrial

MedicalTrial is a MedicalStudy subtype for clinical trials: prospective interventional studies in which an investigator assigns subjects to interventions and observes outcomes. It adds 1 direct property:

  • trialDesign (MedicalTrialDesign enumeration): one or more design qualifiers — RandomizedTrial, DoubleBlindedTrial, PlaceboControlledTrial, MultiCenterTrial, OpenTrial, etc. Multiple values are common ("randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled" is a single trial with three trialDesign values).

The work happens in the inherited MedicalStudy properties:

  • status (MedicalStudyStatus enum): Recruiting, ActiveNotRecruiting, Completed, EnrollingByInvitation, Suspended, Terminated, Withdrawn.
  • healthCondition (MedicalCondition): the condition under study.
  • studySubject: the intervention or substance under study.
  • studyLocation: clinical-trial sites.
  • sponsor (Organization or Person): the trial sponsor.

Full example of schema.org/MedicalTrial json-ld markup

The markup is verified as valid with Rich Results Test from Google.

Highlight legend:Required by GoogleRecommendedOptional
schema.org/MedicalTrial
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "MedicalTrial",
  "@id": "https://dunmoreregional.example/research/xoostat12-phase3",
  "name": "XooStat-12 Phase III Trial in Resistant Hypercholesterolaemia",
  "alternateName": "XOOSTAT-3",
  "url": "https://dunmoreregional.example/research/xoostat12-phase3",
  "description": "A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre Phase III trial evaluating XooStat-12 versus placebo in adults with statin-resistant hypercholesterolaemia.",
  "trialDesign": [
    "https://schema.org/RandomizedTrial",
    "https://schema.org/DoubleBlindedTrial",
    "https://schema.org/PlaceboControlledTrial",
    "https://schema.org/MultiCenterTrial"
  ],
  "status": "https://schema.org/Recruiting",
  "healthCondition": { "@type": "MedicalCondition", "name": "Statin-resistant hypercholesterolaemia" },
  "studySubject": { "@type": "Drug", "name": "XooStat-12" },
  "studyLocation": [
    { "@type": "Hospital", "name": "Dunmore Regional Hospital", "@id": "https://dunmoreregional.example/#hospital" }
  ],
  "sponsor": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "XooPharma R&D", "url": "https://xoopharma.example" },
  "code": { "@type": "MedicalCode", "codeValue": "NCT05123456", "codingSystem": "ClinicalTrials.gov" }
}
</script>

Why publish MedicalTrial markup

The trial-recruitment audience is hard to reach. ClinicalTrials.gov is the authoritative registry, but trial sponsors increasingly publish MedicalTrial markup on their own recruitment pages so AI healthcare assistants and patient-matching engines can surface the trial in response to "trials for [condition] near me" queries.

Minimal valid version

The smallest markup that still produces a valid MedicalTrial entity. Use it as the floor. Reach for the advanced example above when you want search engines and AI agents to understand more about your content.

schema.org/MedicalTrial (minimal)
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "MedicalTrial",
  "name": "XooStat-12 Phase III",
  "trialDesign": ["https://schema.org/RandomizedTrial", "https://schema.org/DoubleBlindedTrial"],
  "status": "https://schema.org/Recruiting",
  "healthCondition": { "@type": "MedicalCondition", "name": "Hypercholesterolaemia" }
}
</script>

Google rich results this unlocks

Markup matching this example makes your page eligible for the following Google Search rich results. The primary target drives the required / recommended property classification in the advanced code block above.

  • No dedicated rich result (used by trial-matching engines and AI healthcare assistants)
    Google docs

Common MedicalTrial mistakes

Mistakes that pass validation but silently fail to earn rich results or mislead consumers walking the graph. Avoid these and your markup will be ahead of most sites in the wild.

  1. 01

    Single trialDesign for a multi-design trial

    Wrong
    "trialDesign": "https://schema.org/RandomizedTrial" alone for a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
    Right
    Array of all applicable design qualifiers

    Trial-matching engines filter on each design dimension. Omitting blinding or placebo qualifiers makes the trial invisible to those filters.

  2. 02

    status as free text

    Wrong
    "status": "Recruiting"
    Right
    "status": "https://schema.org/Recruiting"

    MedicalStudyStatus is enumeration-valued; bare strings break filtering.

  3. 03

    Mixing MedicalTrial and MedicalObservationalStudy

    Wrong
    MedicalTrial on a non-interventional cohort study
    Right
    MedicalObservationalStudy with the appropriate studyDesign

    Trials require investigator-controlled assignment. Observational studies infer effect from cohorts the investigator does not assign — different schema, different audience.

Schema properties in this example

MedicalTrialMedicalStudyMedicalEntitynamealternateNameurldescriptiontrialDesignMedicalTrialDesignRandomizedTrialDoubleBlindedTrialPlaceboControlledTrialMultiCenterTrialstatusMedicalStudyStatusRecruitinghealthConditionMedicalConditionstudySubjectDrugstudyLocationHospitalsponsorOrganizationcodeMedicalCodecodeValuecodingSystem

About the example data

A fictional Phase III randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial of XooStat-12, a novel statin under study at Dunmore Regional Hospital.

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