Whether you’re brand new to clinical research or you have been working in the field as a clinical research assistant aka clinical research technician, a clinical research coordinator is an amazing opportunity to either level up or sometimes to even begin your career within clinical research.
In clinical research there’s many opportunities for growth, the important part is that you get your foot in the door. Once you are in the field, clinical research is always growing and developing. Different roles are being created everyday in order to facilitate the process of bringing a drug to market.
This is great news if you are considering clinical research as a long term career.
Clinical research coordinators are at the forefront of new therapies and innovative drugs. CRC’s usually work at the site level and they are like the glue that holds everything together.
A Quick Glimpse into the Roles of a Clinical Research Coordinator
As a clinical research coordinator you will take charge of the trials that are assigned to you at your clinic. You will be responsible for ensuring you understand the protocol and have everything readily available to start seeing subjects.
Clinical research coordinators are not only in charge of making sure that the subjects are coming into the site for their visits but they are also in charge of making sure that the doctor or primary investigator is there to see the subjects for their visit. Making sure that the correct procedures are performed for the visit in question and that the whole protocol is carried out effectively.
CRC’s must be very familiar with their study protocol to make sure that deviations are prevented as much as possible. The data provided to the pharmaceutical company must be standardized, and correct to prevent the data from being skewed. As a coordinator you are held accountable for training your team on the protocol and hopefully preventing mistakes.
Even though the physician or the primary investigator is in charge of making sure that the subjects are safe during their trial participation, the coordinators play a large role in this as well.
The number one priority in clinical research is patient safety. And clinical research coordinators play a vital role and making sure that the physicians are evaluating and assessing anything that the subject might be feeling that is out of the ordinary. Coordinators are responsible for assisting in reporting any adverse event and following up with the subjects. This data is crucial in ensuring that the medication is safe and can be approved for others to take!
With all of this being said, clinical research coordinators or CRC’s wear many hats when it comes to getting a clinical research trial on its feet and making sure that it is running smoothly.
At the start of the trial:
- Making sure your site is approved to participate in the study
- All of your documents are in order
- You have been giving green light to see your first subject
- All of your staff is trained and delegated
- You have all of the right equipment and technology
- You and your staff have been granted access to every application you might need
- Making sure that everyone is trained and on board in order to bring your first subject in!
During the trial period
- Ensuring that every subject understands the consent and is properly consented prior to any trial procedures
- Scheduling patients to come in for screening visits to make sure they qualify
- Making sure that subjects are coming in for their visits according to the protocol
- Tracking any adverse event they report
- Performing all of the procedures as outlined in the protocol
- Keeping accountability for investigational medication
- Keeping up with protocol amendments
- Meeting with the sponsor to discuss enrollment challenges
At study end
- Making sure every adverse event has been closed out
- All data has been input correctly into the system
- Errors have been corrected
- Closing out the study with the monitor
The above is by no means an exhaustive list!
There are many, many more things that clinical research coordinators are responsible for in their trial. And it is not uncommon for a CRC to be the lead coordinator on up to seven trials and the back up coordinator on a few more.
At this point you might be asking yourself if this job is worth it?
I promise it is. At first everything is overwhelming and there are so many new things to learn. As you continue to read this article you will realize that overall this career path is rewarding!
If you enjoy the job, get a handle for what is expected and know that what you are doing makes a difference, this sets you up for the perfect career.
Salary
Up to this point I hope you have a general idea of what exactly a clinical research coordinator does and what they are responsible for (even though I know it can be hard to visualize what goes on at a clinical research site and who is who at the site).
Even though clinical research coordinators wear many hats, and are expected to lead and conduct multiple trials at a time, for the most part they are fairly compensated for their work.
As a clinical research coordinator you can expect to earn a salary of $50,000 to $75,000. These numbers come from personal experience and you can fact check your city/state since it may differ due to your cost of living.
Depending on your background or simply your salary expectations, this might be inspiring or it might deter you. However, we are going to cover how you don’t need a specialized education, or any advanced degrees, and it is a career that you can grow into. This career can also springboard you into a six figure job in clinical research if you decide to stick with it!
Can you get the job without any experience in clinical research?
After reading all of the above and realizing that even though it is hard work, the money is there, you might be thinking if you can jump right into being a crc without experience.
This question is hard to answer because, everyone has experience.
Whether your experience is applicable to clinical research or not is the true question.
If you have no experience in clinical research, I would recommend you get your foot in the door by working as a clinical research technician or a clinical research assistant.
The salary will be significantly lower but you can climb your way up the ladder as you learn. You will be way more confident after six months to a year in clinical research. It will be “easier” to apply to other positions within your company or search else where.
The important part is that you start out small, learn all you can, ask questions and let everyone know you are looking for career growth.
Is it impossible to land a job without experience?
Not at all! This will depend on how you market yourself, your networking skills and what your long term goals are.
There are many skills that you will need a clinical research coordinator that you can learn before getting the job.
Once you have marketable skills that directly transfer into coordinating a trial, you have polished your resume and Linkedin, you will realize that with some persistence; anything is possible.
I hope you have enjoyed learning more about this rewarding career!
Drop me a line if you would like me to cover any topics in specific or if there are any questions I can answer for you.