You might be wondering if a career as a clinical research coordinator is right for you. Or perhaps whether or not clinical research coordinators are happy in their role.
These are very important questions to ask yourself before you pursue a career as a clinical research coordinator!
Just like any job you will have people who are very happy with their career path and others who are not. However, I hope to shed some insight into my experience working as a clinical research coordinator.
In this article I will go over what I enjoyed about the job when I was a clinical research coordinator before advancing my career, as well as some of the drawbacks you can expect.
If you want the short answer I would highly recommend the career path of a clinical research coordinator.
I was very happy as a clinical research coordinator and I know of many people who can say the same. But, you will want to read this till the end to see if this is the right career path for yourself.
My experience in clinical research and why I believe clinical research coordinators are happy!
Feel free to skip this section! However, I think that it will be useful in understanding the kind of work I did as a clinical research coordinator!
I started my clinical research career as a clinical research technician for a large clinical research organization (CRO). Previous to my start in clinical research, I had worked as an ER tech for close to six years. I went back to school in hopes of becoming a physician, before I realized that this was not the right path for me. I did however obtain a Masters degree in medical science as I’ve always had a passion for healthcare.
To make a long story short, with my experience as an EMT/ER tech I was able to land a job as a research tech. The overall work was similar but my experience was very different. As a research tech I enjoyed assisting the rest of the study staff with blood draws, ekgs, vital signs etc. I mention all of this because even though I started at the bottom, this allowed me to interact with the rest of the study staff. I gained an insight into how research worked and what role would suit me best.
I spoke with clinical research coordinators, research nurses, physicians, lab personnel as well as clinical research associates. I enjoyed working at the clinic level and being able to help carry out first in human clinical research studies. However, I knew that I wanted to take on more responsibilities and of course grow within the company.
After a few months of working as a research tech, I applied and interview to become a clinical research coordinator within the same company. Even though at that point I had never worked on a study as a coordinator, my work ethic and willingness to help allowed me to obtain the role!
I was ecstatic that I would be assigned my very own clinical research studies to manage! I worked in neurology, managing phase 1 first in human studies. It was very interesting and rewarding working with a patient population that was so motivated to advance healthcare.
Even though I truly enjoyed the work environment, I decided to pursue a similar role at a private clinic that carried out a wider variety of clinical research studies. I was hired on as a “project manager” however the tasks were very similar to a research coordinator.
At this new company I enjoyed interacting with patients that had a wider variety of medical conditions. I managed studies on hypertension, depression, ADHD, flu, COVID etc. You name it we had it!
I learned a lot at this company since we were cross trained in many different areas of clinical research. My coworkers were great at working as a team and making sure that we worked together to meet our goals.
WIth all of that being said I worked as a clinical research coordinator at two separate companies and I truly enjoyed it.
However, let’s get into the day to day tasks before you make the jump into applying for clinical research coordinator jobs!
Here are some of the pros and cons of a job as a clinical research coordinator and why I really enjoyed it!
What are the day to day tasks of a clinical research coordinator?
As a clinical research coordinator, your work days will have lots of variety. No two days will be alike as there are many different tasks involved.
Depending on the site that you work for you might be helping with recruitment, technical parts of the job such as ekg’s and seeing patients for their visits. You will have to start up the study and see it through to completion.
The main responsibility of a clinical research coordinator is ensuring that the trial is carried out per the study protocol and that everything is running smoothly. You will however be assigned multiple studies which can be a bit stressful as you learn and adapt to your new job. Some clinical research sites will assign anywhere from 6 to 9 studies to each coordinator which can make it a bit difficult to juggle. However, with experience it can be very manageable.
Is the job of being a clinical research coordinator rewarding?
Every job in clinical research is rewarding, however, working as a clinical research coordinator has the perfect combination of clinical and office work. You get to see subjects for their visits and assist the doctor and study nurses with procedures. While also being involved in the higher level aspect of running a study.
You will meet with the sponsor or pharmaceutical company to ensure that the study is running smoothly and that your site is compliant with the protocol. These meetings will help you understand how your job has a big impact in the healthcare industry.
Being a clinical research coordinator is very fulfilling when you know that your work is helping to advance healthcare and that a medication you worked on can become approved and will be able to benefit many people.
What is the Salary for a clinical research coordinator?
As a clinical research coordinator you can expect to be paid fairly for your work. Depending on your state’s cost of living and the company that you work for it is common to see salaries ranging from $50,000 to over six figures. Of course the lower end is the starting salary and as you progress you can earn upwards of $100,000.
Even though the work as a clinical research coordinator can be stressful at times, the salary is definitely reasonable.
What is the work life balance like for a clinical research coordinator?
For the most part, working as a clinical research coordinator is a 9 to 5 job. This means once you are done for the day, you won’t have to be on call or working odd hours. This is perfect for anyone with a family or other responsibilities. This can of course vary by company and type of work you are performing.
At my first job as a clinical research coordinator I did have to work a few weekends as certain procedures had to be done at the phase one clinic. However, this is uncommon and for the most part it is a rewarding job that you can leave at the office.
How to get started in clinical research
I hope that after reading this article you have gained more insight into what it is like to work as a clinical research coordinator and whether or not this would make you happy! If you would like to get started in clinical research, this is the perfect website for you to learn more! I will continue to post more interesting articles on how to land the job as a clinical research coordinator and other fulfilling careers in clinical research. As well as advice on climbing the ladder, obtaining certifications and other useful skills such as stress reduction in your research career.