If you are looking for a rewarding career field where you can earn over six figures; a career in clinical research may be for you!
However, just as in any other field, working in clinical trials has its pros and cons.
Over the years, I have learned that for me, it has many more pros than cons. In this article we will cover some of the most common misconceptions and questions when it comes to the pros and cons of jobs in clinical trials!
Even though my current role is Project Manager for a large Clinical Research Organization (CRO), I get lots of questions about all of the roles I have done in the past and everyone I have been able to network with!
The usual questions are how much can you make as a clinical research coordinator or a clinical research associate (CRA)?
Even more commonly, what is clinical research? Even though you may have heard about participating in clinical trials, not everyone is aware of all of the career paths in clinical research.
I’m always happy to share with anyone who wants to learn more. And even though I do enjoy and have a passion for helping to bring new drugs to market, just like any job it has its downsides.
If you are curious about clinical research trials as a whole, feel free to checkout this guide!
Being in clinical research can be a very rewarding job if you are looking for a career that is exciting and challenging. As a clinical research coordinator you are always facing challenges when it comes to running a study as smoothly as possible.
You might be assigned a study on Monday and have your first patient scheduled for Wednesday. And just like any job in healthcare, if anything can go wrong it probably will. We work with subjects, who are real people with other things going on in their own life.
Once you transition into a clinical research associate (CRA), it is guaranteed that there will always be a fire to put out at one of your research sites.
You are no longer solely responsible for your assigned study at your site but for many sites. Many people are now depending on you and they look up to you in order to get their work done. This can keep you on your toes, and engaged on the challenge at hand.
If you are interested in becoming a CRA you can check out this article!
With all of that being said, there is always a great feeling of accomplishment knowing that you can effectively carry out a study from startup to completion. This really sets in after seeing a commercial for a medication that is now approved thanks to your work and that of many other clinical researchers.
However, if you are in search of a career that is monotonous and predictable, clinical research is probably not your best bet.
For most positions in clinical research, your day is variable and can change from one minute to the next.
Coordinating or monitoring a clinical research study is mentally stimulating in the sense that you need to stick to the protocol while accommodating for many variables.
Thanks to all of the complexities of this career, clinical research coordinators and clinical research associates are compensated fairly for the amount of work and the stress that can come from the job. Depending on your experience and skill set, the workload can be manageable and rewarding.
It is awesome seeing a study go from startup to finish and ultimately knowing that millions of people will have access to better medication and improved healthcare once it gains approval.
If you are curious about whether or not being a clinical research coordinator is worth it, or if being a clinical research associate is a good career for you, we go over some of the pros and cons of these positions.
Pros of Jobs in Clinical Research
Career stability
Clinical research is a field that is always growing and will always continue to expand and hire. Pharmaceutical companies are always looking for a way to bring new drugs to market. It truly takes a village to make this happen and this is very good news if you want to make it into a career. As a clinical research coordinator you will always have job security since medications and therapies never go out of style. Even during the pandemic, while it did have an effect on drug development, some clinical sites flourished by being part of vaccine trials.
Flexibility
The pharmaceutical industry is worth billions of dollars and you can do many roles within it. You will never get bored from working on a certain indication or trial. Say you have a passion for endocrinology and want to specialize on diabetic therapies… you can do that.
One of the most rewarding jobs in clinical research is working in oncology or if you have an interest in psychology there will always be trials for psychiatric conditions. Let’s say you get your foot in the door of a small clinical research site that focuses on pulmonology. Boring! Right? You can get your experience running studies as a coordinator or helping recruit subjects as a recruiter or even answering the phone as a receptionist.
Once you gain experience and confidence you can switch over to a clinical research site that focuses on the next miracle pill for obesity. Or a new stem cell research study for dementia! There are not many jobs in which you can switch it up until you find your niche without having to endure more painful years in school or internships.
Remote work
If the thought of being able to work from home and make a six-figure a year salary sounds too good to be true… you’d be mistaken. Clinical research coordinators who are looking to advance their career should look into becoming a clinical research associate (CRA) which are also known as monitors.
Even though it isn’t always required that you have experience as a clinical research coordinator, it is still very helpful that you have this type of background. As a CRA you will be checking in on clinical research sites and interacting with clinical research coordinators, Principal investigators among other research staff.
Many of these jobs involve traveling; however, a lot of positions have transitioned to remote work. After Covid, many jobs had to adapt to working remotely and luckily clinical research is no exception. Remote site monitors or CRA’s are able to conduct visits from the comfort of their home. Many clinical trials are transitioning to systems in which data is updated electronically and can be accessed remotely.
This comes with its own pros and cons but that is a whole different topic of its own.
Travel
Even though working from home while petting your cat and working in your pajamas sounds amazing to most. You might enjoy traveling for work and knowing that your meals and your hotel room is paid for. A lot of clinical research associate jobs involve traveling to clinical research sites and making sure they are adhering to the protocol and meeting other standards. You might travel locally, domestic or even internationally depending on the trial and pharmaceutical company you are working for.
If you are looking for a sense of adventure, and want to visit new places, being a CRA might be the career for you. You will meet with clinical research staff at various locations to make sure that you are supporting them and that they are providing good study data in order to help bring the drug to market.
Salary
If you are starting out in clinical research, the salary might be average. However, there is so much room for growth that it is safe to say that if you work hard you will reach the salary you desire. Many people get their start as a receptionist, recruiter or clinical research assistant (RA) and work their way up until they reach a six figure a year job in clinical research.
Just as there is so much flexibility and variability with every position and company in clinical research, the same applies to their respective salaries. Salaries can range from $40,000 to over six figures depending on your position within the company.
Here is a helpful article to the top paying clinical research careers!
Cons of a Job in Clinical Research
Learning curve
Something I always searched for in a job was being able to constantly learn more. I didn’t want to get bored of monotonous work. And I definitely found this in clinical research. There are new clinical studies coming out daily, and everytime you get a new study assigned to you there is a learning curb to it. You might feel like you know what you are doing after six months to a year of being in research. The initial learning curb comes with learning the lingo and feeling like you are behind your peers. You might also have to brush up on the flow of your clinic and get accustomed to working with your new team members.
Even once you have this part down, there is always something new. Each study that is assigned to you makes you feel like it’s your first day on the job again. Maybe not to the same extent, but you do have to train for it, read up on the protocol and have a working knowledge on how the drug works and what the subjects can expect out of their participation. After the initial training, the pharmaceutical company or sponsor might decide they want to make constant changes that will affect the way you are currently performing your job.
Although I love that no two studies are the same and everyday is vastly different. This isn’t for someone who has a hard time adapting to change. Or if you don’t enjoy the challenge of improvising and coming up with solutions on the spot. Although it takes experience, if you can read through the protocol and use your resources wisely you can figure anything out.
Feeling overwhelmed
Even though it might not be your employer’s intent to overload you with work; it tends to happen. If you are starting out as a new clinical research coordinator, or clinical research associate you will feel stressed with the workload. It take time and experience to realize what is and isn’t possible for you to complete. At the beginning you will be slower than your peers and be prone to making more mistakes. As you gain more experience, you will realize you are much quicker and efficient. You will know how to prioritize different tasks and how to delegate others.
If you are ok with picking up extra work at times, and going the extra mile than you won’t see this as too much of a con. If you think about it in a positive outlook, working more will help you work on prioritizing, time management and team building.
At first I was afraid to ask for help and afraid of turning down any additional work that I knew I wouldn’t be able to complete on my own.
It wasn’t until I realized that I should lean on my team and on my seniors in order to be more efficient. If you chew more than you can swallow, chances are you will mess up and have to go to your team anyway. It is ok to realize that you won’t be able to complete it on your own or that you might need more training on certain tasks.
Working for a salary
If you are like myself and have worked for an hourly wage doing shift work, working for a salary is very different. I had worked as a tech in an emergency department for many years. I wasn’t a fan of the hourly wage but it was an awesome learning experience.
Once I transitioned into research, I realized that with a salary you are getting paid for what you know and the value you are bringing to the clinical research site. It doesn’t matter if you had an easy shift and worked 8 hours or if you were overloaded and put out fires until 7pm, you will earn the same.
Even though I am very grateful for being compensated fairly for my work, it was a bit of a wake up call to realize that you are limited by your salary. Unless there is a bonus structure set up at your company.
If you are like myself and the salary is a massive step up in pay then there really isn’t much to complain about and I don’t see this as a con. A more important gauge on how happy you will be is based on the work life balance that the company promotes.
Turnover rates
Since I have started in clinical research, it has become apparent to me that people don’t last in their jobs for very long. This can cause stress on you if your coworkers are leaving all the time. Their studies are now yours until they can find a replacement, adding subjects to your schedule.
On the bright side this is actually great for someone who likes to learn more and advance in their career. For the most part people leave their research job for promotions at other companies. They obtain their experience as a research tech at one clinical research site and use that to land a coordinator job at a different site. Once they have a few years of experience and know the ins and outs they join a different company as a monitor.
Just remember that with every vertical move there is a bit of stress as you get over the learning curb.
While there are many different variables from company to company. You can definitely find a position that fits your needs within a research organization.
Recap
To recap, there are many career paths that you can take within clinical research. However, you must have a passion for healthcare and advancing therapies.
As well as the ability to be flexible and a problem solver. The best part is that clinical research is always changing and there are many career opportunities with fair compensation.
If this is a career field that you feel passionate about or would like to learn more about. Please drop me a line below and check out my other blog articles if you are interested in starting a career in clinical research.