There are several different kinds of clinical research jobs available; all of them will generally require at least a college education, although in some cases, direct experience can be substituted for part of formal training. Some will require a medical background. Entry level clinical research jobs will usually require that you have a bachelor's degree in medicine or science.
Clinical research associates jobs
One of the most important clinical research jobs is that of the clinical research associate. Clinical research associate jobs are considered "entry-level" in the biotechnology industry, but their duties are quite advanced. Those who are clinical research associates help set up and monitor clinical trials, keep track of developments while clinical trials are going on, and complete the clinical trials. Clinical trials can be quite complicated, and clinical research associates must also make sure that proper clinical practices are followed. They may also contribute to professional journals, reporting the results of the trials, or make presentations on the results of trials.
Clinical research nurse
If you work as a clinical research nurse, you are responsible for directing the nursing care that takes place in a research environment. You may have teams of healthcare professionals that are working in multidisciplinary fashion to address a particular treatment for a specific disease. As a clinical research nurse, a background in nursing is required. You may be in charge of helping to figure out difficulties with patient care, the best protocols for patients, and revisions that may need to be made to patients' treatment.
Clinical research coordinator
Clinical research coordinators coordinate aspects of clinical trials, including study sites' set up, and the recruitment and screening of participants for a particular drug study or trial. As a clinical research coordinator economy will also make sure that such documentation as case report forms are filled out correctly and accurately. You also help enforce clinical care guidelines to make sure that they're followed to the letter. You may work in a variety of different settings, including disease centers, biomedical companies, physicians offices or hospitals, or pharmaceutical suppliers.
Coordinators, too, must have a background in clinical experience in some capacity, as do associates. Some possible fields you may participate in to qualify for this background experience would be in pharmaceuticals, medical research, or nursing. In some cases, you can be considered for such a position if you have graduated from high school or have received your associate's degree, and have three years of experience in addition. You may also qualify for these positions if you are a registered nurse and have received the appropriate clinical research training.
Home-based clinical research jobs
It may be impossible to find home-based clinical research jobs unless you have first worked in an office or clinical setting. Although many tasks in clinical research can be performed offsite and at home as well, most clinical research jobs require that at least some of the job's duties are done on site. For example, a clinical trial leader can work off-site most of the time, but still must travel 10 to 15% of the time. As one of the jobs in clinical research, a clinical trial leader looks over documentation files to make sure that they're accurate, and also ensures that timelines, budget, and other necessary guidelines are followed exactly. These people may also help enroll patients in clinical trials.
Getting clinical research jobs
As long as you have the proper qualifications, this is a burgeoning field that's going to continue to need new candidates to fill job openings in a variety of settings. Therefore, it's quite easy to get a clinical research job with the proper background and education. A simple look through any major jobsite online should find you a number of jobs in your area based upon what you're looking for in the biotechnology industry.
Conclusion
Clinical research is an exciting field that focuses on developing, testing, and researching new drug protocols and other medical interventions to control or even cure a variety of diseases and conditions. Depending on your background and level of education, there are a number of different positions within clinical research specifically and in the biotechnology field in general you can qualify for. To qualify for higher-level positions with more responsibility, you may need to have a medical background or a nursing degree. In most cases, a college degree with some emphasis in the life sciences or clinical research is the minimum necessary. If you enjoy helping people and working with them, and if you have a strong affinity for the life sciences, you may want to consider a career in clinical research.
