STEPS TO BECOME A CLINICAL RESEARCH COORDINATOR

Introduction to CRC

A clinical research coordinator plays a critical role in the clinical trial. CRC supports and coordinates the clinical trial activities and facilitates the study's conduct. Fundamentally, research coordinator is responsible for the daily data management activities. In the process, he has to comply with the GCP guidelines, etc.

Who is a CRC?

A CRC or clinical research coordinator, who is also termed a clinical trial manager, specialized research professional who works under the guidance of the principal investigator. Clinical trial coordinator has to supervise clinical research and drug trials and provide insights on preventive care, immunization, curing diseases, etc. A clinical research coordinator administers drug interventions, drug devices, and other procedures involving clinical research. CRC would oversee all the activities relating to recruitment, screening of participants, collecting data and creating reports to present to the principal investigator.

What are the responsibilities of a clinical research coordinator?

A clinical research coordinator has several administrative tasks to be performed daily. Apart from these administrative tasks, CRC acts as a Liaison for the clinical site. CRC is responsible for recruiting and registering the participants, training them properly and adhering to and maintaining the study guidelines properly. A clinical research coordinator should collect and review the data collected properly before entering the data into the database.

Apart from the CRC responsibilities mentioned above, typically, a clinical researcher should:

Make sure of the safety of the participants, supplies and materials used in the clinical trials

Make sure all clinical trials adhere to government regulations and ethical standards.

Design a robust training plan and program for the participants and the staff

Collect, review and maintain the data in a trusted database

Prepare budgets and calculate the cost-benefit analysis

Act as a single point of contact for all the participants for any queries and questions

Oversee the daily activities of the research team

Conduct meetings, events and seminars to promote clinical research

What are the qualifications needed to become a clinical research coordinator?

You should gain a solid conceptual knowledge of English, Math, and Science. To become a clinical research coordinator, you should hold a bachelor’s degree in medical sciences, life sciences, clinical research, health science or biological sciences. A bachelor’s course is suitable for getting an entry-level clinical research job.

If you aspire to get into supervisory or managerial roles in clinical research, then it is advised that you have a master’s degree in clinical research.

How to obtain clinical research associate certification?

You can obtain a clinical research associate certification in two ways:

1. The Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP)

2. The Society of Clinical Research Associates (SOCRA)

3. The Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP)

The Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) offers a clinical research associate certification. Though it is not mandatory to have this certification to have a successful career, a certification in “Clinical research associate” will endorse your skill and will differentiate you from the other clinical research coordinators.;

To obtain the clinical research associate certification, you must have the following:

A bachelor’s or master’s degree

Three thousand hours of experience as a clinical research associate

If you already have a CCRC, CPI or ACRP-CP certification, then you only need fifteen hundred hours of work experience.

If you have a degree in clinical research, then you only have to gain fifteen hundred hours of work experience.

What preparation is needed to write the clinical research associate certification?

If you aspire to the clinical research associate certification, you must complete twenty-four hours of continued education. You should also submit proof of employment and an updated resume.

Once you pass the certification exam, you should recertify every two years to keep the certification active.

The Society of Clinical Research Associates (SOCRA)

The Society of Clinical Research Associates (SOCRA) offers a certification in Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP).

To obtain the clinical research associate certification, you must have the following:

You should have three thousand five hundred hours of clinical research experience part-time in the last five years or two full-time years of experience in clinical research.

One year of full-time experience in clinical research with a valid degree in clinical research

One year of full-time experience with a bachelor’s degree in health science or any other associated degree.

The Certified Clinical Research Professional professionals should complete forty-five hours of continued education and be recertified every three years to keep the certification alive.

What is the difference between The Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) certification and The Society of Clinical Research Associates (SOCRA)

The difference between the certifications offered by both associations is that ACRP certifies only clinical research associates, while SOCRA certifies other clinical research professionals. So, depending on your career need, be wise and select the certification required.

Other certifications for clinical research professionals

ACRP Certified Professional (ACRP-CP): This certification validates the knowledge as a clinical research professional

Clinical Research Coordinator (CCRC): This certification validates the knowledge as a clinical research coordinator

Clinical Research Associate (CCRA): This certification validates the knowledge as a clinical research associate

Principal Investigator (CPI): This certification validates the knowledge as a principal investigator

ACRP Medical Device Professional Subspecialty (ACRP-MDP): This certification validates the knowledge of medical device trials

ACRP Project Manager Subspecialty: This certification validates the knowledge of project management within clinical research

What kind of jobs can clinical research professionals get?

A clinical research coordinator has several options to work at pharmaceutical companies, healthcare organizations, government and private hospitals, healthcare research centres, etc. As clinical research coordinator, you will get challenging research work to work on the prevention of mental illness, genetic diseases, behavioural disorders, etc.

How much salary can a clinical research coordinator obtain?

The salary depends on the skill and experience of the research coordinator. The salary range can be $68,057–$208,000, depending on the experience and the place of work. They may get paid $23.32–$31.01 per hour.

Conclusion

Join the clinical research coordinator course and sharpen your skills to take up a dynamic career.