Jobs in the clinical research industry are booming as new healthcare technology, drugs, and systems are tested to alleviate suffering and improve health outcomes. Many people who have a background in healthcare fields (such as medicine, nursing, physio, etc) or biomedical sciences research and have worked in “wet lab” settings consider transferring their skills and starting a new career in clinical research. For anyone who wants to transition to a new career in the clinical research field be it in academia or performing trials for pharmaceutical companies, CROs (contract research organizations), or hospital based research institutes, these are some of the most important steps to follow:
Step 1: Identify your transferrable skills
The most important first step is to go through a bunch of job postings for the kind of roles you are looking for. In Canada, my go to job websites to look for current roles in clinical research are Indeed and LinkedIn. Apart from job websites, I also like to make a list of the companies and organizations where I would love to work and I keep their website’s career pages bookmarked on my web browser. In this first step it is important to go through many of these dream roles and read through the required qualifications, skills and experiences and highlight what you already have and what you need to get before landing these roles. Now, remember that not every candidate will have 100% of the requirements, but we will strive to gain at least 60-70% of these before we have a realistic shot at the jobs.
Step 2: Gain academic training
Based on the list of transferrable skills, you need to determine if you already have the kind of academic training needed for this role, or if you need a little bit more of schooling. Sometimes you will notice the jobs require any kind of health sciences or public health background, some prefer a nursing degree and so on. If you already meet the requirements, you can move on to the next step. For many candidates who are transferring over from a social sciences or biomedical sciences background and have limited academic training, it may be a good idea to get a PGD (Post Graduate Diploma) or a post-graduate certification in clinical research. For some, you may need or want a Master’s degree in clinical epidemiology or health sciences. For others, you may not need any additional training over what you already have. If you are confused about whether or not you need more schooling, and if yes, what kind of program is right for you, you can always book a career consultation session with an expert in your field here.
Step 3: Complete short certificate requirements
Even if you decide not to go back to school for additional academic training, there are many short and simple courses you can do online which are often mandatory requirements of clinical research roles. These often take less than a day to complete and include certificates on TCPS2, ICH-GCP, TDG, CPR-AED & Emergency First Aid, among others.
Step 4: Complete a FREE Crash Course
One of the most important and easy things you can do, is to learn the very basics of how clinical trials function. If you want to do all of that in a few short hours, there are plenty of FREE online crash course videos available on Youtube that you can watch. At minimum, you will become familiar with the industry-specific terminology and gain an overview of how things function.
Step 5: Learn the software skills
Many of the roles in the clinical research industry prefer to hire individuals who already have some training and experience in using the specific kind of software tools they use in that team. This saves many hours of training time and allows the candidate to hit the ground running once they join. Similar to the overall crash courses, you can either watch online videos or download trial versions of the software and play around with a sample dataset to become familiar with it in your free time. Some of the common softwares they want you to know include data capture tools such as REDCap, some qualitative research tools like NVivo, Statistical analysis tools like SPSS/SAS/R, some Electronic Medical Records databases such as EPIC, among others.
Step 6: Gain relevant work experience
If you feel that you do not have enough experience in interacting with various patient populations or performing research functions, the best way forward is to start by gaining experience through volunteering. You can apply to volunteer positions at clinics, hospitals, as well as on research teams and gain valuable exposure and work experience. These will also allow you to network with people in that field and gather professional references.
Step 7: Restructure your resume and cover letter
Now that you are changing your industry and starting a new career, it is time to give up on your old resume and cover letter and start afresh. Stop putting in everything you have ever done on your CV and rather tailor it to the industry and the role you are applying for. This is where many candidates fail to put their best selves forward and end up not getting job interviews. You can start by watching some basic videos on how to design a resume for an entry level clinical research role or meet with an expert who can help you tailor the resume to the dream jobs you have.
Step 8: Set realistic expectations
It is important to have a realistic idea of how long it may take you to land a full time or permanent role in the industry in a position that you will love and enjoy. Many candidates apply to 5-10 jobs and when they do not hear back, they give up on their dreams of becoming a clinical research coordinator. That is counterintuitive to your goals and so speak to friends in the industry or an expert career consultant to get an idea of how long you may need, how many jobs to apply to before expecting interview call backs. It is also important to now you may only get internships and part time research assistant roles for the first few months or years before you are given more responsibility as a clinical research coordinator. If you set a realistic expectation, you are much more likely to succeed. Good luck!
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