Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator Job Description Duties and Responsibilities

This post provides detailed information on the assistant clinical research coordinator job description, including the key duties, tasks, and responsibilities they commonly perform.

It also highlights the major requirements you may be expected to fulfill to be hired for the assistant clinical research coordinator role.

What Does An Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator Do?

The role of an assistant clinical research coordinator entails providing support in administering and executing clinical trials, which test new medical interventions.

Assistants report directly to clinical research coordinators who lead research teams and oversee clinical studies.

They are employed by hospitals, academic research institutions, pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations, and government agencies that conduct clinical trials.

The role requires at least a Bachelor’s degree in Science or Nursing, as well as on-the-job training in research coordination.

The assistant clinical research coordinator job description includes coordinating trial schedules, processing paperwork, and collecting and entering data.

It also involves communicating with investigators and assisting with clinical procedures.

The assistant clinical research coordinator duties may also entails helping to recruit, screen, and monitor study participants.

These functions are essential to ensuring regulatory protocols are followed and trial integrity is maintained.

Additionally, assistant clinical research coordinators may take on administrative tasks, event planning, data analysis, and laboratory work.

In the U.S. and globally the role is vital for successfully coordinating compliant, ethical, and rigorous clinical trials to advance healthcare.

Employers seek assistant clinical research coordinators who are organized, detail-oriented, communicative, proficient in data analysis, and familiar with research ethics and regulations.

Also, in the U.S., assistant clinical research coordinators are overseen by the FDA as well as institutional regulatory bodies.

Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator Job Description Example/Sample/Template

The assistant clinical research coordinator job description consists of the following duties, tasks, and responsibilities:

• Coordinate and schedule patient visits, tests, interviews, and other trial activities
• Administer tests, medication, blood draws, and other clinical trial procedures
• Track patient medical histories, trial participation, and data using coordination software
• Prepare regulatory documents like ethics submissions, adverse event reports, and progress reports
• Develop recruitment plans and create educational materials to inform patient enrollment
• Conduct phone or in-person screening interviews with potential trial participants
• Guide participants through informed consent process to enroll them in trials
• Register new subjects by gathering personal/medical histories and assigning subject IDs
• Collect and compile biological samples like blood, urine, tissue for testing 
• Carefully record vital signs, test results, and other participant data per protocol
• Monitor subject safety and watch for potential adverse events during trials
• Report serious adverse events according to regulatory guidelines
• Assist investigators and project managers with all trial coordination tasks  
• Schedule trial monitoring visits from sponsors or regulatory agencies
• Maintain accurate study documentation in databases and physical files 
• Perform quality control on research data entries to ensure integrity
• Ship biological specimens and overnight test samples to laboratories 
• Organize site document requirements and submissions for sponsors/CROs
• Coordinate product storage, dispensation logs, and accountability 
• Create reports on trial progress, enrollment statistics, and site metrics
• Conduct inventory management and order trial materials/supplies 
• Assist departments with billing processes for sponsor trial services
• Plan occasional investigator meetings, training workshops, etc.
• Supervise and train new assistant clinical research coordinator hires
• Keep current on clinical research regulations and coordination procedures.

Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator Job Description for Resume

If you have worked before or are currently working as an assistant clinical research coordinator and are making a new resume or CV, then you can make a compelling Professional Experience section for the resume by applying the assistant clinical research coordinator job description example provided above.

You can highlight the duties and responsibilities you have carried out or presently performing as an assistant clinical research coordinator in your resume’s Professional Experience by utilizing the ones in the above job description example.

This shows to the recruiter/employer that you have been effective performing the assistant clinical research coordinator role, which can significantly enhance your chances of being hired for the new job that you are seeking, especially if it requires some assistant clinical research coordinator work experience.

Assistant Clinical Research Coordinators Requirements: Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities for Career Success

Here are important requirements, including skills, knowledge, and abilities that candidates for the assistant clinical research coordinator role are usually expected to fulfill to be hired:

• Outstanding organizational and coordination abilities 
• Proficiency with clinical research and medical terminology
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Comprehensive knowledge of clinical research ethics and regulations (e.g., GCP guidelines)
• Detail-oriented mindset and aptitude for managing complex schedules
• Excellence working both independently and collaboratively
• Efficiency gathering, recording, analyzing, and reporting clinical data  
• Commitment to accuracy and protocol compliance during trial execution
• Skill coordinating tasks across multiple clinical, operational, and administrative platforms
• Clinical testing administration skills (blood draws, readings)
• Ability to make good decisions from exercising sound judgment
• Familiarity with drug development processes and terminology
• Interpersonal skills to build cordial relationship with study participants
• Multitasking capability to handle high workloads 
• Proficiency with clinical trial software programs
• Clear understanding of human subject protection policies
• Resourcefulness to anticipate needs and solve problems proactively 
• Patient care experience preferred
• Bachelor’s degree in life science, nursing, research or related field.

Assistant clinical research coordinators must have a dedicated, diligent, and careful nature, as well as versatile administrative and coordination capabilities.

Superior organizational, communication, and critical thinking skills also help ACRCs manage trial processes, oversee participants, achieve milestones, and maintain regulatory standards throughout studies.

Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator Salary

The typical assistant clinical research coordinator made around $54,980 last year based on the numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Now, when we look at the top paying states, California coordinators cleaned up with $66,700.

Massachusetts came in second at $62,150. Then you had Maryland at $61,300, New Jersey at $61,120 and Connecticut rounding out the top five at $60,860.

Conclusion

An assistant clinical research coordinator may not receive the same recognition as the lead investigator or medical director, but their behind-the-scenes work makes the difference in transforming research concepts into approved treatments that save lives.

Without ethical, well-run studies, therapeutic advancements would grind to a halt.

If you find reward in facilitating medical breakthroughs through research coordination, demonstrating stringent work ethic, communicating complex healthcare information, and the self-discipline to follow protocols – then consider a career as an ACRC.

Opportunities to grow into lead clinical research coordinator roles are also abundant for stand-out assistants. 

This post has outlined the varied administrative, clinical, analytical, and operational hat that make up the assistant clinical research coordinator job description.

Though challenging, it is a career path that offers competitive salaries on par with similar healthcare roles, potential to specialize, and strong job security.

With clinical trials expanding globally each year and nursing shortages predicted, motivated associate clinical research coordinators will continue finding ample opportunities to contribute meaningfully to better patient outcomes through clinical trial support work.