Clinical Research Associate Job Description, Duties, and Responsibilities

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

It also highlights the major requirements you may be expected to meet to be hired for the clinical research associate role by most employers/recruiters.

What Does a Clinical Research Associate Do?

A clinical research associate is a healthcare professional who performs many activities related to medical research and clinical trials.

The clinical research associate job description entails monitoring clinical trials, working directly with the sponsor company as an independent freelancer or for a contract research organization.

They ensure compliance with clinical trials protocols, check clinical site activities, and communicate with clinical research coordinators.

Their role also ensures the protection of rights, safety and well being of human study subjects.

Research associates perform clinical trials to determine the effectiveness of drugs, their risk and benefits, to ensure that they are safe for public consumption.

Clinical trials may be carried out at various stages which involve trials on healthy humans and trials on patients with diseases to test its effect.

The clinical research associate’s work description also entails coordinating and processing results gained from long term testing of drugs, products, and medical procedures.

In addition to ensuring that trials stay on track with clinical objectives/federal regulations, research associates may analyze data, create reports, make presentations, monitor individual cases of test participants/family members, and use reference material to conduct additional research.

They also maintain databases of patient information, draft correspondence and gather data used in budgeting and granting proposals.

Clinical research associates are employed by pharmaceutical companies, scientific research organizations, academic institutions or government agencies.

To be hired for this job, you will need to have a Bachelor’s degree or postgraduate qualification in nursing, life sciences, or medical sciences.

The qualities to have to succeed on the job include excellent communication skills both written and spoken, ability to motivate others, numeracy, eye for details, good organizational, and administrative skills.

Clinical Research Associate Job Description Example/Template

Clinical research associates perform various functions in ensuring clinical trials conform to set objectives.

The job description example below highlights common duties, tasks, and responsibilities that make up the clinical research associate activities in most organizations:

• Develop and outline the purpose and methodology of trials
• Present trial protocols to a leading committee
• Manage regulatory authority applications and approvals that oversee the research and marketing of new and existing drugs
• Identify and assess the suitability of facilities to be used at a clinical trial site
• Document site visits, issue reports, and follow-up letters to a site
• Visit trial sites on regular basis to conduct clinical trials on new drugs or medical procedures
• Monitor the trial throughout its duration
• Discuss results with a medical statistician who usually writes technical trial reports
• Respond to company, clients, and federal regulatory audits
• Contribute to the project team by sharing reasonable ideas and suggestions with them
• Monitor new members and assists in the preparation of project tools
• Archive study documentation and correspondence
• Prepare the final report and occasionally manuscript for publication.

Requirements – Skills, Abilities, and Knowledge – for Clinical Research Associate Job

Here are major requirements most employers will want you to meet to qualify for an interview if you are looking to work as a clinical research associate:

• Education and Training: To become a clinical research associate, you require a Bachelor’s degree in life science courses such as pharmacology, pharmacy, biochemistry, physiology, or toxicology. It may also be in a medical science field such as nursing, medicine, or dentistry. It is an advantage with some companies to have a relevant master’s degree in any of the above fields usually with at least an upper second class honors. It also requires experience in nursing, pharmacy, medical sales, and clinical laboratory work
• IT Skills: The clinical research associate requires good IT skills to be able to effectively apply computerized processes, including clinical trial management and electronic data capture systems to document and record information
• Communication Skill: Research associates should have excellent communication skills (both written and verbal) so as to be able to build effective relationships with trial center staff and colleagues
• Statistical Skill: They must be good problem-solvers with a solid understanding of scientific data collection and management methods.

Conclusion

If you are hiring for the clinical research associate job and need to make a good description to publish to attract the best candidates to your offer, you can apply the sample job description in this post to create one for your organization.

You will also find this post useful if you are interested in this career and desire to learn about it. The duties and responsibilities of the role highlighted in this article will certainly broaden your knowledge about it.