How to Become a Clinical Research Coordinator: A Step-by-Step Guide.

A Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC) is a very important part of the teams that work for the field of Clinical Research. They conduct and perform the daily activities regarding the Clinical Trials and also manage them successfully. They make sure that these clinical trials follow the safety regulations and rules along with guidelines in ethics that are issued. If you are interested in wanting to enter in the field of clinical research, becoming a Clinical Research Coordinator might just be the career for you. In this blog, we will cover and walk you through a detailed guide on how to become a Clinical Research Coordinator.

Who is a Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC)?

A Clinical Research Coordinator manages and monitors the day-to-day clinical trial operations, ensuring all regulatory requirements are fulfilled, that the safety of the patients is assured, and proper data collection is. Clinical Research Coordinators ensure that the operations of the research team and doctors with their patients and with regulatory authorities work in perfect, compliant, and effective clinical trials.

"Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming a Clinical Research Coordinator"

Step 1: Understanding the Role of a Clinical Research Coordinator

Before starting your journey, it’s very important to understand what are the specific duties and role of a Clinical Research Coordinator. A CRC is responsible for overseeing the clinical trials from start to finish. Step one is to know their primary tasks, they include:

Step 2: Getting Right Education

To become a Clinical Research Coordinator, you generally need a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field. Therefore next step is to get or check if you have the right education. Those degrees are:

Step 3: Learn About Clinical Research

After completing your degree in the mentioned field above, learning about the field of Clinical Research is the next option. Therefore, the next step is to attend the courses in clinical research to learn more information and gain knowledge about clinical trials.

Step 4: Practical Experience

Having proper experience is one of the most important parts of becoming a Clinical Research Coordinator. And hence, the fourth step is to get practical experience. Here are some ways to get the practical experience needed: looking for internships in clinical research organizations (CROs), hospitals, or pharmaceutical companies. And starting with roles such as Clinical Research Assistant (CRA) or Clinical Trial Assistant (CTA) to learn the basics of the field.

Step 5: Build Your Soft Skills

In addition to technical expertise, you’ll need several soft skills to succeed as a Clinical Research Coordinator. Therefore, step five will be building your soft skills. Those include– attention to detail, that is accuracy is an important part, as even small errors can affect clinical trial results. The next skill is communication: You must effectively communicate with patients, researchers, and regulatory agencies. Next is time management and organisation, which is important because clinical research may require managing several tasks concurrently. Since things don't always go as planned during trials, you'll need to be able to solve problems fast. This brings us to our next skill: problem-solving. Gaining these abilities will ensure that you are ready for the demands of working as a clinical research coordinator.

Step 6: Obtain Certification

Despite the fact that certification is not always necessary or mandatory, obtaining one can help you gain additional benefits and enhance your credibility and experience. Therefore, obtaining certification is the next step. Certified Clinical Research Coordinator (CCRC) from the Society of Clinical Research Associates (SoCRA) and Certified Clinical Research Coordinator (CCRC) from the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) are the two most well-known certifications for clinical research coordinators.

Step 7: Look for jobs as a clinical research coordinator.

Applying for jobs as a clinical research coordinator should begin as soon as you have the required training, expertise, and certification. Make sure your resume is up to date first, and then search for job openings on sites like Indeed, LinkedIn, and others. You can prepare for the interviews beforehand, by giving mock interviews and when you feel you are ready, you can start giving actual ones.