Clinical Research - What counts?

[psychyogini]

I am trying to get some clinical research experience to both help my application to PhD programs in Clinical Psych and to make sure that this is something that I want to do for the foreseeable future. I have a volunteer opportunity, but I see various for-pay opportunities to apply to at Hopkins, for which I may actually be qualified. However, none are specifically oriented to Clinical Psych and all are under the School of Medicine. There are some that are in neuropsychiatry, behavioral medicine, and related fields. Would this be something, assuming I could get a position as a Research Assistant, that would suffice for clinical research experience on my CV? I am looking to apply in 2012, so I have some time to get a "real job" but Clinical Psych research positions seem few and far between. Just not sure what's more important - to work in a clinical psych lab or to find a potentially more substantial position in a related field.

Any help is much appreciated!

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[krisrox]

I am trying to get some clinical research experience to both help my application to PhD programs in Clinical Psych and to make sure that this is something that I want to do for the foreseeable future. I have a volunteer opportunity, but I see various for-pay opportunities to apply to at Hopkins, for which I may actually be qualified. However, none are specifically oriented to Clinical Psych and all are under the School of Medicine. There are some that are in neuropsychiatry, behavioral medicine, and related fields. Would this be something, assuming I could get a position as a Research Assistant, that would suffice for clinical research experience on my CV? I am looking to apply in 2012, so I have some time to get a "real job" but Clinical Psych research positions seem few and far between. Just not sure what's more important - to work in a clinical psych lab or to find a potentially more substantial position in a related field.

Any help is much appreciated!

Yep, it counts! Look for research coordinator positions if you want a more "real job" feel. Anything remotely related to the field or your interests will probably suffice. Make sure you're going to be doing more than entering data, though. Also, the research doesn't have to be clinical or applied in any way. It will still give you good experience if it isn't.

 

[Goodluckchuck]

Yep, it counts! Look for research coordinator positions if you want a more "real job" feel. Anything remotely related to the field or your interests will probably suffice. Make sure you're going to be doing more than entering data, though. Also, the research doesn't have to be clinical or applied in any way. It will still give you good experience if it isn't.

Hi there!

Just had to put in my two cents here. I personally would stay VERY CLEAR of research coordinator positions for a couple reasons. Number one, at least from my direct experience a research coordinator position is exactly what it sounds like- you are a coordinator of different studies thus you may not get optimum hands on experience such as learning how to administer psychometric evaluations, etc. Number two, you will not learn as much relevant information from coordinating research as you would from being a research assistant. Being a coordinator means you are behind the scenes of various studies and are somewhat sidelined. It will give you great experience if you plan to become an event coordinator, but will give you (as it gave me) shallow experience in the world of clinical psychology. None the less, it will certainly look good on your CV, so I can't fault 'Krisrox' too much for the advice 🙂

 

[PsychPhDone]

I am trying to get some clinical research experience to both help my application to PhD programs in Clinical Psych and to make sure that this is something that I want to do for the foreseeable future. I have a volunteer opportunity, but I see various for-pay opportunities to apply to at Hopkins, for which I may actually be qualified. However, none are specifically oriented to Clinical Psych and all are under the School of Medicine. There are some that are in neuropsychiatry, behavioral medicine, and related fields. Would this be something, assuming I could get a position as a Research Assistant, that would suffice for clinical research experience on my CV? I am looking to apply in 2012, so I have some time to get a "real job" but Clinical Psych research positions seem few and far between. Just not sure what's more important - to work in a clinical psych lab or to find a potentially more substantial position in a related field.

Any help is much appreciated!

THings like that should cut it! I did my RA-ship in a school of medicine. People in school of med tend to be grant-funded, and they can run some really cool trials. For what it's worth, Research Assistant and Research Coordinator were synonyms where I worked.

 

[roubs]

Hi there!

Just had to put in my two cents here. I personally would stay VERY CLEAR of research coordinator positions for a couple reasons. Number one, at least from my direct experience a research coordinator position is exactly what it sounds like- you are a coordinator of different studies thus you may not get optimum hands on experience such as learning how to administer psychometric evaluations, etc. Number two, you will not learn as much relevant information from coordinating research as you would from being a research assistant. Being a coordinator means you are behind the scenes of various studies and are somewhat sidelined. It will give you great experience if you plan to become an event coordinator, but will give you (as it gave me) shallow experience in the world of clinical psychology. None the less, it will certainly look good on your CV, so I can't fault 'Krisrox' too much for the advice 🙂

I would disagree with this. My position before grad school was research coordinator and I did administer tests and did not feel sidelined. There is always administrative work involved but I did nothing that I thought could lead me into a career in event planning...

 

[Goodluckchuck]

I would disagree with this. My position before grad school was research coordinator and I did administer tests and did not feel sidelined. There is always administrative work involved but I did nothing that I thought could lead me into a career in event planning...

That's actually great, Roubs. Looks like you got lucky 🙂 I've talked to multiple people who accepted jobs as research coordinators (who were interested in clinical psychology) and have characterized it as one of the most impetuous decisions they have made. Bottom line....if you want in depth experience in the domain of psychopathology, go with a paid research assistant position rather than a research coordinator position. The R.C. position may pay more, but not worth it in the end. Although you would make a wonderful greek wedding planner 🙂 Just kidding Roubs

 

[ehh2109]

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[PsychPhDone]

👍

In many labs, research coordinators do the more complex work that requires more training (such as diagnostic interviews, administration of neuropsych tests, etc.) while research assistants do the more mundane things they can be taught by the coordinator (putting together participant folders, data entry, running computer tasks with participants, etc.). I don't think there is any set list of responsibilities for either of those job titles, so it is much more important to apply EVERYWHERE that interests you and not worry about what exactly the position will entail unless you get an interview...in which case, you can find out if it is really what you're looking for.

 

[Ollie123]

Going to have side with those defending the coordinator roles here...I think this is going to be highly dependent on the particular setting. Everyplace I have worked, the RAs are the ones doing the absolute grunt work who are rarely trusted with anything beyond their ability to follow carefully written instructions. The coordinators are the ones who do anything the least bit science-y and are the ones supervising the RAs (so if the coordinator hasn't learned it, the RA certainly isn't going to be learning it).

That said, I agree with the notion that you need to make sure the experience is a good one, I just think particular job titles differ too much across institutions (or potentially even across labs within institutions) to restrict where you apply based solely off that. Learn what you can beforehand, go on interviews, and make sure you find a job that does allow you good opportunities, whatever the title may be.

 

[Goodluckchuck]

In many labs, research coordinators do the more complex work that requires more training (such as diagnostic interviews, administration of neuropsych tests, etc.) while research assistants do the more mundane things they can be taught by the coordinator (putting together participant folders, data entry, running computer tasks with participants, etc.). I don't think there is any set list of responsibilities for either of those job titles, so it is much more important to apply EVERYWHERE that interests you and not worry about what exactly the position will entail unless you get an interview...in which case, you can find out if it is really what you're looking for.

Fantastic points. I guess in my experience, the coordinators certainly did LEARN how to administer diagnostic evaluations along with other complex responsibilities. However, these learned skills were just passed down to the research assistants who got to have all the fun while the coordinator focused primarily on administrative work relating to the studies 😕 It seems like some of you had better experiences being a research coordinator. But hey, you darn right that it all depends on where you work 🙂