Clinical Research

[tomias]

So I couldl not find what I was looking for searching threads.
I would be interested to know how anyone on this forum got involved in clinical research. What does it entail? Does it pay? How many hours a week? Where can I sign up!? I want to work for one year before I apply. Also, for the EMT's out there can I get certified in one summer? Are there any other certifications I can get during this time?

If your tired of reading please say so; I just don't want to clutter this forum with more threads.

Ok, lastly I tested out of all the science pre-reqs except for organic before I entered college. I don't think I can afford another semester, so how bad does this look when applying.

Good luck to everyone this cycle. I hope you come out with peace of mind.

🙂

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[tomias]

no one has anything to say 🙁

 

[tigress]

Okay, to begin with, what do you mean when you say you tested out of all of the science pre-reqs? Did you still take sciences in college? As long as you took upper level biology in college that's fine. But almost all schools require that you have a full year of each science IN college, not before.

As far as clinical research, it's really hard to get into. Even in Philadelphia, which has 4 MD schools and tons of research, it took me MONTHS to find a job. In the end I only got my job through a connection (my friend's father is a colleague of my current boss).

There are a lot of threads around about clinical research as a job. I'm getting excellent clinical experience, for sure. It can be very boring, as there is a TON of paperwork involved. I'm a clinical research coordinator. If you get a job as a clinical research assistant I suppose you would have less paperwork. Overall I think it's a great thing to do with a year off, but I certainly wouldn't want to do it longer (at least from this position; I'd love to be involved as a physician -- they hardly do any of the work, anyway )

It pays well for a job you can do with just a bachelor's. Most people in the field are nurses, though, at least where I am. I work full time (40+ hours a week). The hours also depend on what trials we're doing. If we have a phase I drug trial that involves hospitalization or other intense stuff I can sometimes work 14 hours in a day. My boss is awesome, though, and is very flexible with my schedule. If I ever work a ton I can take some time off later on to make up for it.

Oh, and I do both drug trials and function, non-drug studies. I work in a neurology clinic. My days consist of paperwork for the IRB and the drug companies and other collaborators, talking to patients about research, taking blood and urine samples, preparing samples in the clinic lab, doing EKGs, doing disease index questionnaires, etc. I also started working in the basic science lab as well, but that's another story (it's cool because we have one internal study that I'm doing with both mice and humans at different levels, and it's cool to see both sides of the equation -- truly transitional from basic to clinical research).

Anyway that's what I have to say about it. If you have any specific questions just ask. There really are a lot of threads about it. I'm in a talkative mood tonight so I just wrote what I thought of 🙂

 

[MarzMD]

no one has anything to say 🙁

I am a research assistant at a hospital. All I did was email the physician, and I got the job....no certifications or anything. I get 10/hr but Im sure some positions may pay more. If you have a research hospital near you, I would suggest talking to the physicians that work in the ED.

As far as testing out of classes, you should check AAMC or MSAR to see the prereqs for schools you want to apply to.

-Just like tigress said, it took me a really long time to find my job. I actually got it from posting a thread on SDN, and one of the members tipping me off to the position.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

So I couldl not find what I was looking for searching threads.
I would be interested to know how anyone on this forum got involved in clinical research. What does it entail? Does it pay? How many hours a week? Where can I sign up!? I want to work for one year before I apply. Also, for the EMT's out there can I get certified in one summer? Are there any other certifications I can get during this time?

Clinical Research:
The study I'm working on posted a "volunteer wanted, pre-meds preferred" ad on my college's undergraduate research site. I emailed them with a brief introduction and said I was interested. I got an interview, and was offered the slot. So, I started volunteering with the study. Did that for a while and then a couple of the paid RA's wanted to cut back hours so they asked me if I wanted to take on more responsibility. Oh, and they'd pay me for it. I, of course, jump on it. It pays $10/hour and I work ~10 hours a week.

One of my main tasks is meeting with the subjects and performing measurements on them -- data collection for the study. I also manage the "hotline," where participants call in weekly with updates on their status (if they don't call us, I call them). I also process some of the raw data collected so it can be sent to data entry. I also meet with the subjects at information sessions and help describe the study to them and perform eligibility exams on them (to make sure they qualify for the study). I get to do a lot of the computer stuff around the office (I have a degree in Computer Science and spent 5+ years as a professional software engineer). If they want a new report out of the database I'm the guy who whips it out. So my tasks are varied. Most of it isn't very exciting, but it is very cool to see how a clincal study is put together and the amount and type of work involved. They dangled the carrot of "you might get to do some analysis and writing on the paper and be named a co-author" out there, too. That would be the cat's pajamas, but of course they haven't made any promises. So I'm working hard, trying to earn that incentive.

EMT:
You can probably get your class done in a summer -- you just need to find a course that finishes up in that time period. My EMT course was 8 hours a week for 5 months. It was a night class: twice a week, four hour sessions. So you can definitely knock out the hours in a summer.

Once we passed the class we had to schedule our state practical exam. It took a month from when we registered to when we could take the practical exam. Once we passed that we could schedule the NREMT written exam. The next available exam in my region was another month out. From there it took a month to get my exam scored and receive my NREMT card. I went ahead got the background check done ahead of time so I would be ready. Then sent my paper work in for my state license. My EMT course started in January and finished in May. My license finally came through in September (I had to repeat the practical test once).

I just mention all of that so you can see that it takes a while to move through the red tape. It's not difficult, it just is a little slow.

Good luck!

 

[tomias]

Thanks for posting everyone.

So if I understand you clearly it is very difficult to find positions like these. Either

A. I find a connection
B. I simply keep my eyes open
C. I contact a physician doing research

Anything else I should know?
I guess I don't reall care if I am paid or not but I would like the experience in a hospital lab.
Any other helpful extracurriculars that I am missing?

Also, to the person who spelled out how to get an EMT position this is very helpful info.

 

[tigress]

I'm getting paid quite a bit more than $10 an hour, FWIW. I make enough to support my husband and myself and still save some each month (but we also pay next to nothing on groceries and have a very low-key lifestyle with few extras added in).

 

[MarzMD]

I'm getting paid quite a bit more than $10 an hour, FWIW. I make enough to support my husband and myself and still save some each month (but we also pay next to nothing on groceries and have a very low-key lifestyle with few extras added in).

You are a coordinator though. I do not envy all the paperwork you must have to do...lol Filling out CRF's is probably the most annoying thing.

 

[tigress]

You are a coordinator though. I do not envy all the paperwork you must have to do...lol Filling out CRF's is probably the most annoying thing.

VERY true. Actually dealing with the IRB is the worst part of the job, hands down. Our IRB is insane. Quieries on CRFs and adverse events are also a pain. I prefer the internal, non-drug studies. They're more interesting and involve jumping through fewer hoops.

 

[anoz]

Ditto what tigress and other responders have said here... clinical research is great for getting clinical experience.

I would add that it's even better if you can get something in a field that you are considering. I found a job in HIV clinical research on Craigslist and have learned more than I ever expected about HIV, and now feel pretty comfortable with my antiretrovirals, side effects, OIs (opportunistic infections), etc. I'm in sort of an odd position as the coordinator who hired me resigned, and I have now inherited his responsibilities in addition to my own and am now in charge of all of HIV our trials. I get lots of time with patients and docs, and like tigress, get paid decently. You will probably get more patient interaction as a clinical research associate, but more one-on-ones with docs and more intellectual challenges as a clinical research coordinator. No matter what, the paperwork is mindnumbing. The NIH sponsored stuff and phase II and III seems more exciting, but it really is study-specific. Make sure you have an idea of what kind of research they're doing to see if you find it at least remotely interesting.

As for the EMT gig, I was able to find an intensive course at UCLA over the summer. You may be able to find one near you... I think it was four weeks of 8-9 hours. The price was reasonable, and they'll help you arrange for the cert test. But like the other writer said, be careful about WHO is certifying you and make sure you can get certified through the national registry, if no immediately, then soon, or you'll forget some of the nitty gritty details. I learned the hard way that LA county is NOT part of the national registry (or at least not when I was there). I haven't been so lucky finding work as an EMT, but that really depends on local markets, and others on here seem to have found challenging work. Regardless, you learn good basic skills that are good to know. Good luck.