Be a Certified Professional in Clinical Research Training

Any medicine or medical product has to undergo clinical trials at various stages before they can be produced at a large scale and launched into the market. Pharmaceutical companies and research organizations conduct these trials to scientifically study the benefits, side effects, safety, and effectiveness of the products they are developing. Clinical trials are conducted on healthy humans as well as patients with certain disease or diseases to enable the study of medicine in a controlled environment. A Clinical Research Associate is the person responsible for initiating and conducting these clinical trials while ensuring the safety of human subjects as well as adherence to rules and regulations laid down by the government and medical authorities in this regard.

Clinical Research Industry in India is growing at an unprecedented rate of 30% annually. By 2010, it will grow to Rs 5,000 crores and it is estimated that in the next five years, India will require 50,000 trained professionals in the field, about one-fifth of the employment projections in the entire world. The main reasons for India to emerge as a global destination for clinical trials and research and is receiving such an attention from research organizations (CRO) in the US and the UK is because the country offers a large pool of patient population as well as trained medical and life science professionals and doctors. With a population of over one billion, patients can easily be recruited for less in India. Moreover, trained professionals in India have the ability to communicate in English. There are over 15,000 hospitals across India and an infrastructure of international standards is easily available too.

In India, you can find institutes that offer specific career training programs in this field. But one should be very careful while investing their money in a training program. The key to finding a good institute is to see the experience and qualification of its instructors and contacts of the institute. Different career options in Clinical Research for which you can earn diplomas and certificates at an institute includes Clinical Operations that include posts like Coordinators, Investigator, and Medical Advisor; Data Management that includes Medical Coder, Quality Control and Assurance Manager, Statistician, and SAS Programmer; Pharmacovigilance and Drug Safety experts; Medical Writers, Regulatory Writers, and Publishing Managers; and best paying Managerial positions such as Clinical Research Project Manager, Supplies and Logistic Manager and Clinical Data Manager.

Institutes that offer career training programs as well as deal with contract negotiation and management projects and other related projects in the field for well known pharmaceutical companies, CROs, independent consultants, and central laboratories, are better as they can prepare students for practical practices outside training environment. A novice in the field can expect as much as Rs 15,000 to Rs 40,000 per month, which is pretty good when you consider what graduates usually earn these days. With experience, the salary package grows at an exponential rate. Salaries, however, may vary depending on the size and type of pharmaceutical company or CRO you are working with. Trained and certified professionals in the field of Clinical Research have a bright future ahead and find it easier to prove their ability and worth.