Career for CRAs
You think you are a great candidate to become a CRA but already want to know which career paths might wait for you? That’s great and we are happy to share some of the most common development areas with you. Please do not consider this list as complete – there are so many ways to find your place and go your way in this diverse industry, also based on your company structure, your background or in case that your interests change at a later point in your career.
Most of the CRAs start in an entry position which might be CRA I or Inhouse CRA and then further develop to the more senior levels of a CRA II and Senior CRA with more responsibility, rather difficult projects, rare diseases or early phase studies. At this point there are a couple of next steps because with more experience and enhanced knowledge you may want to move up the ladder. The most common way might be to become a Clinical Team Lead and oversee a project and the assigned CRAs on a regional or even global level. From that point the next steps might be to become a project manager and to continue your journey.
Others decide to develop into the role of an auditor to conduct quality control visits with focus on processes to ensure sites and CRAs are doing a great job. In this area there are also a lot of different possibilities to take your career to the next level.
Maybe you find out that you are great as a team leader and manager and decide to continue your journey as a Line Manager / Clinical Operations Manager with responsibility for your team, their deliveries or trainings and the quality of their work. This includes to develop your CRAs so that they are able to take the next steps in their career.
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Physicians might find their next challenges as a medical monitor, discussing difficult medical conditions or adverse events with the investigators to ensure patient safety and help to ensure inclusion or exclusion criteria for their subjects are met.
As a pharmacist you might decide to join a drug safety and pharmacovigilance team.
In most companies there are a lot of different departments involved in the preparation, management and conduct of a clinical trial so there is a wide range of possibilities to discover!
President and Founder
1 个月Or you can stay CRA for the rst of you carter, specializing on a specific area, or in processes and become mentor for new generation of CRAs, helping in developpement of New processes to fit with field needs, .... Dont look for a "Title" , just look for a position/role that you want to do. Nevers forget that you'll spend 1/3 of your Day at work! ??
Join 400+ members inside CRAConnect Community - a space for Clinical Research Associates
1 个月As a career path for CRAs, I wouldn't forget about the infinite other opportunities outside of clinical operations. Especially nowadays, thanks to innovation and technology playing such a huge role in clinical research. Sometimes we get stuck in this pyramid model of too many CRAs, very few Study Managers, fewer Project Managers, a basically a bunch of higher management level roles. Many CRAs touch ceiling. Perhaps it's time to look broader. ??
CEO and BD Director at Leon Research - Member of AICROS
1 个月Absolutely! In León Research all our operational management team has been CRA previously! And we provide training to manage the required skills to become an excellent manager. Being CRA is just the beggining!