Clinical research associates are the backbone of many different companies and hospitals’ medical trials, and there are many clinical research associate jobs available for qualified professionals. Clinical research associates can work for pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government medical research organizations, and hospitals all over the world because clinical research trials are conducted by medical professionals in a variety of industries.
Applicants should thoroughly understand the clinical research associate job description before looking for clinical research associate jobs. Clinical trials of new medical technologies and pharmaceuticals are monitored by a clinical research associate. A clinical research associate’s responsibilities include visiting a clinical trial’s site, communicating with medical researchers, reviewing case reports, and ensuring that the trial follows protocol.
The clinical research associate’s primary responsibility is to ensure that the clinical trial adheres to international quality standards for medical trials involving human subjects, known as Good Clinical Practice Guidelines. These international protocols ensure that human subjects are treated fairly in clinical trials and that newly developed medicines or medical technologies are effective. These international protocols must be fully understood by all clinical research associates, regardless of where they work.
Government agencies are one of the most common places to look for clinical research associate jobs. The US Federal Drug Administration (FDA), for example, employs a large number of clinical research associates because the agency’s researchers conduct clinical trials on all new pharmaceuticals that enter the market. Clinical research associates are also employed by similar international organizations that test drugs all over the world; clinical research associates are also frequently employed by local government agencies.
Private companies must develop and test new medical technologies before they can even be considered for FDA approval. Clinical research associate jobs can also be found at these private companies. Senior clinical research associates are employed by private biomedical research companies to develop and test new medical technologies, for example. Clinical research associates are frequently hired by pharmaceutical companies to work on-site and develop new drugs; some companies also offer contract clinical research associate jobs for clinical trials conducted by independent medical research firms. These are usually temporary jobs that last only as long as the trial.
Clinical research associate jobs are available at hospitals all over the world, in addition to government agencies and private companies. Many hospitals affiliated with a university will conduct medical trials to test new drug combinations and develop new medical technologies. Medical trials are conducted by private hospitals as well, and they can be a source of clinical research associate jobs.