hey guys ECR G here back with another episode
today I've got a really good question from a subscriber who asked me this
question about how they can become a CRA so if you're interested in asking any
questions about anything dealing with clinical research or maybe even some
life in general or life around clinical research email me a leak clinical group
at gmail.com or you can post a comment down below if you're listening on
youtube or if you're listening on the podcast just email me Ali clinical group
at gmail.com so we're gonna get into this question but first I want to just
let you guys know if you didn't know already for an even new subscribers
we've had a lot of growth over the past months so we just let you guys know we
do offer resume reviews I know that's been really helpful for a lot of people
looking to take their resume to the next level in clinical research there are a
lot of people out there who don't know what their strengths are what their
weaknesses are and how to really translate that into the interview to
maximize your success in front of hiring managers and recruiters so we do all
that with our resume reviews they are comprehensive we get down and dirty in
your resume and you're gonna come out a whole much better applicant and you're
pretty much guaranteed to increase your chances to getting a job in clinical
research they're gonna increase your chance tremendously so email me Ali
clinical group at gmail.com if you're interested in that it is a great value
great bang for your buck and also we do interview prep also so if you're
interested in that just shoot me an email so let's go ahead and get into it
so this person commented and emailed me actually and their question has to deal
with how to be a CRA in China so this person says I recently commented on your
videos asking about how and how someone can become a CRA in the USA
I am from Ghana I did my MBBS in China and I currently reside in China so not
really familiar with the overseas degrees as much this person says I hold
up b1 b2 visa which is a non-immigrant visa once again don't really know what
that is I would like to know the pathway to take I also want to know what
qualifications can make a person upgrade to a higher position in the field since
I have mentioned that some degrees make you over qualify for entry-level
positions Thanks all right so I've been getting a
lot of questions recently about people in other countries wanting to come to
the u.s. to do clinical research and that's interesting because clinical
research the first thing you got to understand is clinical research is a
global industry so there are companies I mean you get these mega conglomerates IQ
via best CEOs health you've got PPD you got parks L Charles
River laboratories I mean the list goes on and on you got these huge companies
and we haven't even gotten to the pharmaceutical companies yet ad V Pfizer
Bayer you've got all these huge huge companies Merck Roche billions and
billions of dollars these are global conglomerates they have operations all
over the world so you you do not have to think about just coming to the USA
coming to the USA you know I've worked with CRA
base in Latin America I've worked with cra-z Japan there's series all over the
world so you didn't so the USA is not the only place you have to go to to
become a CRA I think just because a lot of the content in clinical research is
being produced from the USA I'm based in the USA I know Dan at the clinical
trials gurus base in the USA most of the other YouTube people are based in the
USA so you think the only place to go to do clinical research is the USA but that
is not true clinical research is a global enterprise
it is a global industry so you can work anywhere in the world and do clinical
research now because a lot of these companies have huge presences and
may be headquartered or have certain headquarters in the USA it may seem like
it's easier to get a job in clinical research in the USA but that's not
always the case for example Roche I believe is based in Switzerland and I
don't know I'm not gonna go through all of them Roche is a pharmaceutical
company for those that don't know they're I think they make the made the
most money you can go look back at my top pharmaceutical companies video of
2018 I think they made forty four billion dollars so they were number one
but Roche Merck I mean these are global companies they got headquarters all over
the world if not I mean these are companies that have multiple
headquarters probably one in Europe one in the USA so that I mean that's just
the level that they're playing with so look if I was in your position in China
so I'm not really sure about the b1 b2 visa but I would stay in China to be
honest with you I would not try and come to the USA look you have your degree in
China you've lived there you know how to work there I would know in China China
is a huge market right now it is underrepresented I think on the internet
just because of their you know their rules and things of that they have their
own kind of YouTube platforms and things of that nature
you got to use like VPNs and stuff to access the outside Internet anyway
China is something that you should definitely consider standing I mean just
glancing the internet I see IQ via has a clinical research associate training
program in Shanghai so and you know this was just posted in August so you know
this is something that you should definitely look into there are companies
I mean let's go their website IQ via has a great presence so it's safe to say
that other companies are gonna have a great presence in China too you just got
to look on the internet justjust look for jobs and you know all these
companies I'm just looking at IQ you right now that's the top zero
they have operations out of China so I would definitely do your research
look at all these companies look at the pharmaceutical companies ask your
friends they do have a clinical research industry
I saw one estimate that says they're looking to go from a hundred and forty
billion dollar industry to one hundred eighty billion dollar industry by 2020
by 2022 its 2018 right now so moult ten billion dollars a year and growth in
four years so this is definitely something you want to ride and ride that
wave I think I did some a little bit of research before this video it looks like
China there's not as a lot of regulations with their clinical trials
yet so there those regulations are gonna be tithing tightening which is good for
people that want to be CRA s because you know see arrays basically help sites
navigate those regulations you know there's only such thing as a CRA because
of those regulations so that's good you can get in in other ways also project
management you know these these big pharma companies have private management
just you know do a little bit of research they're entry-level jobs etc
etc when it comes to China but there's plenty plenty of opportunity in China so
that's where I would stay and pharmaceutical companies paid well so
you could have a good life living in China also if you if you know other
languages you can also go elsewhere I know Japan I know Europe if you can go
over to Europe France Netherlands United Kingdom I've worked with people in all
of these places so I know there's operations there there's opportunity
there so you just got it you've got to kind of do your research and look around
ask people Network and kind of you know just you know just be open to these
possibilities but if I was in your position I would stay in China and ride
that wave other thing you said what degrees could over qualify you for
entry-level positions alright this is a u.s. thing but
typically like person with an MD degree in the USA you know applying to be a
clinical trial assistant they're not going to take that person
seriously because an MD supposed to make $200,000 a year about where a clinical
trial assistant is supposed to make maybe $40,000 or a little bit better so
they're gonna say oh this person is gonna expect to get paid six figures or
better and we only have $40,000 for them so they're just throw out their resume
that's what it means by overqualified even if even if you think even if they
know that the MD person is going to you know take the job they're thinking that
they're not gonna last long on that job because I'm gonna get bored easily
they're gonna feel like they're being underpaid and they're gonna leave
quickly so there are a lot of reasons why they're not going to take someone
who's quote-unquote under-qualified into that position not just about the money
now once again that's the us thing China is different they have different customs
than the USA they have different belief system I don't know how it is there I
hope to go to China one day but I have not yet I do not understand the belief
system I only understand on it you know what I know a basic a basic even less
than basic level so that's something you would know better if someone with your
qualifications having the MBBS degree in China if they could get their foot in
the door in clinical research at an entry-level role maybe maybe not but
what I would do is try and use that degree get into maybe a medical science
liaison role get into a medical affairs role any type of maybe protocol writing
you could do medical writing role these these are positions that they're likely
going to have in the pharmaceutical industry clinical research industry in
China find out what those positions are that people do when they do not want to
practice medicine get into a pharmaceutical role and you know this is
a great way actually if you really want to come to the USA is get into a company
that's willing to that has maybe operations in the USA and then get them
to ship you over here so that's what I would consider you know get linked up
with like maybe a GlaxoSmithKline or qvo whoever has operations in the USA
work for them and then you can come over the USA so you can hit two birds with
one stone if you really want to be in the USA but like I said if I was in your
position I'd probably stay in China just because I think the opportunity is much
better I think China over the long term has a much as a I think China will be
the number one superpower and in our lifetime for sure and I think USA trades
a lot on brand I think you know just because Americans are a little bit more
bombastic you know a lot of our media is out there and the world consumes our
media people seem to think it's this like amazing great place and it's the
end-all be-all that's not true other countries are rising you see
Africa you see China and China is having explosive growth right now so if I was
there especially in your position you have a great opportunity to ride that
wave so I would strongly consider that also so I think that's about it for this
so any other questions any follow-up questions you can email me Ali clinical
group at gmail.com anyone else has any questions comment down below and enjoy
this guy's I hope you enjoyed this take this hot take on you know being a CRA in
China take care
you