so I am new to clinical research and I've heard a lot about these
certificates do I need a certificate in clinical trials we're gonna answer that
question right after the intro hey guys ECR G here back with another episode
today we're gonna be talking about one of the questions we got from one of our
subscribers so if you're not already subscribed and you're listening to this
video right now go ahead and subscribe whether you're listening to the podcast
or watching on YouTube go ahead and subscribe right now so one of our
subscribers emailed in at Ally clinical group at gmail.com a question and I'm
gonna read the email she sent in right here so you guys can get a gist she said
I am writing to you with some questions about how to start my career path in
clinical research I have watched a few of your YouTube videos and I must admit
they are really helpful I just graduated Medical University in Poland as a master
of laboratory Diagnostics in health science I would like to work in Clinical
Research somewhere abroad and currently I am looking for some prost graduate
courses where I'd be able to obtain their certificate my question is if you
think this would help me to find first job and if you know any good
universities schools where I would be able to get their certificate I have
seen most of them provided on provided online through through online studying
but maybe you know any universities that provide the classes on campus the
country isn't really the problem I would be grateful for any tips so obviously I
love these type of questions because I love the fact that we have an
international audience now that's awesome so we're getting questions from
all over the world a lot of people are interested in clinical trials and
clinical research that's awesome so thank you to this person I'm not
going to mention their name for your question and so let's go ahead and get
right into it yes there are opportunities out there to get
clinical trial certificates but do I recommend them to someone without any
experience the answer is no I feel like they are very very useful to people with
experience you've got the CCR P which is the main
one I would recommend it's very difficult it takes you have to in order
to be able to sit for it it takes at least two years of experience but often
times many many more there are people with many many years of experience who
take that certificate if ocation and still don't pass so it's very difficult
and that's the one I do recommend the other ones are kind of by outside
organizations a little sketchy because you know they might just be trying to
make some money or something but they are out there and of course it's not
gonna hurt your resume by having a certificate on it especially if you're
new to clinical research have no experience it's not going to hurt but if
you're somebody who doesn't necessarily have a lot of money a lot of dollars I
don't recommend you getting it because that having certifications having that
book knowledge is not what they really care about they care about experience do
you have previous experience now why do sponsors and CEOs care so much about
experience the only reason why they care about it is because that's what the
sponsors want the sponsors dictate the industry
don't forget CEOs even though they're big and make billions of dollars they're
just glorified vendors of the sponsors they're just literally a vendor the
sponsor hires them to run the clinical trial so anything the sponsor does or
once the CRO is going to do they're going to follow suit so I think a lot of
people get that confused but the reason why they want two years experience to
become a CRA or because or if they want experience
people to be in those entry-level jobs or to be in any job when you're working
on a study is because that's what the sponsor wants the sponsor seems to think
that the more experience you have you know the better and less money the
clinical trial is gonna be and you know that might be the case sometimes but
they're beginning to think that competency is more important than the
actual number of years of experience but we're not gonna go down that rabbit hole
and video but basically the the reason why
experience is needed over the the certifications is because the sponsors
want it and the sponsors really dictate that so one you're based in Poland I'm
not too versed on how clinical trials works in Poland I mean the opportunities
in Poland or the EU or the rest of the world for that matter other than America
and Canada or the North American regions but I imagine that there's more
opportunity in America because the clinical trials clinical
research is big business and they hire a lot of people top three markets are
going to be Raleigh Durham area Boston in the Northeast you got New Jersey
Pennsylvania and Boston you've got a lot of sponsors there and you've got San
Diego LA those are top three markets in America for clinical trials so I would
definitely look there if you're trying to come to America and you know those
are probably you're gonna be gonna be your best bets if you're trying to get
in the industry but I know there are clinical trials run everywhere I've
worked with people in Mexico before I've worked with people in South America
before Brazil Sao Paulo I've worked in people that are based in Great Britain
also before in Amsterdam so you've got people all over the world doing
entry-level jobs in clinical research whether they're a project specialist
project coordinator CRA s clinical trial assistants they do have positions all
over the world so you can look for those type of positions and understand that
those opportunities are out there for you it just it just so happens that most
of the bandwidth on the internet is coming from America
you've got myself you got Dan shout out Dan at the clinical trials guru and
you've got a couple of the other channels that are coming up now but the
main players on YouTube and the Internet seem to be coming out of America so it
makes you think that America has all the clinical trial experience and all the
clinical trial opportunity and they do it and we do have a lot of opportunity
in America but they do have clinical trials all over the world and in fact
these CEOs are in fact trying to expand their presence all over the world to so
you can take that for an opportunity to kind of get your foot in the door in a
CRO so there's that now when it comes to universities that offer programs or
certifications yes they are starting to offer more and more certifications I
recently had a client who came in for a resume review who emailed me at Alli
clinical group at gmail.com we worked through his resume together he was very
very happy with the outcome and you know things seem to work out and he was
applying for a program one of the top universities I'm not going to say which
one yet because he's in the he's in this application cycle and I don't want a
flood of people applying for it making it harder for him when he's the one who
told me about it so I'm not gonna say which one which
university it is but it is a big time University so check your big
universities ones that have hospitals for programs this program in particular
is gonna make you into a study coordinator and they're gonna by the
time you're done with that you're gonna be like a pretty high level study
coordinator and it's I believe it was two years if I remember correctly so
they do have programs out there where they teach you they give you experience
and it seems very thorough and we actually did a resume specifically for
that and we also did a little essay we had we had to write for that we did that
one together also so if you're interested in anything like that we
can't help with your resume and any kind of application process issues or any
questions you may have you can email us to get more information on that but
these programs are popping up around the country I imagine they're gonna be
abroad at some point also but they are popping up and you know they do have
those opportunities for you that you will you will get a certificate and I
believe in that program also you get a CCR P you get to sit for that exam so it
seems like a pretty intense program and you know I will let you guys know
eventually about it I did do a review video on it but that's gonna be coming
out way later because I want him to get opportunity to apply for like I said
before I release it but
yeah so cert certifications really are beneficial to you only after you have
experience I'm I'm in that mindset of course it's not gonna hurt to have it
before but it really matters if you have the experience so so yeah I mean if
you're living abroad and want to come to the America just to get in the clinical
research I would caution you on that because it still takes a lot of hard
work and effort to get a job in clinical research in America just because there
are might be more jobs to apply for does not mean you're going to necessarily get
them especially if you have to be sponsored and all that stuff there are
so many people in America already that they don't have to do that for to get
and they can give those jobs I don't see necessarily why they would pick someone
else if they had to sponsor them unless you knew like multiple languages or you
have some skill set that they really needed I have seen jobs where you know
if you're abroad it's more likely than not that you know multiple languages I
have seen jobs where they do require someone who is fluent in a particular
language be it Spanish be it Portuguese be it French I have seen that so use
that to your advantage if you're interested in coming to America and
getting into clinical research use your language knowledge to your advantage
because they certainly will and I think that will help you a lot and getting
into certain positions faster so that's one of the things I mentioned back to
her and the when I emailed her back but yeah I think I think that about answers
it so basically guys you know be careful with these certifications there's a lot
of them out there there's a lot of websites out there and I don't underst
correctly but I've seen a few of them online and I don't think they're that
helpful and to be honest with you I'm not so sure that I mean the demand is so
great for people with experience once you get a few years experience I'm not
so sure that you even need these certifications once you get experience
I know people who I know plenty of CRA s who do not have C CRP but command
multiple six-figure salaries or salaries or contracts or whatever it is they make
multiple six figures a year without these just a bachelor's degree so these
certifications aren't necessarily you know what's needed what you need is to
get experience and you can do that by getting in at entry-level you can do
that by you know trying to be a research assistant trying to be an intern try to
just help out a site in any way you can be a patient recruitment you know any
way you can get your experience but there are universities that are offering
programs associate's degrees and clinical research you can you know
search just do a quick google search and see what they have to offer and I think
that'll be helpful for you so comment down below if you have any questions as
always email us elite clinical group at gmail.com for any questions you might
have we do have a phone number now nine one
zero five zero two three seven three to call or text me there and you will get a
response all right guys take care
you