r/clinicalresearch

20 studies. 100s of patients. No sub-I. Two CRCs. No manager on site. No time to train. Second most senior CRC has less than 7 months experience. Charts are piling up. PDs are everywhere. I just don't feel like this is normal.

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I'm on the final stage of the Iqvia Cohort interview process. Does anybody have any insight on what kind of questions they would ask? I heard that there was a quiz?

Is it me, or is there a correlation between those two?

Are people so scared they would make a mistake and be fired, that instead of answering a simple question would rather create a huge loop of people arguing that it's not their job to answer in 10 pages long email chain?

Is it the same with your companies as well? I don't remember it being that bad in the past.

CRA position for Syneos or Icon Amgen FSP? Which one you think is better? Any experience or thoughts?

Hi yall, I have a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science and I’m really hoping to get into clinical research, ideally working towards becoming a CRA or staying involved in research/lab work long term.

The problem is that a lot of CRA jobs seem to require honours, a master’s degree, or prior experience, and I’m unfortunately not in a position financially to do further study right now. I also don’t really have experience outside of university labs and my GPA is only slightly above average.

I’ve been trying to gain experience, even through volunteering, but it’s been really difficult to find opportunities and I’m starting to feel pretty discouraged. I genuinely enjoy lab work and research and really want to build a career in this field, I just feel stuck on how to get my foot in the door.

If anyone has been in a similar position or has advice on pathways, entry-level roles, volunteering, networking, or literally anything that could help, I’d really appreciate it.

I recently switched CROs, and the report approval process is killing me.

I don't know if I was just lucky at my last CRO, but I never came close to not having a MVR approved on time.

Here, no matter how soon I submit my report, they're never reviewed until the last minute. And because the reviewers are overseas, I end up having to wake up early to address their comments on the last day before they log off in their time zone. Or I'm having to work on them during meetings, or on site somewhere else.

And the comments are often ridiculous - asking for things that are not needed per the report guidelines, asking me to use different words, etc.

My line manager just shrugs her shoulders when I bring these issues up, so I guess it's just expected.

For other CRAs that are dealing with this, how do you cope? Do you have any strategies? Or just not stress about the deadlines?

I found myself entering this industry without really knowing much about it. About 3 years ago, I interviewed for a CTA role and was told that it could eventually lead into Project Management (which was what I was aiming for) and joined the company. I have no background in clinical trials and came from a background in a biological lab doing experiments.

I’m unsure what to do next with my career as I don’t have any interest to be a CRA but I’m also unsure whether staying as a CTA long term is realistic. I actually enjoy my current role, but I’m wondering if there’s meaningful progression within the CTA path (e.g. Senior CTA roles, management opportunities, etc.) or if there’s eventually a ceiling in terms of salary.

I’ve also been considering applying outside of the clinical trials field for roles like Project Coordinator or Project Executive, but I’m not sure whether the skills gained as a CTA are transferable enough for those positions.

Has anyone successfully pivoted out of the clinical trials industry with mainly CTA experience? I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences or advice. Thanks a lot!

Ok so I’ll admit it… my expense reporting process is probably embarrassingly outdated and I’m curious if anyone else is in the same boat or has found something better.

Here’s my current workflow:

1.	Take a photo of every receipt on my phone

2.	Email it to myself

3.	Save each one into a folder on my computer

4.	Organize them all later when it’s time to submit

It works… technically. But it eats up way more time than it should, especially after a site visit week when I’ve got a pile of receipts to sort through.

I feel like there has to be a smarter way to do this in 2026. Are you using a specific app? Does your sponsor/CRO have a tool they actually make easy to use? Do you just have a system or habit that keeps it from becoming a weekend project?

Would love to hear what’s actually working for people in the field. Drop your process below – even if it’s just a small tweak, I’m all ears! 👇

I start a new job as a CRC soon, leaving behind lab work and looking forward to some patient interaction and a more office job.

I have never been in this field before and I will be working at an academic institution. Any advice on first days? I am pretty nervous and don't know anybody in this field.

Thank you for any advice.

Last day is tomorrow and I’m basically jumping for joy. CRO work culture and lack of WLB broke me down. No more shitty flights, sleeping in airport terminals, and rude upper management. If you are questioning whether to make the jump do it (all things considered as I know the job market is sketchy af right now).

Hi all,

Is it worth it for me to get a Masters degree? My ultimate goal is a Senior Project Manager or Operations Manager, or something along those lines.

From what I’ve seen, a lot of job postings just require a bachelors degree with the right amount of experience. Is that accurate or would it be worth it for me to get a masters degree? I probably would do a masters in public health or something like that. Thanks!

I see all the negative comments but people who actually have a positive experience at ICON, can you please chime in?! I have a good opportunity for contract but I feel like I have it stuck in my head as a place to never work at!

I somewhat accidentally found my way into clinical research after working as a RN, but I’ve really enjoyed it so far. I’ve been working as a CRC for a little over a year now, and I’m starting to think about what my next career step should look like.

I’m very interested in potentially becoming a CRA/monitor because I like the idea of being more in the nitty gritty of studies and gaining broader industry experience. That said, I’m a little intimidated by some of the things I’ve heard regarding heavy travel, workload, and burnout.

For those who have made the transition from CRC to CRA (or chose a different path), what would you recommend? Are there certain roles, companies, or skills I should be focusing on at this stage?

I'm a CRA, and throughout my entire career, I've been asked to contact site staff regularly to collect updated CVs and track expired ones.

What is the actual reason for requesting this document so frequently?

It's not as if all site staff completely change their role, qualifications, or education during the course of a study.

I can understand the need for an update in cases such as a name change, but in my opinion, a NTF would be sufficient.

This “CV expiration every two years” rule is not even mentioned in the ICH-GCP guidelines.

So where does this requirement come from?

And when are we finally going to stop applying this stupid rule?

I've been unemployed for a year. I've applied to numerous Syneos openings, but this is the first time I've gotten something besides a canned rejection. This position is in my favorite therapeutic area so I'm very excited, though being long-term out of the industry I'm also trying not to put the cart before the horse. I received an email overnight asking me about 20 clarifying questions, about half of which are plainly answered on my resume (ie: systems I have worked on, phases I have worked on, etc.) which I will of course answer, but it just seemed very weird. Is this common? Any pointers I should know about as I go through the process? Thanks!

Hey. South African here reaching out for advice please. I’m a Clinical Research Manager at one of the big Pharma’s.

I am burnt out. Been working 12 hour days for almost a year. I can’t go on anymore. But positions are so hard to come by now.

I’m hoping there are US or European CROs or biotechs without a presence in South Africa, looking to contract a local for CRA or PM work.

Any ideas where to start looking?

Hi all - just looking for advice or maybe commiseration?

I have a little under 15 years experience in clinical research as a nurse and project manager with a hospital, CRO, startup and pharma company. I had CCRP certification for a few years but let it lapse about 8 years ago because I never really needed it. I also am not certified to work as a nurse anymore, and I'm not interested in going through re-certification for either.

My PhD is hopefully wrapping up this year and I've been very demoralized by the job search so far. I would ideally love medical affairs jobs (and I've worked as a medical advisor for a small non-profit before) but most of my experience is in operations so that's been where I'm focusing my efforts for now. I edited my CV to remove pretty much everything academia-focused (which included 100K in competitive funding I received, the many first author publications and talks I have, etc) to foreground my project management and... crickets.

ANY advice would be super welcome. I'm looking at CROs, pharma and hospital for August-September start.

Hello everyone,
I just finished my studies around three weeks ago and I already have a bit of experience in the pharmaceutical/clinical research industry (8 months in a CRO and 4 months in a hospital as a Clinical Research Assistant).
I started job searching back in January because I knew my internship would end in April. Around the beginning of April, near the end of my internship, I got contacted by a company for a hybrid Clinical Research Assistant / Study Coordinator role.
The issue is that:
• the company is about 1h30 away from me by metro,
• and I’m being hired as an independent contractor rather than an employee.
So from what I understand, I don’t really get the usual employee benefits (paid vacation, sick days, insurance, etc.), and honestly I’m not super excited about having to deal with all the extra tax paperwork and contractor-related stuff.
At the same time, the role sounds interesting because it gives me Study Coordinator exposure.
Now here’s where I’m hesitating:
The hospital where I did my internship might potentially call me back within 1–2 months (maybe even sooner). The main reason they didn’t hire me immediately was apparently because there wasn’t an opening at the exact moment I finished, but from what I’ve heard there’s a pretty good chance something opens before the end of the summer.
So my question is:
If I end up getting another offer relatively quickly — either there or elsewhere — for a regular employee position with benefits, PTO, better stability, etc., would it look bad to leave the contractor role after only 1–2 months (or maybe even less than a month if I get called back earlier)?
Or is that generally more understandable since it’s a independent contractor position?
PS: The hospital position would probably be a Clinical Research Coordinator role with a higher salary, much closer to where I live, and with actual employee benefits like paid vacation, sick days, and overall better work-life balance.

After obtaining my MS in clinical and translational research, being a CRC for 3.5 years, and studying for almost 2 months, I passed my CCRP exam on the first try!! The test was difficult but I’m so happy everything paid off!