Clinical Research: A hub of opportunities
Research is a means of widening your horizon of knowledge. Clinical research aids us by providing newer medical innovations, advancements in drugs and therapeutic techniques thereby giving the healthcare industry a positive progress otherwise the current techniques and practices will become obsolete and irrelevant. It also provides us with a fair assessment of risks, benefits and costs associated with these newer techniques, drugs and therapies being advocated in the market. A developing country like India is an attractive market for conducting clinical trials primarily because of trained medical professionals, multitude of clinical facilities and primarily the monetary benefits as these trials can be conducted at half the costs as compared to the developed nations with a vast diversity of the volunteers.
At present it is an Industry of opportunities as India is emerging as an epicenter of “Clinical Research” as there is a huge demand and supply gap. Clinical research involves multitude of individuals from administrative or technical to execute a successful trial. Employment in Pharmaceutical Companies , Contract Research Organizations, IT Companies in Healthcare, Laboratories or even Training Centers as an Investigator, Clinical Trial Assistant, Clinical Research Associate (CRA) , Manager Medical & Regulatory affairs or Quality Assurance, Medical writer are few of the many job facets in a Clinical research. Clinical trials are carried out under stringent ethical guidelines (GCP – Good Clinical Practice) and in phases. A clinical research associate involved at each stage of a trial must have excellent project management skills with ability to effortlessly communicate with various people. Attention to detail is a must as trial can be accepted or rejected by regulatory authorities based on the trial data.
Career Options in Clinical Research
Professionals are trained to develop knowledge regarding research methodology and processes, various global norms associated with multi-centric aspects of clinical research. Thus, it is essential to choose an Institute which hones the skills and knowledge on various aspects of research so that at the time of employment an individual stands out which exactly what the James Lind Institute strives to achieve so that post this course a student is ready for any responsibility in the industry. Apart from having mentors from the industry the institute also provides hands on experience of the job thus making it a lucid opportunity for a budding trainee. The courses offered are Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Research and Advanced Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Research.