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 Alternatives to Medical School 2003 Panel Notes Panelists Amy Valerio, Clinical Trials Manager, Synthes (USA), Paoli, PA Amy Valerio Immediately upon graduation, Amy began a job as a Lab Technician for a biotechnology company in the Philadelphia area. She held this job for 2½ years, mainly performing stability studies on a radiolabeled monoclonal antibody being used as an imaging agent. When this product was ready to be used in human testing, the company had openings in the Clinical Research group and she was offered a position. This began her 14 year career in Clinical Research. Clinical Research is studies performed on humans. Many people in clinical research work, as Amy has, for companies which need to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of their new products in patients with a certain disease or condition, so that they may gather sufficient data to send to the FDA for marketing approval of this product. The largest clinical research studies involve new pharmaceuticals, but much of Amy’s career was in medical devices. She worked for a laser company and an orthopedic device company. The entry level position in a company’s Clinical Research department is often a Clinical Research Associate. This person is trained to help centers (generally hospitals or doctors offices) across the country or in Europe conduct the company’s study. This involves visits to evaluate the site for its ability to perform the study, training the site staff, monitoring the site’s compliance to the research protocol and the FDA regulations, reviewing the medical records of the patients enrolled in the study to ensure the data being collected is accurate, and closing the site at the conclusion. This position often requires a great deal of travel. CRA’s can be promoted up through the company’s structure, adding responsibility along the way. As they progress, they will typically get more involved in the planning of studies, in writing clinical reports for the FDA, in training and development of newer CRA’s and any number of other department projects. Management positions typically involve managing all CRA’s on one project or one therapeutic area. A Director typically heads up the entire group. As for the working environment, CRA’s usually have a cubicle at the company, but they are rarely there! A lot of time is spent in airports, hotels and hospitals. Back at the office there are meetings, people to check in with, reports to write and paperwork and calls to catch up on. The skills which are absolutely required to excel in Clinical Research are: writing and research skills, attention to detail, ability to problem-solve, and good interpersonal skills. The pre-med education is useful in giving one a strong scientific background, and hopefully, a good understanding of research. The scientific method is vital; the Kreb’s cycle is definitely not. The advantages to the clinical research career are as follows: 1) Good salary and benefit packages 2) Tuition reimbursement – Amy received her MS in Health Care Administration employed, and her company paid for every course. 3) It is a stable field with many opportunities – companies can’t bring their new products to the market without CRA’s. 4) Intellectually challenging, especially above the entry level position. However, this can be tedious after a while. 5) Diversity of work 6) Upward mobility 7) Flexibility – big company, small company, contract vs. full-time, as an example, I now work part-time managing a drug study from my home office. The challenge to this path: It’s hard to break into, but not impossible. Most companies don’t hire inexperienced CRA’s right out of college. You have to plan a path to this position. Work in a hospital as a study coordinator, consider an entry-level position with a CRO, and consider taking a course at your own expense. Or work for the company in a lab or other setting which might give you a better chance of transferring to Clinical Research. Amy’s recommendations to students who feel this might be an interesting career: 1) Conduct an independent study for course credit. 2) Summer jobs can give you the advantage you need. 3) Align with someone already in the field who can give you advice on your resume, interviewing, etc. Resources available include ACRP, SoCRA. Eunice Franklin-Becker Eunice Franklin-Becker is a Project Director at the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Bio- statistics at the School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. There she manages the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program which trains new physician scientists to interact effectively with policy makers, health care managers and advocacy groups. She also manages the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study, a prospective cohort study that examines the relationship between progressive kidney disease and cardiovascular illness. Eunice began her career in the health field with a position at the Medical College of Pennsylvania in the Department of Community and Preventative Medicine where she administered community outreach and health education programs for medical students. She strongly encourages students to seek work experience before attending graduate school. Eunice has done doctoral course work at The Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore. She received her M.P.H. from Emory University, Atlanta, and her B.A. in History from the University of Pennsylvania. Emily Eisenstein After graduating from Penn, Emily used the summer to do a job search which resulted in a position at the Renfrew Center for eating disorders. There Emily worked directly with patients leading group therapy and monitoring patient meals. She stayed at Renfrew for three years after which she moved to Penn’s Bipolar Disorders Program as Research Coordinator. She manages a large study aimed at determining the best treatment for bipolar disorder. Her job is a combination of research/interviewing and managing/organization. She is pursuing an MPH part-time and is particularly interested in Health Education. Douglas Wiebe Post-Doc-School of Public Health-UCLA
Dr. Wiebe joined the University of Pennsylvania after completing doctoral studies in the School of Social Ecology at the University of California-Irvine and a postdoctoral fellowship with the UCLA School of Public Health. His research merges theory and methods from multiple disciplines including epidemiology, public health, criminology, and social ecology. The primary focus of Doug's research has been on the risks for gunshot mortality (homicide, suicide, and unintentional) associated with being exposed to firearms, and gender differences in risks for penetrating and non-penetrating firearm-related trauma. Dr. Wiebe is the Scholar-in-Residence with FICAP and a Senior Fellow with the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. His faculty appointment is with the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology in the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine. Therese Johnston M.S. Physical Therapy 1995-Beaver College (Arcadia University) After Penn, Therese Johnston spent seven years managing group homes for individuals with mental retardation, including two years of live-in positions. She attended Physical Therapy school and focuses on spinal cord injuries. She enjoys applying knowledge of medicine and health care to helping people through physical therapy and believes that PT offers flexibility that an MD does not always allow. She enjoys the ability to take time out of the field and return without significant professional obstacles. She also finds an ease at relocating with a PT degree. The field is growing and shifting toward dependence upon a three year DPT, Doctor of Physical Therapy. |
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