Status quo and countermeasures of job mobility among clinical research coordinator/clinical research associate in Chongqing / 中国药房

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE To investigate the job mo bility of cl inical research coordinators （CRCs） and clinical research associates（CRAs）in Chongqing ，and to explore the feasible methods to improve the job stability of CRCs and CRAs. METHODS Questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate the job mobility of 200 CRCs and CRAs working in 22 drug clinical trial institutions of Chongqing. The contents included basic information ，job mobility ，and reasons for mobility. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS Totally 178 valid questionnaires were recovered ，with an efficient recovery rate of 89.00％，of which 110 were recovered from CRCs and 68 were recovered from CRAs. Among the surveyed CRCs and CRAs ，the age distribution was mainly 20-30 years old ，accounting for 87.27％ and 82.35％ of the respective population respectively. The overall educational degree of CRAs were slightly higher than those of CRCs. The majors and previous work experience were mainly related to medicine ；the proportion of other non-medicine-related professions who switched to CRCs was higher than that of CRAs. Totally 88.18％ had CRC working experience within 3 years；after having 1-＜3 years of work experience ，50.00％ had worked in 2 or more work units. Totally 64.70％ had CRA working experience within 3 years；after having 1-＜3 years of work experience ，70.37％ had worked in 2 or more work units. CRCs handled 5.38 items of clinical trials and completed 1.22 items on average ；CRAs handled 7.47 items and completes 2.04 items on average. Main reasons of CRCs and CRAs for job-hopping included low salary below expectations，few promotion opportunities ，and too much workload ，accounting for 83.64％/80.88％，45.45％/39.71％，31.82％/ 26.47％，respectively. As an important part of clinical trials ，CRCs and CRAs had high job mobility. It is suggested to establish a unified industry standard ，standardize the management rights and responsibilities of CRCs and CRAs ，optimize the working mode of CRCs and CRAs ，and improve professional identity and sense of belonging ，so as to improve the job stability of relevant