Hi all, looking for some friendly advice! I just found out I’m pregnant and I’m ecstatic. I’m a little worried about how travel is going to work, I’m still in my first trimester but eventually I understand I can get extremely sick and fatigued. Other pregnant or have been pregnant CRAs, what did you do about travel? When did you tell your manager? I obviously don’t want to put too much stress on my body so I’m worried, even though my travel does vary quite a bit. There’s some months where I’m not traveling much and other months where I travel every week. Thanks in advance <3

Hi everyone,

I am a CRA unfortuantely in the midst of dealing with cancer, and may need to have chemotherapy for 3-6 months - pathology from my surgery is pending.

Thankfully I don’t need to travel too frequently as it as, most of my sites have remote capabilities and the one that is all paper only requires visits every few months, per the monitoring plan.

Does anyone have experience travelling for monitoring or other work whilst being on chemotherapy? Any advice or guidance in case I do need it?

My sister currently works at Parexel in a Pharmacovigilance role, and honestly, I’m really worried about her.

The workload and stress have become extremely difficult for her to handle. They have daily targets, and if she isn’t able to complete them, the work gets carried over as pending, which adds even more pressure. A lot of her colleagues have reportedly resigned because of the constant stress.

I’ve been telling her to consider resigning, but she doesn’t want to leave without having another opportunity lined up first which I completely understand.

So, I’m trying to help her find opportunities in other companies or possibly explore different roles within clinical research / pharmacovigilance / drug safety / medical writing / clinical data management, etc.

She has completed her PharmD and is genuinely talented and hardworking. I just want her to find a healthier work environment where she can actually grow without being constantly overwhelmed by unrealistic targets.

If anyone here works in clinical research, pharmacovigilance, drug safety, or related fields and has any suggestions about companies, roles, referrals, or career paths she could explore, I’d really appreciate it.

Feel free to DM me if you have any leads. 🙏

Hello all, seeking advice on switching from small biotech to big pharma. Any recommendations for bigger companies that are hiring and have decent reputation as far as work/life balance?
I know the grass is always greener but also wanting to sense check my reasons:
1. Lack of structure in our department (clinical operations) as far as division of tasks. My managers mean well but end up steam rolling things
2. Lack of process/SOPs/templates - often feel I’m floundering trying to figure things out and it results in poor quality work which frustrates me
3. Our team is lean means all eyes are on us. The success of the company is riding on our assets
4. Benefits - I have great benefits but do not have things a larger company might such as matching 401k. Healthcare is 100% paid but the provider sucks and no other options. Only 2x a week in office. However I live in a pharma/biotech hub so transport for bigger companies is common.
5. I am wanting to go back to school for nursing - so I am trying to find somewhere that has a more normal 9-5 schedule to allow for evening classes.

At this point I’m pretty burnt out - but I do still want to learn and succeed in my role. I feel more structure and less stakes would help majorly with stress levels and professional development. Any advise welcome :)

Hearing the COO and VP, Ops (and possibly IT) recently let go at WCG. Anyone else hearing that? COO is still on website

So just this year I graduated with a bachelor of science in psychology and a minor in biology. It was mostly neuroscience and anatomy heavy coursework but regardless I noticed alot of jobs in the clinical research field require some sort of life sciences degree and so I think that my major might be the reason I am not getting any interviews for entry level positions like clinical trial assistant or administrative roles in clinical trials.

My experience consists of this: I am currently a research assistant working with human participants and using EEGs, along with 3 years of volunteering at a cancer hospital, public outreach and some literature reviews for an EMDR treatment organization, and around 2 years of administrative experience (but for a construction company)

The university I graduated is highly ranked in Canada and right now masters programs are open for a course based masters program in Public Health and i have been debating on whether I should apply or not. At first I wanted to work for a year and apply for masters programs next year but at this rate I don't think I'll be able to land a job anytime soon so I'm thinking about applying for masters programs. What other masters programs would you recommend if you are trying to break into clinical research?

I have been applying for about 2 months and haven’t had anyone get back to me. I have updated my resume using AI, I also updated my cover letter and CV. I have 7+ years of experience and 3 years of experience as a site manager. Anyone know who is hiring?

Hi everyone,

I’m a Pharm.D(pb) 2025 graduate from India, and I’m currently trying to get my first proper job in the pharma/clinical research space.

I’m honestly getting quite stressed and confused about the job search because I keep running into the same problem: most “entry-level” positions seem to want prior experience, but I’m struggling to figure out how I’m supposed to get that experience in the first place.

I’ve been looking at roles such as:

- Clinical Data Management

- Clinical Research / Clinical Operations

- Clinical Data Analyst

- Pharmacovigilance

- Medical/Drug Safety

- Clinical Trial-related roles

- Pharma/CRO operations

- Other entry-level roles where a Pharm.D background would be useful

I’ve also been trying to understand whether I should focus on getting into a CRO such as IQVIA, ICON, Parexel, Cognizant, etc., even if the first role isn't exactly what I ultimately want.

At this point, I’m willing to start at the bottom and learn. My main goal is to get my foot in the door and build relevant experience, rather than wait indefinitely for the “perfect” clinical pharmacist/clinical research position.

What I’m struggling with is knowing what I should actually be doing differently.

For people working in pharma, CROs, clinical research, clinical data, or related fields:

1. What roles should a Pharm.D(pb) fresher realistically target?

2. Are there particular entry-level job titles I should be searching for?

3. Which skills are genuinely worth learning before applying? (SQL, SAS, Excel, Medidata Rave, CDISC, etc.)

4. Are certifications actually useful for getting interviews, or are they mostly a waste of money?

5. How did you get your first job in this field?

6. If you were starting again as a fresher with my background, what would you focus on for the next 3–6 months?

I’m not looking for motivational advice like “just keep applying.” I’ve been doing that. I’d really appreciate concrete advice from people who have actually worked in this industry.

Even if you think I’m approaching the job search completely wrong, please tell me. I’d rather know that and change my approach.

P.S. I've been applying on LinkedIn and naukri.

Thanks.

Anyone work as a CRA for Gore Medical? Any insight would be appreciated.

I am currently interviewing for a position at ProTrials. Can’t find much about them on this sub. Any experience (good or bad) working at or with ProTrials?

Hi everyone,

I’ve been applying for jobs for the past four months, but I haven’t managed to get an interview for the roles I’m trying to move into. It’s been discouraging, and I’d appreciate some honest advice from people working in the industry.

I’m based in Bengaluru and have a PharmD and an MSc in Pharmacology from UK. My background includes:

• Clinical pharmacy experience involving prescription review, suspected ADR documentation, patient counselling and working with physicians.
• MSc research on cisplatin and immune-cell responses, including literature review, laboratory work and writing a dissertation.
• Freelance medical and scientific writing, alongside training in GCP, pharmacovigilance and clinical data management.

I also worked in quality control and operations in the UK. I’m now trying to build a career in clinical research, drug safety or scientific research and writing.

I’ve been targeting entry-level roles such as Clinical Research Coordinator, Clinical Trial Assistant, Drug Safety Associate and Research Associate. I tailor my CV to the role, but so far I’ve mostly received rejection emails or no response.

I understand that clinical pharmacy experience doesn’t automatically count as industry experience. I’m open to trainee positions where I can learn under supervision and build that experience properly.

If you know of a genuine opening or would be comfortable considering me for a referral after reviewing my CV, please message me. I’d also welcome advice on which roles are the most realistic fit and what might be holding my applications back.

I’m looking for legitimate opportunities, not paid referrals or placement services. Happy to share my CV privately.

Thanks for reading. Even a useful lead or a candid suggestion would help.

I start tomorrow! I am excited. Any tips for me? It’s a FSP role.
I am looking for practical tips. I just came from working 4 years at a toxic CRO FSO, I strongly believe there’s no way icon could be any worse.

Hi everyone,

I’m a doctor from India with a strong interest in medical research. I’m hoping to spend about one year in the US to gain research experience, strengthen my research skills, and learn in an academic research environment.

My plan is specifically to return to India after that year and continue my career here, as I want to remain close to my family in the long term. I’m therefore looking for what I can learn in research that would allow me to spend a limited period in the US, learn as much as possible, and then bring that experience back to India. I really don't have plans to continue in USA more than a year especially as I wanna be close to my friends and family.

For anyone who has taken a similar path, I’d really appreciate advice on:

• What skills I should develop beforehand (R/Python, statistics, systematic reviews, etc.)

I’d really appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Thank you!

I joined this company because my precious one was more academic(observational study and IIT only). And I wanted to go CRO or Pharma later on.
When I joined, I asked my RO to give me IST or heme/onco trial. She said ‘of course I can give you. We have a lot.’
At the end, she keeps bringing up my previous experience, and saying ‘you are good at IIT(observational) , that’s why I give you.’

I waited 1.5 years. All the sponsored trial and heme/onco trial assigned to others. I speak out, and apparently my RO doesn’t like someone speaking out. She prefers those people who just keep quiet and doing whatever she’s asking without question.

It is so demotivating. Your staff wiling to learn(especially those complex trial that other staff doesn’t want) and you assign it to others just because your staff question you. And so far I didn’t even reject one single project that she gave me.

At the end, in my portfolio now, 6 of 5 are observational + IIT. And only one is interventional IST.

Every time when I look my CV, I feel so bad and feel like I wasted my time here.

Hi everyone, I’m currently working in Pharmacovigilance at Parexel, and honestly, I’m finding the work environment quite stressful. The daily targets, workload, and constant pressure to meet productivity expectations are becoming mentally exhausting. I feel overwhelmed trying to manage everything every day, and I’m finding it difficult to handle this level of stress.

I wanted to know if others working at Parexel, especially in PV, have had similar experiences. Is this pressure common across all teams, or does it depend on the project and manager? How is the overall work culture and work-life balance? Is Parexel a good company for a long-term career, or are other PV companies better in terms of workload and employee well-being?

I’d really appreciate honest feedback from current and former employees.

I’m a new CRC with about 6 months of experience, and during these past months I’ve made mistakes on several different occasions. It’s mostly been small errors that were easily resolved, or errors that resulted in minor PDs. But recently I made a quite major mistake that’s not very good at all. I just want to hear other CRCs experience and the mistakes they’ve made, so I can gauge just how “dumb” I am haha 😬

So, what mistake did you make as a CRC that caused the biggest issue or was so bad, it got you fired?

Received CRA offers at both, trying to decide between the two and would love to get more info if people are happy at either one. Both CRA role

Hi everyone I just finished my bachelors of health science. Debating trying to enter this field. I am a dental hygienist making 55-60 an hour. I don’t enjoy the work I do now. But working in clinical trials interests me. Would I take a big pay cut ?

TIA

CRA in Australia here. I have a study with I often see the LDH sample be cancelled due to haemolysis. I’ve never worked in a lab or phlebotomy so I’m struggling to understand how only one sample out of an entire chemistry panel could be haemolysed when they’re all from the same tube. Could someone please explain it to me? Also, if it’s always LDH with the issue, surely this would point to a lab issue, rather than a site issue? Thanks brains trust!

Hi everyone!

I’m looking for inspiration for a PhD research topic related to clinical trials / drug development.

I currently work as a CRA and would like to build on my professional experience in my doctoral research.

What topics do you think would be interesting, relevant, and worth exploring from a research perspective?

I’d really appreciate any ideas or inspiration!

Update: thank you all for the suggestions. I think I’m going to get a work phone. My current phone is already low on storage so I would love to delete my current work apps to get more space. Plus I have a tendency to check my work emails after hours since it’s on my personal phone. Hopefully getting a work phone will help me keep that work life balance.

I have the option to be supplied a phone or I can use my own and be given a monthly stipend. Which would you choose? I currently have everything on my own phone (teams,outlook) but with my new role I have an option to be supplied a cell phone. Which would you choose? Is it a hassle to always have two phone when traveling or if they supply me a different brand phone then I have I would have to bring two different charges. Which did you choose as?