Thinking of retraining for new roles in life sciences? Could clinical data management be your new business idea?
The healthcare industry wouldn’t be what it was without research. Research into the life sciences forms the backbone of all medications, vaccines, and medical processes. Without the research conducted in these key areas of healthcare, the industry would still be selling old wives’ cures. Of this research, clinical data management plays a hugely important role. Let’s examine what this role is, what it does, and if you can make a business out of it, below.
What is Clinical Data Management in Healthcare?
Before we discuss the impact of these life scientists on the world, we need to understand what it is they do. Clinical data managers are those in charge of collating, fact checking, and recording information used in medical research. They collect and validate information, combine it into statistics, analyse these statistics, and even present them in graphical format for the less medically inclined.
Clinical data managers will collect all the studies in there are of research. They analyse these studies for trends, changes, and common occurrences. They report the data back to those concerned, presenting it in an easy-to-extrapolate format. The role of clinical statistician falls into this area of expertise, too.
What Types of Healthcare Sector Roles include CDM?
There are plenty of clinical data management jobs for you to choose from. There are even business opportunities in this field for the entrepreneur. Many of the jobs are research based, with large corporations often employing clinical data managers to extrapolate information about consumers from data dumps. Here are some common responsibilities in CDM within the healthcare industry.
Clinical Research Database Analysis
These employees report upon the progress of clinical trials. They collate the information on development, testing, and results. This role often includes creation of new databases for the collection of related information.
User Data Testing
Clinical research scientists oversee the participation of user data testing within trials, ensuring it is fair and relevant to the situation. One of their main responsibilities lies in ensuring data collected during trials is secure and protected from tampering.
Quality Control Guidelines
Since clinical database managers oversee the collections of trial data, they must also oversee its quality control. If the data is not to a suitable standard for admission, they should document this and mark it as an unreliable source. They may also produce the quality control guidelines for studies as a whole, inclusive of future studies and participants.
Compliance and Standards
A key aspect of roles in Clinical Data Management lies in development and execution of compliant systems. Compliance comes in all forms, with the university, with the outlined rules of the study, within the realms of science, and according to government guidance. Compliance in clinical trials means accurate records and statistical feedback.
Interested in a Role in Clinical Data Management?
A position in CDM could earn you an annual salary of between £20,000 and £80,00 per annum in the UK.
