Being a fledgling research coordinator for a big retina practice has shown its challenges. Coming from a background of transplant work with a local Eye and Tissue Bank (ten years of collecting eye tissue for transplant and dissecting full body donations for scientific research) and ten years of working in a clinic environment set a good foundation for clinical knowledge but has done little in the way of readying me for work in clinical trials. Being a 'people person' has helped in getting information from people to answer just about any question I have when it comes to protocols, CDA's, NDA's, AE's, SAE's and so on. But it just has not been enough.
When I decided to change jobs after ten years working with one clinic, I thought I was applying for a job as a technician with a rather large Retina group. After the initial interview, I left thinking "OK, that was an interesting interview" and that was it. As I was driving home, I got a call from the Clinic Director who said "I have enough technicians right now, but I do have a job that I think you would do well in". Then, suddenly, I was the Clinical Research Coordinator. Wow. I walked into clinic that first day feeling like I had stepped onto another world. I followed the PI around her clinic for weeks to get the hang of her strategy, had meetings with staff and managers and delved into reading my first protocol. I went to Dallas and trained in a basic level CRC course which, I must say, confused me even more. Not long after I was hired, the PI was fired from her position and one of the other doctors, the epitome of a "Type A" personality but one of the nicest guys you could ever run into, became the PI. I struggled through that study as a blind child would walking unaided through a fine china shop. But, I made it.
Now, I am trying to get on to more studies and I must say it is even more of a struggle than when I was first hired in a position that I knew less than nothing about.
The funny thing is, I have asked several CRC's about getting into studies and they make it sound like "it's so easy!" but in truth, it's like stacking greased BB's while wearing boxing gloves and standing on your head as you sing the National Anthem backwards.
Hopefully, my singing voice gets better. Not sure about the BB's yet, but I will keep trying.