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I’m interested in knowing the best path to get into the clinical research associate field as a veterinarian. I’ve been working as a veterinarian for about 1 year 6 months and I have been drawn to the field of clinical research associate , so I’ve been curious to know the most effective path to break into the field.

Are there any trainings, certifications etc.

Edit: Seeing the comments, I think a more appropriate question would be "Career options to explore that someone with training as a veterinary doctor could explore".

Dave Kalu
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  • I'm not sure that career advice is really on-topic here; it's not listed as such in the help though also not explicitly off-topic. I can't quite imagine why a vet would want to be a clinical research associate, though, seems like a big step downward and waste of credentials. Have you looked at job postings for CRAs? Typically these would include any requirements. – Bryan Krause Feb 20 '23 at 21:08
  • I suspect language and terminology may be an issue here. Your profile says you're from Nigeria, and I'm not sure what level of training a vet receives in Nigeria. In the US, a vet (veterinarian) has training comparable to a medical doctor, so it would be unusual for a vet to step down to a research associate. But to clarify, by "vet" you mean veterinarian, not military veteran -- right? – Carey Gregory Feb 20 '23 at 23:26
  • There's a whole field of veterinary clinical science that goes on. I don't know how much is done in universities, I suspect that most will be in industry by all the big pharmaceutical and medical device players. There's also a need for veterinarians in clinical research at the phase 1/pre phase one trial stage where animal trials are ongoing. However, these are more at the director of animal facility sort of level rather than actual veterinary practice. – bob1 Feb 21 '23 at 03:40
  • @bob1 Maybe again a terminology difference, but to me "clinical research" means people. Animal trials aren't clinical research. But yes, in animal trials vets participate in multiple ways: directing facilities, consulting on care of research subjects, performing research procedures, necropsy/pathology. – Bryan Krause Feb 21 '23 at 06:09
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    I'm asking for someone actually. The reason why they're considering a new career path is because of the possible "work-life balance" the clinical research career field provides. There are a lot of positions that have remote options. Yes, the pay isn't as great as that of vet doctors, but the work life balance of vets isn't something that they are comfortable with. Also, @CareyGregory, yes the person in question is also a Nigerian trained vet and frankly, the career options for a vet in Nigeria aren't that impressive. – Dave Kalu Feb 21 '23 at 06:26
  • I am thinking that maybe https://pets.stackexchange.com/ might be a better fit, seeing as they cover veterinary topics. – Chris Rogers Feb 21 '23 at 06:59
  • I have no idea about Nigeria, but in the US there are no requirements for clinical research staff, any hiring company can set whatever criteria they want. Bachelor's degree is almost certainly required, higher degrees may be required for some positions. Familiarity with FDA GCP would be important but not even necessarily a job requirement if a company is looking for some other specific skill. I'm sure every job is different, but for the CRAs I worked with the primary job responsibility was spending lots of time on the phone calling or trying to call physicians. Kind of miserable. – Bryan Krause Feb 21 '23 at 15:31
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    @BryanKrause definitely a terminology problem between you and I. Animal testing is a major phase in the "bench to bedside" development of treatments - if it doesn't work in other animals, it almost never makes it into humans. – bob1 Feb 21 '23 at 20:23
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    @bob1 Yes, of course, I work in the field of biomedical research, but I wouldn't call it clinical research unless there's a human being studied. Pre-clinical or translational research. From my perspective, the job title "Clinical research associate" is exclusively related to administering clinical trials, with human subjects. – Bryan Krause Feb 21 '23 at 20:36

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