I'm beginning to explore a possible transition into the clinical trial side of the industry. Been in pharmaceutical sales for 20 years. What can I expect the salary range to be? Are most of the associates home based? Is the CRA certificate necessary? Lastly, is there a high turnover rate?
Looks like you're wanting to be a CRA and not do CRO sales. Salaries for entry level CRA - I think you'd expect 60-80K, getting the CRA certification would be helpful, in my opinion.
Unless you have a background in clinical research, this could be a hard move. Most CRAs were study coordinators first. Also, the industry is not doing as many studies anymore and a lot of experienced CRAs have been laid off. Your best bet is to find a doctor or research site in your area and apply for a study coordinator job. As far as the CRA certificate. These companies that sell certificates to people hoping to get a CRA job are a rip off. It is all about experience.
I made the transition. I was a Medical center Rep for 25 years. I had to start as a Clinical research assitant in a office setting at 40k/year and did this job for 9 months. Then I was promoted to a CRA for 55k. After 2 years experience as a CRA - I will be looking at high 60's to low 70's. So my point is I gave up a 130k ob a year for a long road. I am still glad I did this. I love the job and I love not ahving a sales quota. You need to be really committed to the change to make it happen. Look for a in-house assistant job with a large CRO. that is where I started and that is where you will have to start.
You can expect 50k as an entry level CRA. However, most CROs will not allow you to begin monitoring until you've worked as either an assistant or IHCRA which pay in the 40s. We require 2 years of previous experience before you can begin monitoring.
