2019 Volume 50 Issue 2 Pages 41-45
The Japanese Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (JSCPT) introduced the clinical research coordinator (CRC) certification program in 2003, and 1,765 CRCs have been certified as of January 1, 2018. The situations of these certified CRCs have not been investigated since the Special Task Force of Clinical Trials, Japanese Society of Hospital Pharmacists conducted a questionnaire survey in 2007.
This study was conducted by administering an e-survey to certified CRCs regarding their background, current situation, career, intentions, and job satisfaction. The 668 respondents comprised 37.8% of the population of certified CRCs. We further examined the situations of 568 (85.0%) respondents currently employed at a CRC job.
When comparing the responses of the present survey to the results of the 2007 survey, improvement was observed regarding the questions on employment status and “whether they can continue the job as CRC” , but it appeared that the attempts were still halfway through. Although many of the CRCs reported a positive attitudes toward their CRC work, not many of them responded that they were not thinking of changing to jobs other than CRC. This suggests the existence of factors that hinder continuation of the career as CRC. While unstable employment seems to be a factor, other factors such as staff shortage and uncertainty regarding the future career may have precipitated this intention. In conclusion, the survey results suggest that although the CRC working environment is improving, CRC jobs are not yet stable.
