Clinical Research Coordinators
Also called Clinical Program Manager, Clinical Research Coordinator, Clinical Trial Manager, or Research Coordinator
Updated · Source: O*NET 31.0
What Clinical Research Coordinators do
You run the human side of medical studies: finding volunteers, explaining what happens next, and keeping every rule and record straight.
A clinical trial is a careful test of a new treatment, drug, or device on real people. Someone has to keep that test running exactly as written. That is this job. You find and screen volunteers, check that they qualify, make sure they truly understand what they are agreeing to, book their appointments, and sometimes do parts of the study yourself, like interviews, taking vital signs, or heart tracings.
The other half is paperwork and oversight. You write progress reports, log side effects, keep records of medicines given, and file documents with the review board that protects study participants. When something in the plan is not working, you flag it to the lead doctors and help fix it. Job titles include Clinical Research Coordinator, Clinical Trial Manager, and Clinical Program Manager.
A day in the life
You start indoors at a desk, in email, checking which participants are due in today and whether any results came back overnight. Mid-morning you sit with a volunteer, walk through the consent form line by line, and answer questions about what the study will feel like. Then a screening interview and a records review to see if another person qualifies. After lunch you log a side effect someone reported, then call the lead physician to agree on how it should be reported to oversight agencies. Late afternoon is documentation: a progress report, a log of medicine handed out, and the standard sheets where each participant's study results get written down. You work as part of a team of doctors, nurses, and data staff, but much of the writing you do alone.
This could fit you if you…
- ✓Like science and want to be near research without running the lab
- ✓Keep careful records and notice when a detail is missing
- ✓Can explain complicated medical information calmly to a nervous person
- ✓Enjoy switching between people time and quiet paperwork
- ✓Are comfortable telling a senior doctor that something in the plan is off
You might not like it if you…
- –Find strict rules and repeated documentation draining
- –Want quick results, since studies can run for months or years
- –Dislike chasing people for appointments, signatures, and missing forms
- –Prefer a job you can enter straight out of school, since most roles expect a bachelor's degree plus five years or more of experience
How people get in
- 1Finish a bachelor's degree; common paths include biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, or a combined biological and physical sciences program.
- 2Get close to research early through a lab job, a hospital volunteer role, or work as a research assistant, so you learn how studies are actually run.
- 3Take an entry-level role in a hospital, university, or research organization handling study paperwork, scheduling, or data entry.
- 4Learn the rules side deeply: informed consent, review board documents, side effect reporting, and local, state, and federal requirements.
- 5Build the five years or more of experience employers usually expect, taking on more responsibility for a study each time.
- 6Move into coordinating or managing whole trials, and consider professional certification in clinical research if your employer values it.
Who tends to enjoy it
Curious
People who like figuring things out, research, science, and solving problems.
Organizing
People who like keeping things accurate, orderly, and running on schedule.
Leading
People who like persuading, selling, starting things, and taking charge.
Official task list
Clinical Research Coordinators plan, direct, or coordinate clinical research projects. Direct the activities of workers engaged in clinical research projects to ensure compliance with protocols and overall clinical objectives. May evaluate and analyze clinical data. (O*NET)
- Schedule subjects for appointments, procedures, or inpatient stays as required by study protocols.
- Perform specific protocol procedures such as interviewing subjects, taking vital signs, and performing electrocardiograms.
- Assess eligibility of potential subjects through methods such as screening interviews, reviews of medical records, or discussions with physicians and nurses.
- Prepare study-related documentation, such as protocol worksheets, procedural manuals, adverse event reports, institutional review board documents, or progress reports.
- Inform patients or caregivers about study aspects and outcomes to be expected.
- Record adverse event and side effect data and confer with investigators regarding the reporting of events to oversight agencies.
- Monitor study activities to ensure compliance with protocols and with all relevant local, federal, and state regulatory and institutional polices.
- Oversee subject enrollment to ensure that informed consent is properly obtained and documented.
A typical day involves
Skills that matter most
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Writing
- Speaking
- Coordination
- Critical Thinking
What you'll need to know
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Administrative
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Administration and Management
How much Clinical Research Coordinators make
The median pay for Clinical Research Coordinators in the U.S. is $167,220 a year ($80.39 an hour). Most earn between $79,710 and $316,850. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025)
Pay depends a lot on where you live: the median is highest in Massachusetts ($267,290) and lowest in Hawaii ($107,810).
Pay by state and territory
| State | Median pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $133,470 | 370 |
| Alaska | $130,590 | 710 |
| Arizona | $124,920 | 900 |
| Arkansas | $119,430 | 340 |
| California | $210,230 | 14,950 |
| Colorado | $152,730 | 1,640 |
| Connecticut | $210,670 | 1,190 |
| District of Columbia | $156,730 | 1,540 |
| Florida | $112,220 | 4,370 |
| Hawaii | $107,810 | 510 |
| Idaho | $124,800 | 610 |
| Illinois | $159,670 | 2,810 |
| Indiana | $108,250 | 1,670 |
| Iowa | $109,760 | 610 |
| Kansas | $153,820 | 240 |
| Kentucky | $126,440 | 400 |
| Louisiana | $115,950 | — |
| Maine | $141,360 | 430 |
| Maryland | $168,620 | 4,820 |
| Massachusetts | $267,290 | 10,590 |
| Michigan | $129,070 | 2,220 |
| Minnesota | $136,450 | 1,530 |
| Mississippi | $119,430 | 210 |
| Missouri | $129,410 | 1,230 |
| Montana | $119,430 | 370 |
| Nebraska | $120,620 | 550 |
| Nevada | $112,260 | 320 |
| New Hampshire | $134,010 | 240 |
| New Jersey | $207,030 | 10,040 |
| New York | $134,680 | 5,690 |
| North Carolina | $173,870 | 6,010 |
| North Dakota | $131,370 | 140 |
| Ohio | $137,170 | 1,560 |
| Oklahoma | $112,260 | 310 |
| Oregon | $143,120 | 1,700 |
| Pennsylvania | $137,900 | 7,980 |
| Puerto Rico | $119,430 | 90 |
| Rhode Island | $130,480 | 200 |
| South Carolina | $131,140 | 780 |
| South Dakota | $128,140 | 180 |
| Tennessee | $124,530 | 880 |
| Texas | $129,960 | 7,470 |
| Utah | $119,430 | — |
| Vermont | $131,290 | 290 |
| Virginia | $150,570 | 1,470 |
| Washington | $182,480 | 2,490 |
| West Virginia | $138,010 | 160 |
| Wisconsin | $128,890 | 1,070 |
| Wyoming | $109,300 | 150 |
Where to study for this
College programs that commonly lead to this career, and how many US colleges offer each.
- Biology 1,712 colleges
- Biological and Physical Sciences 382 colleges
- Mathematics 1,482 colleges
- Chemistry 1,371 colleges
- Physics 946 colleges
- Neuroscience 368 colleges
- Biochemistry 654 colleges
- Statistics 226 colleges
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Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA), occupation 11-9121.01, used under CC BY 4.0 and modified by Whittle. Pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), SOC 11-9121. Outlook and entry education: BLS Employment Projections 2025–35. Program links: NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. How we build these pages.