听听美国一个从业10年的CRA如何讲述自己CRA从业之路！

2017年05月30日 20:52 医药生

文 | 试验田

前言：以下一篇文章是小编无意间在美国的网上看到的，看完之后发现虽然远隔万里，美国CRA和中国CRA有太多相似的地方了，例如很多从业者都是从实验室转过来的，再例如美国CRA的圈子也很小很小，等等！不太多透露，如下文章请大家赏析，翻译不到位的地方，海涵！

I’ve been a CRA for a decade so hopefully that puts me in a good position to explain why I chose this career (and why I’m glad I did!).

我做CRA已经10多年了，今天很高兴跟大家分享当初我为什么选择这份职业！

Like many others in this industry I have a science degree, in Microbiology. During my time completing my degree I hadn’t heard a great deal about clinical studies so I decided to take a role working in a lab once I completed my course.

像很多这个行业的从业者一样，我大学学的专业是微生物学，大学期间，对临床研究知之甚少，所以毕业后我选择了进入实验室工作！

However, it turned out this wasn’t the right working environment for me as I found it quite an isolating experience. I realised that I wanted to work with people.

然而，事实证明实验室的工作环境孤独、枯燥乏味，不太适合我！我更希望人与人之间打交道的工作！

Although I hadn’t had much exposure to clinical studies whilst at university, I had a personal connection with it after my mother became ill and participated in a clinical trial. I used to accompany her as part of this and I took full advantage of being in this environment to talk to everyone involved in it.

尽管大学时候没有太多接触临床研究，但有一次亲身的经历是我妈妈生病了并参加了一项临床试验，我陪着我妈妈参与其中，充分接触各个环节并与各个人员进行了交流。

Seeing first-hand how the study worked gave me an appreciation for how incredibly important clinical research is and I realised that I had the right qualifications to follow this path.

亲眼看到了临床试验是如何操作的，让我打心眼里赞赏临床试验的重要性，并且由此我意识到我的特质很适合从事临床研究工作！

I started looking into the opportunities that were out there and decided to apply for a role as a CRA Assistant. I still wasn’t sure how it would all work so in addition to this I called up the HR team to see what else I could discover and how I could set myself apart from the others who were applying. They gave me further details and were impressed with my initiative.

我开始寻找临床试验行业的机会并决定申请CRA助理这样一个职位，虽然接触到一点点临床试验，但我仍然不知道这个职位的具体工作内容，于是我决定打电话给HR咨询一下以及如何和其他面试竞争者拉开差距！他们给了我更多详细的信息并对我的主动印象深刻！

After a successful interview process I joined the company. As I progressed within this industry what I quickly came to learn that personality and behaviour are what really counts in this area, even more than experience. You’re tested to see if you can find mistakes and asked about how you would deal with conflict – in the role of CRA it’s crucial that you’re highly adept at spotting mistakes and working with people to address and alleviate them.

我顺利通过面试！随着我在行业内的成长，我很快的学到人品和行为才是这个行业最重要的，甚至超过了经验！你们经过测试，看看是否可以发现错误，并被询问如何应对冲突---作为一个CRA，你要非常擅长发现错误，并且与人们一起解决它。

Finally，I successfully become a qualified CRA in InVentiv Health. Being a CRA really is a job where you have to be a people person. Before taking on this role I wouldn’t have described myself that way but I discovered that I actually really like the interaction and working closely with my team to achieve goals.

最终，我终于成为inventiv的一名合格CRA。作为一个CRA，你真的需要成为一个善于与人打交道的人！在做CRA之前，我不会这样描述自己，但是我发现我真的很喜欢互动，并且和我的团队密切合作，以实现目标。

There are a number of things that appealed to me as I became a CRA. First of all I liked the flexibility – you can work from a number of different locations, I particularly enjoy working from home when I can. The hours can be long but this is paid off by the fact you are judged on output instead of the number of hours you’ve been sat at a desk.

作为一个CRA，有很多事情吸引我。首先我喜欢这份工作的灵活性--- 您可以在许多不同的地方工作，我特别喜欢在家里办公。CRA主要的工作是由结果来衡量的而不是花在办公桌的时间！

I also like the feeling of being part of something! On a study you’re all working together towards a common goal: to get a drug to market, and this creates a real sense of camaraderie. There’s an incredible sense of satisfaction that comes with finally seeing a drug you’ve worked so hard for years on come to market and knowing that it’s going to improve the quality of life for a number of people.

我喜欢参与其中的感觉！在一个项目中，您和同事们一起努力朝着同一个目标：将药品做上市，而这也会创造出一种真正的友情。当您看到努力了很多年的药上市，并且知道它会提高很多人的生活质量，您会由衷的产生一种满足感！

I do particularly like the Phase I of a project though, right at the beginning, because you see quick results, not something you generally see in this industry.

刚开始的时候我特喜欢做 I 期的临床试验，因为I期的周期短，很快就能知道结果！而这可不是这个行业里普遍能看到的（作者暗指II期、III期时间比较长）。

There are also the travel perks, it’s definitely the right role for someone who enjoys moving around and experiencing different working atmospheres. This is also backed up by the competitive wage – which certainly was another of the factors that drew me in when I started.

出差还会有差旅补助，对于一个喜欢走动以及体验不同工作环境的人来说绝对是一个很好的职位。当然这也让我得到了竞争力的工资---这也是吸引我开启临床试验旅程的另一个因素。

I also like the fact that the CRO industry is very balanced, gender-wise, it’s certainly very welcoming to women, which can sometimes be lacking in other areas of the scientific industry.

还让我非常喜欢的是CRO这个行业性别平等，对女性非常的欢迎，而这在科技界的其他领域是罕见的。

Finally, and I think most importantly for me, I’m passionate about being a patient advocate. It may be because of the way I was introduced to the industry from a patient perspective via my mother but I keep patients at the heart of everything I do. My colleagues and I know that everything we’re working towards should be for the benefit of patients.

最后，我认为对我来说最重要的，我热衷于临床研究以病人为中心，这可能是因为我接触这个行业是从患者的角度，通过陪同母亲（参加临床试验）的方式，但我把病人置于我所做的一切的核心位置。我的同事和我都知道我们正在努力的一切都应该为病人带来好处。

I’ve learned a lot in the last ten years too. Quite often drugs that you’ve spent years working with don’t get to marketing, which can be dispiriting but ultimately it’s all about quality – I only want the right drugs to go to market.

过去十年我学到了很多东西，很多药物您辛辛苦苦花了几年时间监查，没有上市！这可能是令人沮丧的，但最终肯定是质量（疗效/安全）出了问题 --- 我只想要合适的药物上市。

I mentioned that I enjoyed the speed of a Phase I project but Phase II and III require a different perspective - you really need a long term vision with them and a sense of patience as they progress.

我之前提过我喜欢 I 期项目的速率，但是II期和III期临床研究需要从不同的角度看待，您需要有一个长远的愿景和耐心。

My top tip for those looking to become a CRA: it’s a small industry and everyone knows each other. Keep that in mind in terms of how you treat those around you as you will almost certainly work with them again at some point in the future!

对于那些想成为CRA的人来说，我有个小建议：这是一个很小行业，每个人都有可能相互认识。记住，如何对待您周围的人，因为你几乎肯定会在未来的某个时候与他们一起工作！

The future of the industry is really interesting at the moment as we start to move increasingly towards drugs based on individual genetic makeup. It’s a fascinating industry to be part of and I’m looking forward to continuing my career in it.

当我们开始越来越多地依据个人的基因组成来研制药物的时候，这个行业的未来肯定会变的非常有趣。这是一个很棒的行业，我期待着继续砥砺前行。

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药学生