The first article outlined challenges and solutions for attracting diverse populations in a three-part series. The second article offered new ideas on how to solve the most persistent operational challenges at the site level. The third article describes how Alcanza is addressing the industry-wide staffing shortages with a long-view approach.
Staffing Shortages are an Industry Epidemic
Demand for talent in clinical research has never been greater, but the shortage of qualified staff across sponsors, CROs, and investigator sites is severely impacting trial timelines and the ability to initiate important new work.
As our industry approaches unprecedented staffing shortage levels, Alcanza is taking matters into our own hands to create the skills needed to conduct research through intensive, multidisciplinary training, job shadowing, and mentoring.
While skills and competencies required to manage complex clinical trials are unique and often only acquired through lived experience, we’ve looked to ancillary fields in healthcare for recruiting to jumpstart the training and onboarding process with knowledgeable staff so that many new hires with clinical backgrounds such as EMT-Ps and registered nurses are ready to contribute to clinical trial operations in a matter of months.
A New Model for New Hire Training and Career Development
Coastal Carolina Research Center (CCRC) is one of the largest multi-therapeutic clinical research sites in the region and has built a reputation as a high-performing site in competitive therapeutic development areas such as vaccines, CNS-related indications, diabetes, psychiatry, gastrointestinal conditions, and women’s health. Staffing demands related to the volume of work, coupled with the lingering COVID-era hiring challenges and the increasingly complex nature of clinical trials, led the CCRC staff to create a robust internal training program.
Nathan Morton, Chief Commercial Officer, described events that led to the decision to develop training internally: “We quickly realized the problem was not unique to CCRC. During and after COVID, industry turnover rates hovered around 40%. At the same time, we discovered successful recruiting strategies almost serendipitously when hiring new research staff from healthcare-related jobs, such as EMTs and various hospital roles. We then realized we must create a pathway for new and experienced staff to enable continuous career advancement. Our first step was hiring a trainer.”
Finding a trainer for clinical research is often easier said than done. When it comes to identifying a trainer, knowledge or experience as a coordinator is not enough. Education is its own discipline, with a broad skill set developed over many years of training. When candidates have a background in both research and education, they are strong candidates for a trainer.
Programs for New Entrants and Career Advancement
For those who are new to clinical research, the CCRC training program consists of research fundamentals, intermediate and advanced CRC skills, and core clinical elements used in completing study procedures. After passing all skills tests, the new researcher undergoes a traditional teaching model where they observe visit activities, conduct the same activities alongside a mentor, and then perform solo tasks. As skills progress, these researchers are assessed for promotion to higher-level roles within the site.
Training and upskilling are not only a good idea for new staff but also to ensure all staff have the tools and support to keep pace with the evolution of clinical research as protocols increase in complexity and new data collection tools are introduced.
For internal staff looking to skill up to become a coordinator or external candidates with some level of experience, internal training is augmented with recognized industry resources such as Fastrack and ACRP. We also offer supplemental training within our unit for qualified medical personnel, such as EMT-P or foreign medical doctors.
The regulatory landscape is constantly changing, so there is always new training to support compliance needs or individual studies, or new procedures that may arise in a protocol. As we discover new items that are helpful, they can easily be added through the learning management system.
CCRC has an intrinsic benefit in its location of Charleston, S.C. Multiple site staff has relocated to work here. We also feel having researchers with diverse backgrounds helps nearly everyone to find a friend among their colleagues.
As demographic trends go, training and development investments are more important than ever in our industry which is so dependent on qualified and dedicated people. Alcanza is committed to building a talent pipeline that will help us shape the future of clinical research.
Author: Matthew Maxwell, Chief Marketing Officer
