What does a Clinical Associate do?

A clinical associate is responsible for supporting the operations of a medical facility by performing administrative and clerical duties as needed to provide high-quality care services for the patients and assisting health care professionals in performing medical procedures. Clinical associates monitor the conditions of the patients, administer medication, collect laboratory samples, and conduct initial medical assessments such as checking temperature and vital signs. A clinical associate must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially on addressing different patients' needs and reporting the patients' progress to the physicians.
Clinical associate responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real clinical associate resumes:
- Perform EKG's, placement of cardiac leads and telemetry unit (critical care only).
- Manage patient caseload with emphasis in occupational rehabilitation
- Assist nurses and doctors with procedures, EKG monitoring, clinical duties, clerical duties.
- Assist with project plan management, FDA submission paperwork, and tracking of contingency plans / appropriate triggers.
- Experience with communication with professional staff regarding pertinent observations concerning conditions of patients.
- Participate in disease diagnosis and treatment in the department of internal medicine and pediatrics
- Attend a resident clinic along with medical residents in psychiatry, neurology and developmental pediatrics.
- Assist technologist with patients screening, intravenous procedures, dose preparation, electrocardiogram administration, and cardiovascular stress testing.
- Assist with work in several units of hospital including rehabilitation, ambulation, physical therapy, and active/passive range of motion
- Assess regulatory documents require for site initiation and drug release to ensure compliance with FDA regulations and guidelines and sponsor requirements.
- Manage patient caseload with emphasis in occupational rehabilitation
- Draft and submit an NIH sponsor grant to fund further research into the socioeconomic aspects of co-infection.
- Answer queries and maintain patient information in both EDC and source.
- Track submission of SAEs and protocol deviation and ensure that appropriate tracking systems are update.
- Administer and interpret results from ADHD test batteries of children, adolescents, and adults.
Clinical associate skills and personality traits
We calculated that 30% of Clinical Associates are proficient in Patients, Rehabilitation, and Home Health. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Time-management skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Clinical Associates that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 30%
Managed complex medical patients and acute illnesses in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team and co-leader of Stress Reduction Hypertension Group.
- Rehabilitation, 6%
Managed patient caseload with emphasis in occupational rehabilitation
- Home Health, 6%
Install, maintain and inventory all video-conferencing technologies, clinical peripherals, and home health technologies.
- Vital Signs, 5%
Schedule patients within Epic system-Verify patient insurance-Open/close cash drawer-Triage patients/vital signs
- CPR, 4%
Certified in CPR, First Aid, and Crisis Prevention.
- Excellent Interpersonal, 4%
Position required excellent interpersonal and communications, as well as excellent planning, problem solving and organizational skills.
Common skills that a clinical associate uses to do their job include "patients," "rehabilitation," and "home health." You can find details on the most important clinical associate responsibilities below.
Leadership skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a clinical associate to have is leadership skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "natural sciences managers must be able to organize, direct, and motivate others." Clinical associates often use leadership skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "conduct adult home health visits participant, associate leadership development program"
Time-management skills. Many clinical associate duties rely on time-management skills. "natural sciences managers must be able to perform multiple administrative, supervisory, and technical tasks while ensuring that projects remain on schedule.," so a clinical associate will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways clinical associate responsibilities rely on time-management skills: "developed timelines and organizational skills to meet irb submission deadlines. "
Communication skills. clinical associates are also known for communication skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to clinical associate responsibilities, because "natural sciences managers must be able to communicate clearly with a variety of audiences, such as scientists, policymakers, and the public." A clinical associate resume example shows how communication skills is used in the workplace: "maintained effective communication with cra team to augment remote and onsite visit activities. "
Problem-solving skills. For certain clinical associate responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of a clinical associate rely on this skill, as "natural sciences managers use scientific observation and analysis to find answers to complex technical questions." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what clinical associates do: "managed and supported upwards of 24 site s activities remotely, resolved site issues, and ensured timely/high quality data entry. "
Interpersonal skills. A commonly-found skill in clinical associate job descriptions, "interpersonal skills" is essential to what clinical associates do. Clinical associate responsibilities rely on this skill because "natural sciences managers lead research teams and therefore need to work well with others in order to reach common goals." You can also see how clinical associate duties rely on interpersonal skills in this resume example: "developed excellent interpersonal skills and strived for great patient satisfaction"
The three companies that hire the most clinical associates are:
- Beth Israel Lahey Health32 clinical associates jobs
- LifePoint Health30 clinical associates jobs
- Oregon Health & Science University24 clinical associates jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable clinical associate resume templates
Build a professional clinical associate resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your clinical associate resume.Compare different clinical associates
Clinical associate vs. Study director
Technically, a study director carries out scientific responsibilities for protocol design or study plan and approval. Study directors supervise the gathering, analysis, interpretation, documentation, and reporting of data results. They handle the matriculation of students with regard to data management system development. Working with the computer systems team is part of their duties so they will be able to establish a data management system in tracking the study participants. They also support the toxicology team or group on different project teams.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a clinical associate are more likely to require skills like "patients," "rehabilitation," "home health," and "vital signs." On the other hand, a job as a study director requires skills like "toxicology," "study design," "project management," and "data analysis." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Study directors tend to reach higher levels of education than clinical associates. In fact, study directors are 8.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 4.7% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Clinical associate vs. Research project coordinator
Research Project Coordinators take on a lead role in maintaining and creating processes that support the execution of a research project. Their duties include researching governance requirements, preparing for contract bidding, manage budgeting of a project to meet a specified timeline, and present findings of a project to all stakeholders involved. The Research Project Coordinator will also support administrative tasks, including producing corporate reports, organizing committee meetings, and developing a research database to track active milestones achieved.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real clinical associate resumes. While clinical associate responsibilities can utilize skills like "rehabilitation," "home health," "vital signs," and "cpr," research project coordinators use skills like "project management," "public health," "data analysis," and "research study."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Research project coordinators tend to reach higher levels of education than clinical associates. In fact, they're 9.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 4.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Clinical associate vs. Senior program coordinator
A senior program coordinator is primarily in charge of spearheading and managing programs, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Their responsibilities revolve around participating in setting goals and objectives, securing funding and sponsors, overseeing the workforce, and even establishing guidelines. They may also facilitate communication within the company and liaise with external parties. Furthermore, as a senior program coordinator, it is essential to lead and encourage the teams to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, clinical associates are more likely to have skills like "patients," "rehabilitation," "home health," and "vital signs." But a senior program coordinator is more likely to have skills like "alumni," "excellent organizational," "powerpoint," and "sr."
Most senior program coordinators achieve a higher degree level compared to clinical associates. For example, they're 5.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 5.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Clinical associate vs. Research nurse
A research nurse specializes in conducting studies and scientific research for healthcare and medical development. They may work for medical facilities, private clinics, learning institutions, and government agencies. It is their duty to design research strategies and procedures, gather and analyze samples through various scientific methods, coordinate with other experts, and develop treatment and healthcare plans to optimize patient services and outcomes. Moreover, a research nurse typically works with a team of researchers, which requires an active communication line while adhering to the organization's policies and regulations.
Types of clinical associate
Updated January 8, 2025