Post job

Clinical consultant education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a clinical consultant. Clinical consultants usually study nursing, business, or psychology. 51% of clinical consultants hold a bachelor's degree, and 23% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 3,262 real clinical consultant resumes to see exactly what clinical consultant education sections show.

The most common colleges for clinical consultants are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.

There are also many online clinical consultant courses to help get the education required to be a clinical consultant.

There are certain clinical consultant certifications that you should consider. These clinical consultant certifications include Legal Nurse Consultant Certified (LNCC) and Wound Care Certified (WCC).

What education do you need to become a clinical consultant?

What degree do you need to be a clinical consultant?

The most common degree for clinical consultants is bachelor's degree, with 51% of clinical consultants earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 23% and master's degree degree at 14%.
  • Bachelor's, 51%
  • Master's, 23%
  • Associate, 14%
  • Doctorate, 7%
  • Other Degrees, 5%

What should I major in to become a clinical consultant?

You should major in nursing to become a clinical consultant. 44% of clinical consultants major in nursing. Other common majors for a clinical consultant include business and psychology.

Most common colleges for clinical consultants

Clinical consultants often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, New York University, and Ohio State University. Here are the most common colleges for clinical consultants in the US based on their resumes.
Clinical consultant common collegePercentages
University of Phoenix13.27%
New York University7.14%
Ohio State University6.80%
Walden University5.44%
University of Southern California5.10%

Best majors for clinical consultants

RankMajorPercentages
1Nursing43.7%
2Business8.3%
3Psychology8.0%
4Pharmacy7.3%
5Social Work6.4%

Best colleges for clinical consultants

The best colleges for clinical consultants are University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Northwestern University.

A clinical consultant with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for clinical consultants. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become clinical consultants.

1. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

2. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

3. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

4. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

5. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$53,308

Enrollment

6,819

6. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

7. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Enrollment

9,394

8. SUNY Stony Brook

Stony Brook, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,625

Enrollment

17,407

9. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

10. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-state tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

20 best online courses for clinical consultants

Advertising disclosure

1. Clinical Kidney, Pancreas and Islet Transplantation

coursera

Kidney transplantation is a major advance of modern medicine which provides high-quality of life for patients with end-stage renal disease. What used to be an experimental, risky, and very limited treatment option more than 50 years ago is now routinely performed in many countries worldwide. The number of renal transplants is expected to rise sharply in the next decade since the proportion of patients with end stage renal disease is increasing. Are you interested in clinical kidney, pancreas...

2. Addiction Treatment: Clinical Skills for Healthcare Providers

coursera

This course is designed with a singular goal: to improve the care you provide to your patients with substance use disorders. By delving into a model case performed by actors, seven Yale instructors from various fields provide techniques to screen your patients for substance use disorder risk, diagnose patients to gauge the severity of their use, directly manage treatment plans, refer out to treatment services, and navigate the various conditions that may limit your patient’s access to treatment...

3. The Simplest Guide to Clinical Trials Data Analysis with SAS

udemy
4.4
(1,044)

Step into the world of Pharmaceutical industry Clinical Trials Clinical Research Biostatistics Clinical SAS SAS...

4. Basic of Clinical Data Management

udemy
4.5
(341)

Clinical Data Management...

5. Prehospital care of acute stroke and patient selection for endovascular treatment using the RACE scale

coursera

Acute stroke is a time-dependent medical emergency. In acute ischemic stroke, the first objective is to restore brain flow using sistemic thrombolytic treatment and, in patients with large vessel occlusion, by endovascular treatment. In hemorrhagic stroke there are also specific treatments that can improve the clinical outcome. The sooner the initiation of all these therapies the higher the clinical benefit. Thus, the organization of Stroke Code systems coordinated between emergency medical...

6. Clinical Trials Data Management and Quality Assurance

coursera

In this course, you’ll learn to collect and care for the data gathered during your trial and how to prevent mistakes and errors through quality assurance practices. Clinical trials generate an enormous amount of data, so you and your team must plan carefully by choosing the right collection instruments, systems, and measures to protect the integrity of your trial data. You’ll learn how to assemble, clean, and de-identify your datasets. Finally, you’ll learn to find and correct deficiencies...

7. The Beginners Course for Clinical Research

udemy
4.5
(650)

The Essentials of Clinical Trials - Clinical Research for Beginners...

8. Good Clinical Practice for Clinical Research Professionals

udemy
4.5
(537)

The Complete, Certified ICH GCP (R2 & R3) Course for Investigators, Study Coordinators, Sponsors, Monitors and Study staff...

9. Value-Based Care: Managing Processes to Improve Outcomes

coursera

COURSE 3 of 7. This course is designed to introduce you to critical office-based processes that a value-based practice must manage in the drive towards improved patient outcomes. In Module 2, we’ll focus on office-based and clinical patient-based supporting functions. At every level in healthcare, guidelines, processes, and functions exist to improve outcomes, and following a consistent process will return the best effect. Refine your understanding of value and learn strategies to provide real...

10. Clinical Natural Language Processing

coursera

This course teaches you the fundamentals of clinical natural language processing (NLP). In this course you will learn the basic linguistic principals underlying NLP, as well as how to write regular expressions and handle text data in R. You will also learn practical techniques for text processing to be able to extract information from clinical notes. Finally, you will have a chance to put your skills to the test with a real-world practical application where you develop text processing...

11. Good Clinical Practice ICH GCP for Clinical Research

udemy
4.5
(710)

Certification on ICH GCP E6 R2 Good Clinical Practice for Clinical Research The Only Complete Course You Can Find Online...

12. Certificate Course in Clinical Research (CCCR)

udemy
4
(302)

A Clinical Research Course-ICH-GCP E6(R2), Clinical Trials, Essential Documents, Sponsor, Investigator, Pharmaceuticals...

13. Introduction to Clinical Data Science

coursera

This course will prepare you to complete all parts of the Clinical Data Science Specialization. In this course you will learn how clinical data are generated, the format of these data, and the ethical and legal restrictions on these data. You will also learn enough SQL and R programming skills to be able to complete the entire Specialization - even if you are a beginner programmer. While you are taking this course you will have access to an actual clinical data set and a free, online...

14. HI-FIVE: Health Informatics For Innovation, Value & Enrichment (Clinical Perspective)

coursera

HI-FIVE (Health Informatics For Innovation, Value & Enrichment) Training is a 12-hour online course designed by Columbia University in 2016, with sponsorship from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The training is role-based and uses case scenarios. Also, it has additional, optional modules on other topics of interest or relevance. Although we suggest to complete the course within a month's timeframe, the course is self-paced and so you can start and...

15. Good Clinical Practice (GCP)

udemy
4.2
(313)

Key features of the GCP guideline, roles and responsibilities involved and the requirements of essential documentation...

16. Clinical Research for beginners

udemy
4.2
(462)

The Art of Publishing - Master Pub Med, Study design, Biostatistics, Journal choice, Manuscript writing & Referencing...

17. Clinical Trials Analysis, Monitoring, and Presentation

coursera

In this course, you’ll learn more advanced operational skills that you and your team need to run a successful clinical trial. You’ll learn about the computation of sample size and how to develop a sample size calculation that’s suitable for your trial design and outcome measures. You’ll also learn to use statistical methods to monitor your trial for safety, integrity, and efficacy. Next, you’ll learn how to report the results from your clinical trials through both journal articles and data...

18. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care

coursera

This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...

19. Design and Conduct of Clinical Trials

coursera

In this course, you’ll learn how to design and carry out clinical trials. Each design choice has implications for the quality and validity of your results. This course provides you and your team with essential skills to evaluate options, make good design choices, and implement them within your trial. You’ll learn to control for bias, randomize participants, mask treatments and outcomes, identify errors, develop and test hypotheses, and define appropriate outcomes. Finally, a trial without...

20. Predictive Modeling and Transforming Clinical Practice

coursera

This course teaches you the fundamentals of transforming clinical practice using predictive models. This course examines specific challenges and methods of clinical implementation, that clinical data scientists must be aware of when developing their predictive models...

Top 10 most affordable universities for clinical consultants

The most affordable schools for clinical consultants are SUNY Farmingdale, california state university - bakersfield, and california state university - dominguez hills.

If the best universities for clinical consultants are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for clinical consultants.

1. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

2. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

3. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

4. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

5. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

6. Minot State University

Minot, ND • Private

In-state tuition

$7,064

Cost of attendance

15,576

7. University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez

Mayaguez, PR • Private

In-state tuition

$4,094

Cost of attendance

14,302

8. SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Utica, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,238

Cost of attendance

21,567

9. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

10. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Cost of attendance

21,623

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for clinical consultants

The hardest universities for clinical consultants to get into are University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Northwestern University.

Some great schools for clinical consultants are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for clinical consultants based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,492

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

4%

SAT average

1,497

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

4. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

5. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

6. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

Admissions rate

29%

SAT average

1,407

7. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

Admissions rate

10%

SAT average

1,514

8. George Washington University, The

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions rate

42%

SAT average

1,380

9. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

Admissions rate

40%

SAT average

1,376

10. University of Rochester

Rochester, NY • Private

Admissions rate

29%

SAT average

1,422

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for clinical consultants

The easiest schools for clinical consultants to get into are Oklahoma Wesleyan University, d'youville college, and holy names university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a clinical consultant without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for clinical consultants.

1. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

2. D'Youville College

Buffalo, NY • Private

Admissions rate

100%

SAT average

1,072

3. Holy Names University

Oakland, CA • Private

Admissions rate

70%

SAT average

849

4. Nyack College

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

999

5. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,031

6. Notre Dame College

Cleveland, OH • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

994

7. Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,031

8. Wayland Baptist University

Plainview, TX • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

1,003

9. Curry College

Milton, MA • Private

Admissions rate

93%

SAT average

1,026

10. Felician University

Lodi, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

81%

SAT average

999

Average clinical consultant salary by education level

Clinical consultants with a Master's degree earn more than those without, at $84,236 annually. With a Doctorate degree, clinical consultants earn a median annual income of $80,515 compared to $78,883 for clinical consultants with an Bachelor's degree.
Clinical consultant education levelClinical consultant salary
Master's Degree$84,236
Bachelor's Degree$78,883
Doctorate Degree$80,515
Some College/ Associate Degree$72,451

Clinical consultant education FAQs

Search for clinical consultant jobs

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Browse healthcare practitioner and technical jobs