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Clinical operations manager education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a clinical operations manager. Clinical operations managers usually study nursing, business, or health care administration. 52% of clinical operations managers hold a bachelor's degree, and 22% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 1,566 real clinical operations manager resumes to see exactly what clinical operations manager education sections show.
The most common colleges for clinical operations managers are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.
There are also many online clinical operations manager courses to help get the education required to be a clinical operations manager.
There are certain clinical operations manager certifications that you should consider. These clinical operations manager certifications include Medical Assistant and Basic Life Support for Healthcare and Public Safety (BLS).
What education do you need to become a clinical operations manager?
What degree do you need to be a clinical operations manager?
- Bachelor's, 52%
- Master's, 22%
- Associate, 17%
- Doctorate, 3%
- Other Degrees, 6%
What should I major in to become a clinical operations manager?
- Nursing, 32%
- Business, 20%
- Psychology, 7%
- Other Majors, 32%
Most common colleges for clinical operations managers
| Clinical operations manager common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| University of Phoenix | 28.65% |
| Walden University | 5.62% |
| University of California, Santa Barbara | 5.62% |
| Grand Canyon University | 5.06% |
| University of Maryland - College Park | 4.49% |
Best majors for clinical operations managers
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nursing | 31.7% |
| 2 | Business | 19.7% |
| 3 | Health Care Administration | 8.5% |
| 4 | Psychology | 6.9% |
| 5 | Biology | 4.9% |
Best colleges for clinical operations managers
The best colleges for clinical operations managers are University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University, and University of Southern California.
A clinical operations manager 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 operations managers. 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 operations managers.
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. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
In-state tuition
$54,568
Enrollment
8,451
4. New York University
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$51,828
Enrollment
26,339
5. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
In-state tuition
$51,522
Enrollment
13,760
6. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$18,454
Enrollment
40,108
7. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Private
In-state tuition
$10,610
Enrollment
40,329
8. University of Washington
Seattle, WA • Private
In-state tuition
$11,207
Enrollment
30,905
9. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Private
In-state tuition
$14,760
Enrollment
31,451
10. George Washington University, The
Washington, DC • Private
In-state tuition
$55,230
Enrollment
12,161
20 best online courses for clinical operations managers
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1. Operations and Patient Safety for Healthcare IT Staff
Now that you've been introduced to the world of Health IT and the important role played by electronic health records (EHRs), we'll focus on other technologies that play a role in maintaining ongoing operations in healthcare. Telemedicine, patient portals, barcode scanners, printers, and medical devices are just some of the technologies that impact providers and patients. As an IT support specialist, you’ll be asked to troubleshoot issues with a wide variety of tools. You'll see a scenario with...
2. Clinical Trials Analysis, Monitoring, and Presentation
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...
3. Basic of Clinical Data Management
Clinical Data Management...
4. Good Clinical Practice for Clinical Research Professionals
The Complete, Certified ICH GCP (R2 & R3) Course for Investigators, Study Coordinators, Sponsors, Monitors and Study staff...
5. Clinical Trials Data Management and Quality Assurance
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...
6. Value-Based Care: Managing Processes to Improve Outcomes
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...
7. The Simplest Guide to Clinical Trials Data Analysis with SAS
Step into the world of Pharmaceutical industry Clinical Trials Clinical Research Biostatistics Clinical SAS SAS...
8. Good Clinical Practice ICH GCP for Clinical Research
Certification on ICH GCP E6 R2 Good Clinical Practice for Clinical Research The Only Complete Course You Can Find Online...
9. Clinical Kidney, Pancreas and Islet Transplantation
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...
10. Making Data Science Work for Clinical Reporting
This course is aimed to demonstate how principles and methods from data science can be applied in clinical reporting. By the end of the course, learners will understand what requirements there are in reporting clinical trials, and how they impact on how data science is used. The learner will see how they can work efficiently and effectively while still ensuring that they meet the needed standards...
11. The Beginners Course for Clinical Research
The Essentials of Clinical Trials - Clinical Research for Beginners...
12. Certificate Course in Clinical Research (CCCR)
A Clinical Research Course-ICH-GCP E6(R2), Clinical Trials, Essential Documents, Sponsor, Investigator, Pharmaceuticals...
13. Clinical Natural Language Processing
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...
14. Introduction to Clinical Data Science
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...
15. Good Clinical Practice (GCP)
Key features of the GCP guideline, roles and responsibilities involved and the requirements of essential documentation...
16. Operational Risks Management ORM
Operational Risks Management ORM Case Studies for Risk Management, Compliance, Audit, IS Security, Banking Professionals...
17. Addiction Treatment: Clinical Skills for Healthcare Providers
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...
18. Design and Conduct of Clinical Trials
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...
19. Clinical Research for beginners
The Art of Publishing - Master Pub Med, Study design, Biostatistics, Journal choice, Manuscript writing & Referencing...
20. Predictive Modeling and Transforming Clinical Practice
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 operations managers
The most affordable schools for clinical operations managers are Baruch College of the City University of New York, university of florida, and university of south florida.
If the best universities for clinical operations managers 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 operations managers.
1. Baruch College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,262
Cost of attendance
14,046
2. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
3. University of South Florida
Tampa, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,410
Cost of attendance
20,456
4. Florida International University
Miami, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,556
Cost of attendance
19,434
5. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
6. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
7. California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,886
Cost of attendance
17,645
8. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,309
Cost of attendance
16,714
9. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
10. California State University - San Bernardino
San Bernardino, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,922
Cost of attendance
18,522
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for clinical operations managers
The hardest universities for clinical operations managers to get into are University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University, and University of Southern California.
Some great schools for clinical operations managers 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 operations managers 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. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,508
3. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
13%
SAT average
1,445
4. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
Admissions rate
19%
SAT average
1,466
5. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
Admissions rate
17%
SAT average
1,507
6. New York University
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
20%
SAT average
1,419
7. University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL • Private
Admissions rate
32%
SAT average
1,365
8. George Washington University, The
Washington, DC • Private
Admissions rate
42%
SAT average
1,380
9. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions rate
11%
SAT average
1,513
10. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
Admissions rate
22%
SAT average
1,420
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for clinical operations managers
The easiest schools for clinical operations managers to get into are Mount Saint Mary's University, barry university, and university of the incarnate word.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a clinical operations manager 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 operations managers.
1. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,031
2. Barry University
Miami, FL • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,006
3. University of the Incarnate Word
San Antonio, TX • Private
Admissions rate
88%
SAT average
1,044
4. Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Bartlesville, OK • Private
Admissions rate
68%
SAT average
964
5. Felician University
Lodi, NJ • Private
Admissions rate
81%
SAT average
999
6. Kean University
Union, NJ • Private
Admissions rate
86%
SAT average
991
7. Holy Names University
Oakland, CA • Private
Admissions rate
70%
SAT average
849
8. D'Youville College
Buffalo, NY • Private
Admissions rate
100%
SAT average
1,072
9. Notre Dame College
Cleveland, OH • Private
Admissions rate
90%
SAT average
994
10. Midwestern State University
Wichita Falls, TX • Private
Admissions rate
71%
SAT average
1,033
Average clinical operations manager salary by education level
| Clinical operations manager education level | Clinical operations manager salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $124,291 |
| High School Diploma or Less | $87,608 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $107,204 |
| Doctorate Degree | $119,747 |
| Some College/ Associate Degree | $90,286 |
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025