Clinical researcher vs clinical research associate

The differences between clinical researchers and clinical research associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a clinical researcher and a clinical research associate. Additionally, a clinical research associate has an average salary of $62,966, which is higher than the $55,453 average annual salary of a clinical researcher.

The top three skills for a clinical researcher include patients, informed consent and IRB. The most important skills for a clinical research associate are patients, informed consent, and CRA.

Clinical researcher vs clinical research associate overview

	Clinical Researcher	Clinical Research Associate
Yearly salary	$55,453	$62,966
Hourly rate	$26.66	$30.27
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	60,864	94,336
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	2	2

What does a clinical researcher do?

A clinical researcher is primarily in charge of conducting research trials for medicine and health care development. Their responsibilities mainly revolve around conducting extensive research and analysis by gathering samples, performing experiments, working with research participants, and collaborating with other researchers and scientists. Moreover, as a clinical researcher, it is essential to maintain records of all experiments, summarize findings into reports and presentations, and monitor every progress, all while adhering to the research's deadlines, budgets, goals, and policies.

What does a clinical research associate do?

A clinical research associate is responsible for assisting medical professionals in clinical trials and conducting research studies on medications and medical procedures. Clinical research associates monitor the research materials, ensuring its safety and reliability through trial procedures, writing comprehensive reports of results, and disseminating information across the concerned parties. They also provide recommendations on improving clinical processes, reiterating protocol requirements, and maintaining strict confidentiality of the trial subjects. A clinical research associate must have extensive knowledge of the medical industry, including its disciplines and principles, to perform duties accurately under minimal supervision.

Clinical researcher vs clinical research associate salary

Clinical researchers and clinical research associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Clinical Researcher	Clinical Research Associate
Average salary	$55,453	$62,966
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $79,000	Between $43,000 And $91,000
Highest paying City	Santa Rosa, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Edwards Lifesciences	Meta
Best paying industry	Pharmaceutical	Pharmaceutical

Differences between clinical researcher and clinical research associate education

There are a few differences between a clinical researcher and a clinical research associate in terms of educational background:

	Clinical Researcher	Clinical Research Associate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	University of Pennsylvania

Clinical researcher vs clinical research associate demographics

Here are the differences between clinical researchers' and clinical research associates' demographics:

	Clinical Researcher	Clinical Research Associate
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 38.3% Female, 61.7%	Male, 28.3% Female, 71.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 2.5% Unknown, 7.4% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 13.5% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 2.5% Unknown, 7.4% Hispanic or Latino, 13.7% Asian, 13.0% White, 62.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between clinical researcher and clinical research associate duties and responsibilities

Clinical researcher example responsibilities.

Manage site master file contents and work with sites to ensure communication requirements between site and IRB are adhere to.
Establish and maintain strong community partnerships to achieve HIV prevention objectives.
Maintain study database to in compliance with FDA regulations.
Perform NIH studies, coordinate interviews of clinical research trial participant's.
Support IRB applications and analyze collected data.
Interact with and assess patients to determine effectiveness of medicine.

Clinical research associate example responsibilities.

Manage, schedule and train up to 15 CRAs.
Recruit patients, attain patient inform consent form, educate subjects on compliance, and ensure patient safety per ICH guidelines.
Manage site TMF to ensure communication requirements adherence
Manage CRO and regional monitor to complete close out activities, including device accountability management.
Manage regional academic and community base oncology practices as the primary contact for all communications and support.
Manage the monitoring CRO and the data clean-up efforts for a 510k submission and interim/annual study reports by effectively collaborating cross-functionally.

Clinical researcher vs clinical research associate skills

Common clinical researcher skills

Patients, 16%
Informed Consent, 12%
IRB, 10%
Clinical Trials, 8%
Data Collection, 8%
FDA, 6%

Common clinical research associate skills

Patients, 9%
Informed Consent, 7%
CRA, 6%
Clinical Trials, 6%
Clinical Trial Management, 5%
Oncology, 4%

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Clinical Researcher
Clinical Researcher vs Clinical Research Associate

Updated January 8, 2025

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