Clinical researcher vs clinical research coordinator

The differences between clinical researchers and clinical research coordinators 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 coordinator. Additionally, a clinical researcher has an average salary of $55,453, which is higher than the $52,459 average annual salary of a clinical research coordinator.

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

Clinical researcher vs clinical research coordinator overview

	Clinical Researcher	Clinical Research Coordinator
Yearly salary	$55,453	$52,459
Hourly rate	$26.66	$25.22
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	60,864	102,960
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
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 coordinator do?

A clinical research coordinator is a healthcare professional responsible for administering clinical trials of drugs or medications. Clinical research coordinators work under the supervision of clinical research managers to collect data and help inform trial participants about the study's objectives. They must ensure that these trials have met all regulations, including drug safety, government regulations, and the organization's code of ethics. Clinical research coordinators must obtain a bachelor's degree in nursing and have at least two years of healthcare experience.

Clinical researcher vs clinical research coordinator salary

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

	Clinical Researcher	Clinical Research Coordinator
Average salary	$55,453	$52,459
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $79,000	Between $37,000 And $72,000
Highest paying City	Santa Rosa, CA	Richmond, CA
Highest paying state	California	Washington
Best paying company	Edwards Lifesciences	Genentech
Best paying industry	Pharmaceutical	Health Care

Differences between clinical researcher and clinical research coordinator education

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

	Clinical Researcher	Clinical Research Coordinator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Biology	Nursing
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	Duke University

Clinical researcher vs clinical research coordinator demographics

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

	Clinical Researcher	Clinical Research Coordinator
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 38.3% Female, 61.7%	Male, 20.0% Female, 80.0%
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, 7.5% Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% Asian, 10.7% White, 64.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between clinical researcher and clinical research coordinator 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 coordinator example responsibilities.

Assess study participants for adverse reactions or complications and manage side effects of chemotherapy and other study relate drugs.
Establish and maintain strong community partnerships to achieve HIV prevention objectives.
Direct acquisition and analysis of functional MRI research data following GCP and FDA regulations
Prepare and maintain IRB and regulatory documentation for various research projects and consent patients for clinical research.
Facilitate constant communication between principal investigators, oncology nurses, and patients to address concerns and maximize eligibility and enrollment.
Schedule patient for study procedures; initiate/coordinate drug orders, laboratory procedures and treatments for patients base on standing protocol orders.

Clinical researcher vs clinical research coordinator skills

Common clinical researcher skills

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

Common clinical research coordinator skills

Patients, 11%
Informed Consent, 10%
IRB, 7%
Data Collection, 5%
Research Projects, 4%
Patient Care, 4%

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Clinical Researcher vs Clinical Research Coordinator

Updated January 8, 2025

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