Medical research scientist vs clinical researcher

The differences between medical research scientists and clinical researchers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a medical research scientist, becoming a clinical researcher takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a medical research scientist has an average salary of $78,125, which is higher than the $55,453 average annual salary of a clinical researcher.

The top three skills for a medical research scientist include PCR, research findings and GMP. The most important skills for a clinical researcher are patients, informed consent, and IRB.

Medical research scientist vs clinical researcher overview

	Medical Research Scientist	Clinical Researcher
Yearly salary	$78,125	$55,453
Hourly rate	$37.56	$26.66
Growth rate	17%	6%
Number of jobs	129,653	60,864
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	41	44
Years of experience	4	2

Medical research scientist vs clinical researcher salary

Medical research scientists and clinical researchers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Research Scientist	Clinical Researcher
Average salary	$78,125	$55,453
Salary range	Between $47,000 And $129,000	Between $38,000 And $79,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Santa Rosa, CA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	California
Best paying company	Oak Ridge National Laboratory	Edwards Lifesciences
Best paying industry	Pharmaceutical	Pharmaceutical

Differences between medical research scientist and clinical researcher education

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

	Medical Research Scientist	Clinical Researcher
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Medical research scientist vs clinical researcher demographics

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

	Medical Research Scientist	Clinical Researcher
Average age	41	44
Gender ratio	Male, 40.0% Female, 60.0%	Male, 38.3% Female, 61.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 27.2% White, 52.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	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%
LGBT Percentage	8%	9%

Differences between medical research scientist and clinical researcher duties and responsibilities

Medical research scientist example responsibilities.

Manage sample inventory via in-house laboratory information management system (LIMS) and implement additional systems for sample and chemical organization.
Experience working in a GMP regulate environment.
Experience with``firefight"responses and working with FDA.
Mouse colony maintenance are paramount, mouse genotyping, data organization.
Evaluate total tissue proteins and serum responses by ELISA, fluorescent and clotting assays.
Design and execute experiments to test the anti-allergic effect of CMP against grass, tree and ragweed pollen allergies.

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.

Medical research scientist vs clinical researcher skills

Common medical research scientist skills

PCR, 21%
Research Findings, 20%
GMP, 17%
Genotyping, 15%
Elisa, 13%
Extraction, 7%

Common clinical researcher skills

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

Medical Research Scientist vs. similar jobs

Medical Research Scientist related careers

Medical Research Scientist related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Life, Physical, and Social Science Industry
Medical Research Scientist
Medical Research Scientist vs Clinical Researcher

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse life, physical, and social science jobs