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Part 2: How to become a CRA as a In-House CRA

If you are interested in how to become a CRA as a CRC, click here to read the series introduction and Part 1, which discusses exactly how to do that; however, in this post, we will delve into how to become a CRA as an In-House CRA. Since I primarily interact with them, but have never been one, I interviewed an in-house CRA (who wished to remain anonymous) in order to get an accurate perspective of the day-to-day aspects of this role.

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The in-house CRA is the right hand man/woman of every CRA and is an integral part of the clinical project team. Since they are “in-house” (no they are not at home), they rarely travel which frees them up to provide support to the CRAs who are traveling. Most in-house CRAs work full-time in the office; however, some may have the option to work from home 1 or 2 days a week depending on seniority and company policies. This is an important distinction from the CRA (who is usually home-based and travels all the time) because some may not be able to commit to the rigorous travel demands due to other obligations (e.g. families, children, etc.); thus, this is a good alternative.

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Cool Mina. You told us what don’t they do, but now tell us, what do they do? My answer is basically everything else that has to do with managing a site. The in-house CRA helps reduce the number of tasks the CRA would have to do on-site by following up with sites in between the monitoring visits. For example, the in-house CRA may ask about open queries, request regulatory documents, ensure adherence to the protocol, help resolve vendor issues, order clinical supplies, assist in site payments, track patient visits and much more. In a nutshell, these are some tasks of the in-house CRA; however, you should also expect the in-house CRA to do other tasks not listed depending on the company and project needs. For instance, the in-house CRA may be required to conduct remote monitoring visits at one company; however, he/she may not be permitted to do that in other companies.

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Now that you have a ten thousand foot view of the role, let’s talk about how it can help you land your first CRA position. As the in-house CRA, you will:

Work closely with the entire clinical project team, including your CRA.
Gain exposure to the “behind the scene” work of a CRA (since you will be able to access their reports and/or are copied on the same e-mail correspondences).

Since the in-house CRA frequently interacts with the CRA, the job responsibilities will be better understood; thus, it allows for a smooth progression to the CRA role. Most companies will promote the in-house CRA to a CRA, as that is the next intuitive step. I would like to note that this position is also perfect when the industry is not hiring any entry-level CRAs because you will be able to indirectly gain exposure to the CRA role. Additionally, if you find that you are unable to directly become a CRA as a CRC, this is your next best alternative because again you’ll be one step closer to reaching your goal.

Now that you understand the role and how it can bring you one step closer to becoming a CRA, let’s discuss two characteristics CRAs have in common with in-house CRAs:

Patient, yet assertive.
Great at multi-tasking

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Obviously, all four characteristics (i.e. attention to detail, highly organized, effective communication and time management) mentioned in Part 1 also apply here; however, I want to highlight different characteristics that also pertain to the in-house CRA role.

Being patient, yet assertive is important because you must learn to strike a healthy balance between your demands and expectations from your sites. Unless it is absolutely critical, you should give your sites time to complete tasks; however, it shouldn’t take them three weeks to send you an already completed document. This becomes important when the in-house CRA is responsible for many sites (like a CRA); thus, his/her ability to multi-task the demands and expectations of all sites is important. Remember the CRAs count on the in-house CRAs to manage their sites in between their monitoring visits.

If you found this article informative, please like and share it with anyone you know who wishes to become a CRA. Stay “tuned” (on LinkedIn) for the last part of this series, How to become a CRA as a Safety Specialist/Admin.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please consider joining the 1000+ LinkedIn members who currently follow me. My goal is to share content regarding all aspects of the CRA career and the pharmaceutical industry for current and aspiring clinical research professionals.

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