Clinical research conducted at children's hospitals is vital to advancing pediatric health. At the heart of this work are clinical research coordinators (CRCs).
CRCs provide day-to-day support for clinical research studies. Their diverse duties may include providing regulatory support, making submissions to institutional review boards, ensuring compliance with study protocols, and collecting data.
Despite serving as vital cogs in hospital research engines, experienced CRCs — especially those with pediatric experience — can be hard to find. Many view the role as a steppingstone to other careers in medicine, pharmaceuticals, or the medical device industry. A 2021 study conducted by the Society of Clinical Research Associates found 68% of CRCs surveyed had been in their positions for fewer than five years.
Creating CRCs
To increase the number of CRCs with pediatric experience, Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) is piloting an internship program that exposes interns to all facets of clinical research at the children's hospital. Three interns in the pilot cohort will gain hands-on learning by rotating across specialties in the CHOC Research Institute.
Interns will earn a stipend their first year, and CHOC will cover the cost of interns' certification exams and professional association membership fees. Successful interns will be considered for full-time CRC positions at CHOC.
"Clinical research depends upon the efforts of highly qualified clinical research coordinators," said Dr. Terence Sanger, chief scientific officer at CHOC. "I'm very proud of the people we have. As we expand our clinical research enterprise here at CHOC, we recognize the need for more CRCs who are specialized in pediatrics and who understand our mission."
Sanger said the internship program is designed to train pediatric CRCs for both needs at CHOC and within the larger community of pediatric researchers.
"The innovative thing is that a pediatric hospital is doing this. Most CRCs train in trade schools or universities or industry and come to hospitals," he said. "It's about increasing the knowledge and the quality of pediatrics."
Building rewarding careers
Oliver Vasquez, senior manager of clinical research, and Diana Zuniga, supervisor of clinical research coordinators, oversee the CRC internship program.
"This new internship program supports CHOC's mission not only to advance and nurture the health and well-being of our patients, but also to find and provide treatments they have been unable to receive," Vasquez said. "We pride ourselves on what impact we can have on our patients."
Another goal is helping people find rewarding careers in health care.
"We're a growing research enterprise," Vasquez said. "The intention of this program is to really grow our own CRCs and inspire them to choose this as their career here."
Ofelia Vargas-Shiraishi joined CHOC as a CRC in 1992. Despite initial hesitation due to her background working in a research lab, she accepted a position in infection disease research. She now manages both critical care and neonatology research and helped launch a partnership with Rady Children's Institute of Genomic Medicine.
Vargas-Shiraishi characterizes her career as meaningful and impactful. "I've always had a lifelong love of learning and though it might sound a little cliché, even after almost 32 years at CHOC, I feel that I continue to learn every day," she said.
CRC internship positions are advertised on CHOC's careers webpage.
