19 Oct How to weather the clinical research talent recruitment storm

By Sharleen Traynor, The Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP)

Experienced boaters know how to handle a storm at sea: They steer straight into it while maintaining enough power to avoid being tossed around by waves and wind. It may sound counter-intuitive, but by confronting the bad weather directly they improve their chances of seeing better days ahead.

In the turbulent waters of the clinical research workforce, with high turnover and burnout circling like relentless sharks, several leading organizations have found ways to navigate their way through and around the worst of the storm.

Located in the heart of the Research Triangle Park (RTP) region of North Carolina, Durham Technical Community College (Durham Tech) is part of an area with a concentration of contract research organizations (CROs) and a chronic workforce shortage going back to the 1990s, says Sharleen Traynor, PhD, MPH, an instructor/fieldwork coordinator for the Clinical Trials Research Associate program at the college.

The challenge demanded a new way of assessing the problem. “It required us to look at student frustrations in finding jobs in clinical research,” Traynor says. “We have to help them overcome the obstacles” to learning about and finding jobs in the vocation, she adds. Read more …