What are the best cities for clinical research positions?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the field of medical research is expected to grow 16 percent between 2014 and 2024. That means room for career advancement for those with experience as well as great potential for those exiting school. "Here at Beacon Hill Pharma, we expect to see a great deal of growth in the clinical research industry," notes Ryan Pirnat, Managing Director of Beacon Hill's Pharma Division. "The global clinical trial market is around $14 billion in 2016 and is projected to grow to over $22 billion by 2021, which will create lots of demand for clinical trial positions. Although we expect this will affect the entire United States, the demand will be most evident in the Pharma 'hubs' – Boston, San Francisco, Pennsylvania/New Jersey, and Chicago." If you're looking to jumpstart your career in medical science, consider one of these cities:

Medical research hubs

Most major cities in America have large medical institutions that need new talent for researching medical conditions, testing new drugs and investigating metadata. The cities listed below have many such opportunities at major hospitals, universities, labs and biotechnology companies:

• Boston: Boston is often thought of as a major hub of learning, and that extends to the medical research community. There are also quite a few major pharmaceutical companies that operate within the Boston area (For more on that, check out a profile we did last year on nearby Cambridge.)
• Chicago: There's a reason so many medical dramas are set in the Windy City. Chicago's major hospitals perform quite a bit of medical research in addition to handling patients.
• Los Angeles: With hospitals such as Cedars Sinai and Los Angeles Children's Hospital, as well as a thriving academic community, the Los Angeles area has many great opportunities for medical researchers.
• Minneapolis: Health care is one of the largest industries in Minneapolis. Aside from large medical institutions in the city itself, the surrounding suburbs are home to a number of smaller labs and biotechnology companies.
• Boston: Boston is often thought of as a major hub of learning, and that extends to the medical research community. There are also quite a few major pharmaceutical companies that operate within the Boston area.

Positions to consider

There are a number of clinical research jobs to consider - each taking advantage of a unique set of skills. Here are a few jobs in the world of clinical research that Science Magazine recommended:

• Clinical research associate: This is a common entry-level clinical research job. The position acts as a representative of the company sponsoring the clinical trial. As such, it requires more travel than other research positions - travel between trial sites and to the sponsor company.
• Medical writer: Labs, hospitals, universities and pharmaceutical companies employ medical writers to collect the data from trials and turn it into a published work. The amount of data that can come out of a single trial can be quite staggering!
• Biostatistician: As Science Magazine reported, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will only accept trial results that conform to certain statistical criteria. The Biostatistician is the one who collects the raw data, analyzes it and determines the overall results.
• Clinical safety professional: This position advocates for the patients in the trial, recording any adverse effects and ensuring patients are given the proper medical care. In general, those in this position are former nurses with several years of experience in the field.

With such tremendous job growth expected over the next decade, now is the perfect time to consider a career in clinical research. If working in a lab environment and helping to develop new drugs and therapies for patients sounds appealing, talk to your local recruiter about job opportunities in your area.

This content is brought to you by the Marketing Team at Beacon Hill Staffing Group.