A Career in Clinical Research!

 

There are many graduates in medical science or life sciences, who are often confused regarding what to take up in their post graduation or how to shape up their future after they complete their graduation. There are also students who want to take up something challenging in their post graduation. In this scenario Clinical Research happens to be an emerging career option for the graduates in Medical Science, Dental Science or Life Science.

Clinical research is basically applied research. It involves the testing and examination of new medicines. The aim is to check if the medication is effective and safe, when used for a particular disease. Clinical research basically brings to the patients, the latest pharmaceuticals and therapies directly from the laboratory. It is the blend of two separate things, the clinic and the laboratory.  It is the translation of the basic discoveries to different treatments for the diseases of human beings.

Clinical research has witnessed immense popularity and worth in India. Following McKinsey & Company, India in 2010, generated around US $1.5 billion revenue in the field of clinical research, from locations such as Europe and U.S. This resulted in the creation of a demand for about 50,000 clinical research personnel and almost 10,000 investigators in clinical practice.

Clinical Research Courses

Numerous regular, online and correspondence courses in Clinical Research are available in India. Some of the courses in Clinical Research that you can check out are-

• B.Sc. Clinical Laboratory Technology
• B.Sc. Clinical Microbiology
• B.Sc. Clinical Nutrition, Dietetics and Catering Management
• Advanced Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Research & Regulatory Affairs (APGDCR (RA))
• Integrated Post Graduate Diploma In Clinical Research and Pharmacovigilance
• Certificate Program in Clinical Research (CPCR)
• M.Sc. Clinical Microbiology
• Diploma in Clinical Laboratory Technician
• PG Diploma in Clinical Trial Management
• PG Diploma in Clinical and Community psychology (CCP)
• PG Diploma in Clinical Nutrition
• PG Diploma in Clinical Laboratory Technology

Eligibility

After obtaining a B.Sc degree in Science, pharmacy and Medicine, one can go for a post graduate program in Clinical Research. The Clinical Research industry looks for graduates in Science, Pharmacy, life science, medicine, bioscience etc. Again in Bio Science, there are further divisions like Zoology, Botany, Genetics, and Biochemistry etc.  One who fulfils any of these criteria can go for post graduate programs in this industry.

Career Prospects

Clinical research personnel are among the sought after in India. A clinical research professional has number of options to start with, such as clinical research coordinator (CRC), Clinical Research Associate (CRA), Data management Validator (DMV), supervisor in hospitals or pharmaceutical firms, etc. The other options in the clinical research industry include medical writer, biostatistician, Safety reviewer, clinical research investigator and business development manager.

There are a number of job opportunities in the field of clinical research. However, to flourish in this filed, a degree in clinical research is not enough. One should be able to come out of his city and town; they should be able to meet the expectations of the employers. An active effort within the students of Clinical Research is an essential requisite that calls for a detailed understanding of the subject on the part of the student, besides improving one’s soft skills. A career in clinical research is surely satisfying and challenging and satisfying. One need to go for the right institute and a good program.

Institutes

Anovus Institute of Clinical Research
Sri Ram Tirath Cultural Centre
Plot No.:28-29,
Dakhshin Marg,
Opp. Batra Theatre,
Sector – 24C,
Chandigarh – 160036.
Ph No. : 0172-2726730

Altree Healthcare
Bldg No. 35/1986 B1
Opp. IMA House
Nehru Stadium Road
Palarivattom – Cochin 25
Kerala – India 682 025
Ph: +91 484 6561090 / 6561091

Apeejay Svran Institute for Biosciences & Clinical Research
Sector-32, Plot-26, Gurgaon, Haryana
Tel: +91124-4365376

Clinical Research Education and Management Academy (CREMA)
465/A,
22nd Cross Road,
3rd Block, Jayanagar,
Opp NMKRV College
Bengaluru 560 011
Phone: 080-4142 5578/79

Asian Institute of Health Sciences (AIOHS)
Ravi Hospital,
50, Anandnagar,
Vasai (West), Thane Dist-401 202, Maharashtra
Tel: 0250-2332684

Focus Institute of Pharms Skills
119/1,1st Floor, Srinidhi Complex,
11th Cross,Off Sampige Road
Malleswaram,
Bangalore-560003
Tel: +91 80 2334 5566

Institute of Clinical Research-ICRI
D 41, Ground Floor
Defence Colony
New Delhi -24
Tel: – +91-011-46638009

Cliniminds
C-55, 1st Floor, Preet Vihar,
Main Vikas Marg, Delhi 110092 (India)
Tel: +91-11-30287800 – 04

Lotus Clinical Research Academy Pvt. Ltd. (LCRA)
# 582, KCA Enclave, Opposite Bethany High School
8th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore 560 095
Tel: +91-80-2571 0822, 2570 4173/74/75

Oasis Institute of Health Sciences & Research Centre (OIHSRC)
2nd floor,Todkar Garden,
Above South Indian Bank,
Bibwewadi – kondhawa road,
Bibwewadi,
Pune – 411037
Ph: – +91-20-64002030

Medvarsity Online Limited
2nd floor, Life Sciences Building,
Apollo Hospitals Complex,
Film Nagar,
Hyderabad- 500 096, A.P, India
Tel: +040 – 23554000

Reliance Institute of Life Sciences
Dhirubhai Ambani Life Sciences Center
Thane- Belapur Road, Rabale
Navi Mumbai 400 701, India
Email : director@rils.ac.in

T. John Group of Institutions
SG-4, Manipal Centre,
Dickenson Road,
Bangalore 560 042
Email: info@tjohncollege.com
Phone: 91 80 25597817,
Fax: 91 80 25590952

Sharda Group of Institutions
Sharda University Campus, Greater Noida :
Plot No. 32-34, Knowledge Park III, Greater Noida, UP. – 201306
Admission Cell: +91-120-3121001/2

Universities in India: Can the damage be overcome?

Higher Education in India

Education in India is considered one among the several ways towards social mobility. Good education system and excellent education can serve as a stepping stone towards a high flying and exciting career. India’s educational structure functions at all possible levels commencing from pre-school education to post doctoral. As per one of the World Bank reports there are over 7,40,000 formal schools and above 175 universities that offer under graduate as well as post graduate programs. More than 5000 colleges have the affiliation of these universities.

Universities in India can be generally categorized into Central Universities, Deemed Universities, State Universities, Private Universities and Open Universities etc.

Indian universities endow the corporate houses and rising industries with the required skilled and qualified professionals. Since the country is huge when it comes to population, so India at present is concentrating on changing the unproductive man power to productive human resource by offering relevant and good quality higher education to the large sections of people.  The IITs in India produces the best of engineers while the IIMs are in the continuous process of producing management professionals of top class. Universities in India play a major role both in the maintenance of a vivacious, honest society and also in the continuance of the democratic practice.

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council or NAAC is the body responsible for offering recognitions to various universities. University Grants Commission or the UGC funds this autonomous body.

The University Grants Commission that is UGC in India is the body under the central government of India, which offers support to those universities that are government recognized and also provides the colleges and educational institutions with funds. The UGC also provides recognition to many Indian Universities. UGC has its headquarters at New Delhi, while it has various regional offices located in different cities in India. The NET examination, which is meant for the recruitment of teachers in different colleges and universities, is also conducted by the University Grants Commission.

The All India Council for Technical Education or AICTE is the organization responsible for the systematic planning and development of technical education in India.  At present, there are more than 1300 engineering colleges in India that has got the approval from the All India Council of Technical Education. AICTE is headquartered at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, Indraprastha Estate in New Delhi.

Situated in Delhi, the Association of Indian Universities or AIU is the body organization that is involved with the evaluation of different courses, syllabus and standards. The organization acts as a link between the Government and the universities in India.

Central Universities in India

Central Universities in India are those that are established by the Government of India, through an act of parliament. It’s the responsibility of the India Government to arrange, allocate and distribute financial resources needed by UGC for the formation of the Central Universities in India. At present there are about 20 Central Universities in the country. Since the system of higher education in India is among the largest in the entire world, so the responsibility rests with the Central Government when it comes to devising policies with the aim to improve the quality and value of higher education within the country. Looking at the rising need for qualified professional in various economic sectors in India, the quality, access and reach of the higher education has become a necessity. It is therefore expected that many central universities will surely come up in India, in the future.

• Aligarh Muslim University (AMU),Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh
• Banaras Hindu University (BHU)
• Assam University, Silchar
• Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi
• Maulana Azad National Urdu University
• Manipur University
• Delhi University (DU)
• University of Calcutta
• University of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
• Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan,West Bengal
• University of Hyderabad
• Jawaharlal Nehru University

Open Universities in India

Open Universities are those, which provide distance education to people who are not capable of pursuing any regular courses, due to some other responsibilities or problems. Distance education is offered by the open universities in India on Technical, Academic and Professional subjects. Undergraduate and post graduate programs along with doctoral, certificate and diploma programs are offered by these universities.

The Distance Education Council of India or DEC regulates the Indian open universities. It is located New Delhi. The body preserves the standards and organizes and encourages Open and Distance learning that is ODL in the country.

• Indira Gandhi National Open University
• Karnataka State Open University
• Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University
• Nalanda Open University
• Kota Open University
• Netaji Subhas Open University
• Vardhman mahaveer open university
• Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University
• Yashwant Rao Chavan Open University
• Tamil Nadu Open University
• Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University, Ahmedabad
• Uttaranchal Open University
• Pt. Sunderlal Sharma OpenUniversity, Chhattisgarh
• K. K. Handique state university

Deemed Universities in India

According to the records of the Department of Higher Education under the Government of India, the country has more than 100 Deemed Universities. The Central Government of India is given the responsibility to declare any educational institute to be a deemed university, on the recommendations made by the University Grants Commission. An educational institute can acquire the recognition of a Deemed University only when it meets the criteria and standard, which are set by the University Grant Commission. Some of the deemed universities in India are also funded by UGC.

The status of a Deemed University helps these universities to design and set their own course work and syllabus. The universities have also got the autonomy to set their own guidelines in matters of fess and admission, while some others have the power to grant degrees.

• Central Institute of English & Foreign Languages
• Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth,Tirupati
• Gujarat Vidyapith Ahmedabad
• Sardar Vallabhbai National Institute of Technology, Surat
• BITS Meshra Ranchi
• Manipal Academy of Higher Education
• Indian Institute of Science (IISc)
• National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Science
• Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune
• Nava Nalanda Mahavihara
• Deccan College Post Graduage and Research   Institute Pune
• Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad
• National University of Educational Planning and Administration

Private universities in India

Private universities are those, which are not generally controlled by the government although some of the private universities do get public subsidies, and loans. Based on the location, the private universities are subject to any government regulation.

• Noida University
• Symbiosis International University
• Manipal University
• ICFAI
• KIIT University
• Bhubaneswar Relations Institute
• Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
• D. Y Patil University, Navi Mumbai
• Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kerala
• SRM, Tamil Nadu
• Vinayaka Missions University, Tamil Nadu
• VIT-University, Tamil Nadu
• BITS, Pilani(Rajasthan)

Universities in India: Can the damage be overcome?

The system of higher education in India is in the condition of utter confusion and disarray. Lack of vision, motivation, commitment, monitoring and improper implementation of various policies, further adds to this worrying state. From within as well as without, the higher education system in India is badly threatened.

India’s present education system is witnessing a paradox. While on one hand India has the IITs and IIMs ranking among the best educational institutes worldwide, on the other there are many school that lack even the basic infrastructure required. So many years of Independence have gone by, yet we are not even close to universal literacy. On an optimistic note, however, that Indian professionals are counted among the top in the entire world is a proof to the fact that there is a strength lying deep somewhere, a strength that is inherent to the higher education system in India.

A complete change in emphasis, structure and implementation and most importantly a change in perception is the need of the hour when we talk of India’s education system. Everyone needs to understand and participate in the process of reorientation in the correct direction. The moot question however is- Universities in India: Can the damage be overcome?

We can however, not deny the fact that many educational institutions and universities in India have grown to become excellent centers of education. Many institutes are also recognized worldwide for the quality of education and the talented professionals. This tells us that capability, creativity and motivation to accomplish excellence is definitely there in India. All that is needed is a paradigm change in the purpose and stress. Reformulation of the different policies and their proper implementation is required. If India has to progress, initiatives must be taken up immediately to save the higher education system in India and the Universities from collapsing. Education is definitely the most effective medium through which people can be instilled with the relevant skill, knowledge and the ability to examine and analyze. Universities in India have a major role to play as higher education bears a special importance. It helps in offering better personnel and ideas, thereby providing the future, a better shape. This would help in creating better human beings and make India, a better place to live in.