A day in the life of a CRA

After graduating with a degree in Environmental Earth Science from University College Cork, Eithne worked as a research assistant in the Waterford Institute of Technology. She developed skills in conducting her own clinical research before graduating with a Research MSc and took up a role at Firecrest before becoming a CRA at ICON. At Firecrest, Eithne developed industry experience as a Clinical Trial Subject Matter Expert (CTSME), joining a production team responsible for creating protocol training content and ensuring training was correct and in line with the Sponsor protocol.

This saw Eithne gain valuable experience working with a multi-functional team of technical writers, designers and QA professionals. After spending some time in client management, Eithne found herself missing the clinical element of her role and took up an opportunity to transition internally to a CRA role. 

While Eithne is office-based in Dublin, she spends much of her time visiting Clinical Research Facilities and interacting with research teams. Monitoring UK clinical sites, she enjoys weekly trips from Ireland to various parts of the UK. The travel element of the role means Eithne has seen many different cities and towns. 

A typical day for Eithne involves monitoring site files for regulatory compliance to ensure the sites are ready for inspection. Patient safety is an important part of the CRA role, with Eithne and site staff regularly carrying out assessments of patient notes to ensure procedures are safe and performed according to protocol. Investigational product compliance helps to ensure the correct drugs are administered to patients in the trial. 

The overarching view of the clinical research process that the CRA role provides means that Eithne has experienced almost every different part of clinical trials and says she’s always learning about different disease areas and indications.