Clinical Trial Coordinator & Clinical Research Associate Review

I have enjoyed my placement with MSD immensely, from before I even started the job, we were given the opprtunity to meet all the other new interns for a team building day which was a great start to the placement. The work I have been doing has been both mentally stimulating and also of great importance in helping towards improving healthcare for the public.

Ever since I started the placement, everyone in the office that I work with has been so frienfly and helpful which made it so much easier to settle in. I have never once been treated like an intern, and some colleagues have said they didn’t even realise I was a student. Our day-to-day work refelcts that of all other members in the office.

I have been given as much support from my managers that I have requried. My manager and myself agreed that throughout the year if I ever needed anything I could email or call her and for the first few weeks we had a phone call every 2 weeks or so.

Every day is very different in the role that I carry out, however due to the nature of the role, if I was ever not busy enough I could help someone else out with their workload. On the other hand, if I was ever too busy I knew that I could ask for help from another colleague. Managers were also very helpful with deadlines if they knew my workload was particularly high.

I feel that during my placement I was giveen a lot of responsibilty. There was lots of training for me to complete in order to become qualified to carry out certain roles, however towards half way through my placement, I was conducting emails and phone call to various members of the healthcare industry who work in the NHS on my own.

There are a great number of skills I have learned that will not only help with my degree but will also help me further. These transferable skills include confidence, time-management, prioritisation, presenting, IT skills and many more. We were given multiple opportunities and tasks which gave us the chance to build upon these skills for which I am very grateful.

The department I worked in was always a great atmosphere to work in, I was lucky to be surrounded by great colleagues who were a good laugh to be around. The balance of work and play was always good enough to get the work done whislt enjoying ourselves with our day-to-day activities.

The work placement scheme was managed brilliantly by the HR team right from the very beginning. Everything was well organised and ran smoothly and efficiently. We were given the opportunity to go to all the other UK sites of the company to learn about what happened at each location and were also given the opportunity to visit numerous other departments with the UK head office and to learn about other roles.

The company invested a great deal into each of us personally, we were given the opportunity to give two presentations in order to help us improve our presenting skills and we were also given the chance to have a manager review our CV. As well as this, the chance to undergo a mock interview was also provided.

My placement provider has a newly established graduate programme which placement students get to fast-track to a certain level beyond other applicants. There are also a number of members within my department who were interns previously who have managed to come back to work. I am hopeful that if I stay in touch with my managers, this will help my chance of returning if I wish to.

There was a really good rapport between the placement students, with many events and social activities being organised between us. Despite there not being a good social scene in the area where the office is located, myself and the other placement students met up frequently for drinks, dinner, the cinema, nights out etc.

The cost of living in the area I worked in was very high, the rent is very expensive due to the office being situated on the outskirts of London. However, the salary provided reflects this and all students managed well enough with living costs. Socialising was also fairly expensive compared to university life, however due to the 9-5 lifestyle, the opportunity to socialise is also limited compared to university.

The nightlife was limited but with enough bars, and a club to get by. On the other hand, London was fairly close, so a nigh out in London was also a possibility if you didn't mind the travel in. As with anywhere, it is often the people not the place that makes a good night!

Work provides a gym, so many of the placement students would attend the classes there. There was also a running, badminton and football club organised by the company, which many placement students got involved in. Work also organised certain events such as charity work, Christmas parties etc. which were great fun to be a part of.