Clinical Statistician Review

A lot of time is spent working in R and/or SAS to analyse clinical data creating outputs or tables to be used in clinical submissions. Different study teams would also come to me and ask me to review documents and identify any inconsistencies or problems. I also worked outside of my team on different projects I found myself that I wanted to be involved in, such as redesigning the website of the stats training team, or volunteering as a STEM ambassador.

I had already learnt R at university, so this was a skill I was able to really develop (although many others hadn't done it before and it wasn't a problem). I also learnt a new language SAS which is currently more widely used, but R is coming into use more often. Whilst working on different studies, I developed my research skills, researching new statistical analysis methods for the team and presenting back on my findings (so presenting was another skill that I developed a lot this year).

During the placement, it was a while before I was given much responsibility, I spent about 3 months training so in that time wasn't really given anything to take responsibility of. After this time, I began to take on more responsibility with projects and different tasks. Towards the end of the placement I was responsible for my own outputs that will be used in a study submission, meeting with the team bi-weekly to update on progress and ask any questions.

Support on placement was there if you needed it, but you had to take the initiative to reach out to the right people. Sometimes this wasn't necessarily you're manager, especially if you were working on a project they weren't involved in, so it was really important to establish when starting a new project who the best person to go to was for support, and people were very good at pointing you in the right direction if they couldn't help you themselves.

One of the best things at working at GSK is the culture. Everyone there knows that the work they are doing to get medicines and vaccines on the market could be life-changing to people, so everyone is very motivated to do their jobs. The culture is very friendly, with a lot of focus on personal development, so most people are happy to answer questions, either about your work or just more generally about what they do, and how they find it.

My placement wasn't what I expected, there was a lot more to it but I also had a lot more independence than I was expecting. When given a project to do, I was left to do it (I could ask for help if needed but it was expected you just go on with it). Similarly, to get the most out of the placement, I had to make sure I was really honest with my manager about what work I had and asking for more if I needed it.

Yes

Make sure you understand what the company do, understanding the patient centric nature of GSK. When you apply, be clear on your motivations for wanting to join the company and apply to the job you are. Don't be nervous about the technical assessment part of the process, they definitely don't expect you to know everything before you start, they just want an idea about where you are (you end up doing training for most skills anyway!). Apply early!