The clinical research education is on upswing in India and is poised to grow further by supplying trained hands in phase II and III trials, thanks to the increasing vacancies in the booming clinical research industry.

"With increasing efforts to bring drugs faster to the market, the clinical trial industry has a pool of career opportunities. Since India is an important destination for clinical trials, constant bio analytical / bio-equivalent studies are on the rise as part of the phase II and phase III studies. Hence, there is a huge opportunity for students passing out from clinical research institutes in the country," said a group of industry players.

Imparting quality education, comprehensive and intensive training and providing extensive industry exposure to students, the clinical research educational institutes in the country are learnt to meet the growing needs of clinical research industry in the country. As the country faces lack of skilled manpower in clinical research area, these educational institutes are expected to bridge this gap.

"India is now being recognised as a dependable destination for phase II and phase III trials. The demand for jobs is huge but the supply of trained hands is low," according to sources. A recent McKinsey study estimates the demand for clinical research professionals in India to be 50,000 by 2012.

The clinical research education is also increasingly finding acceptance in the country as it offers job opportunities such as clinical research associates, clinical research coordinators and investigators in hospitals, pharma-biotech companies, drug regulatory authority and training institutes.

The demand driven need has seen both quality and fly-by night training centres. Although there is no estimate on the number of clinical research institutes in the country, because of lack of audit on the sector, the well known ones are Institute of Clinical Research India (ICRI), Bilcare Research Academy, Clinical Research Education and Management Academy (CREMA) and Lotus Research Academy. The oldest one among these players is ICRI, which was set up in 2003.

It was in 2007 that Bilcare Research Academy, CREMA and Lotus Research Academy forayed into clinical research education field for the first time. "There was a profusion of trials coming into India and the need for trained hands was a major challenge. The introduction of these training institutes has a lot helped the industry to meet the growing need for manpower," according to sources.

There are also a couple of universities in the country, which offer training in clinical trial management. Also, Apollo Hospitals Educational and Research Foundation offers a course for graduates and post graduates in designing, conducting and monitoring clinical trails.

"The need of the hour is an audit of the institutes by the Drugs Control General of India. We hope the union government's efforts to register trials and the CROs will also lead to regular inspection of the training centres," noted Dr Medha Joshi, principal, Bilcare Research Academy.

ICRI
The oldest clinical training centre in the private sector is ICRI, which commenced operations in 2003. It currently operates from Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bangalore. It offers a two year full time MSc in clinical research. ICRI has collaborated with Cranfield University, UK where students have the option of completing part of the second year in UK.

"India has all the competitive advantages for conducting clinical trials. As the country is increasingly becoming a favoured destination for clinical trials, a gap analysis needs to be done to scale up all resources for clinical trials. This scale up is essential for India to cope with the large global clinical trial projects. ICRI aims to nurture and create an environment of learning, and implement international standards in the interests of clinical research students. This is to ensure India meets the global expectations as an emerging clinical research destination. This year we achieved cent percent placement, said S R Dugal, chairman, ICRI.

BILCARE RESEARCH ACADEMY
Bilcare has campuses in Pune and Bangalore. They offer a one year full time post graduate diploma in clinical trial management. The campuses are accredited by the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP), USA to train 50 students in the first batch and 48 in the second batch. The syllabus has been designed specifically for India in association with experts from ACRP and the Bilcare. It also provides a range of short term certificate programmes in clinical research for working professionals, including training for investigators in ICH/GCP guidelines and ethics committees.

Bilcare's Bangalore academy is set up within the premises of the Bangalore Diabetic Hospital which has a full fledged clinical research centre. The students will be provided an internship tint at the facility for hands-on-training after the course.

CREMA
CREMA with its state-of-the-art education campuses has presence in Mumbai Bangalore, New Delhi and Hyderabad. In August 2008, CREMA affiliated with UK-based William Harvey Research Ltd, a world-renowned institution.

"Around 85 per cent of the students, who undergo training at the centres, can be hired, while others are not employable because of the lack of communication and soft skills. Mere qualification cannot get students a job. There is need to constantly interact and put across the systems in place. Keeping this in view, CREMA recently announced advanced post graduate diploma in clinical research management, which will include not only clinical research module but also clinical data management, pharmacovigilance and management, and soft skill module as well. This first of its kind comprehensive course in India," said, Ramanand S Nadig, president and deputy dean, CREMA, Bangalore.

"Over 60 to 70 per cent of the placements are carried out on campus interviews. This year CREMA saw 23 of its 42 students placed before they completed the final course by the cream of CROs, including Manipal Acunova and Quintiles. This speaks for the quality of the candidate," he added.

"The industry is also desperate for trained hands and going by the projects handled they prefer to get a ready-made candidate rather than undertake in-house training to bring him to the required industry standard. Therefore clinical research education is a must and training from clinical research institutes adds value to the professional background," informed Dr Nadig.