Starting her professional career in finance, Clinical Trial Manager Carla Logan didn’t anticipate her future self managing clinical trials. Completing a one-eighty from banking to nursing, Carla learned she had more than one passion.
Even though Carla worked in banking for a number of years, her career focus changed once she started her family. She took a strong interest in nursing and wanted to explore this path to learn if it was something she should pursue professionally. After volunteering for organizations in women’s and children’s issues, Carla quickly discovered she had “awakened this passion” of caring for others. She was ready to take the leap; she went back to school, joined a hospital as a surgical technician, and upon graduation, she moved into labor and delivery as a nurse. Before she knew it, she was well on her way to fulfilling her passion.
Before beginning her 15-year tenure in a hospital setting, Carla’s son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and Celiac disease. At the same time, Carla had been volunteering as a liaison for a non-profit to families with recent Type 1 Diabetes diagnoses, and this sparked her interest in research. After a few years, she shifted into research to work on clinical trials in the area of the children’s hospital that her son had attended. Even though she was moving away from labor and delivery, Carla adopted new sets of skills such as patient recruitment and trial management. She was still able to practice her nursing skills through running trials, conducting patient visits, and performing one-on-one care. When an opportunity opened with diabetes and metabolism clinical research studies, given her son’s diagnosis, Carla jumped at the chance. Here, she donned a new title, Clinical Research Nurse Manager, and started accumulating an entirely brand-new set of skills. Carla oversaw the clinical research team and learned how to run a department, yet while these challenges were new and exciting, she couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. A gap had opened up, and absent was the excitement and discovery she felt when she was on the frontlines of clinical research.
When the world locked down due to COVID-19, Carla came across an opportunity to move back into pediatric care again. Around this time, Carla began tossing around the idea of joining a biotech company. She loved her current role, but she wanted to expand her reach. She felt that “biotech companies are a whole new world,” and the prospect of this type of research was exciting. She wanted to be “part of something.” A friend from nursing school suggested that she consider a Contract Research Organization (CRO). This piqued Carla’s interest, and, despite her coworkers’ warnings, she began her search for a company that fit her needs. Her coworkers were wary of Carla joining a CRO for a number of reasons: she could lose her hands-on nursing skills, she would likely have a difficult time breaking back into the field of nursing, and she might miss the patient interaction. But most importantly, Carla’s coworkers warned her that some CROs are “big business,” and business endeavors might supersede patients’ needs. Carla wasn’t entirely convinced; she knew she would find the ideal CRO that aligned with her values.
Following a handful of lackluster interviews and job offers, Carla finally found her “newfound home.” When she met with Medpace, she knew she had found the right CRO. Carla was charmed by the honesty and openness she received during her interviews, and upon joining the team she is delighted to see how Medpace “walks the walk” and follows through on their talk.
Now sitting at just over a year as a Clinical Trial Manager, Carla finds her daily tasks include more hands-on responsibilities like mitigating risks in research studies rather than managing staff. She is excited to be on the front lines of research and participate in something that is “life-changing in a whole different way.” To her delight, Carla still has patient interaction, it just looks different than what she’s used to. At Medpace, she oversees patient care during their time in the study and focuses on questions like “How sick are [the patients]?” and “Are [the patients] well enough to participate?” Carla also troubleshoots site problems, oversees studies from Phase I to Phase IV, and more. While Medpace met her expectations as a CRO, what she didn’t expect was the “built-in teamwork and positive can-do attitude from everyone [that] elevated the work into more than just showing up to do a job.” Carla feels that Medpace truly believes that “your success is our success.”
As Carla looks to nurses considering careers in clinical research, she wants them to know that Medpace makes room for you to grow. Clinical research not only encourages but creates career paths that help you flourish throughout your career. Carla chose Medpace as her clinical research conductor because she “wanted to be learning and growing and on the cutting-edge of things.” At Medpace, an “entire world of clinical research open[ed] up.”
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