Increasing Importance of Clinical Research in Medicine Education

The healthcare industry is constantly evolving, driven by advances in technology, changing demographics, and developments in patient needs and expectations. Looking at the development, healthcare systems and education space both are levied with great responsibility to equip the healthcare, being the best and providing the best in the interest of patient care & treatment.

Medicine and Healthcare is one of the noblest fields of job holding accountability of numerous lives. Medicine education is integrated with knowledge and prolific understanding of the health care requirements. Clinical Research is a critical wing of medicine & drug development. Clinical research allows doctors and scientists to develop a better understanding of diseases or condition and to advance treatments and ways to prevent it in the future.

Some of the discoveries made through clinical research include Vaccines; Treatments for cancer, diabetes, heart disease; MRIs, CT scans, X-rays, & other diagnostic tests; and Improved medical procedures. Without clinical research, healthcare would have deprived of these tools. Moreover, a lack of research would make it impossible for medical science to advance and serve for patient drug requirements and healthy recovery. Clinical research explores the application of an intervention (drug or other therapy) on patient outcomes. The effectiveness of the intervention on patients can be tracked by a variety of outcomes.

Imagine a physician who wants to research options to help her patients have good skin. As a clinical researcher, she may first explore the causes leading to the skin problems, if it natural or effect of some health conditions or consumption. Developing drug for the treatment she will first test the efficacy of a medication. Not only is there an instrument that accurately collects patient health reports but also the link between the intervention (medication) and the outcome (skin issues) has been established. Her study manipulates the behavior of the physician (what should be prescribed), and the intervention is administered to the patient, who in this case, is a relatively passive recipient.

If, however, the clinical researcher wants to explore an educational intervention, she has to not only design the intervention but also establish its link to consumption and products applied to the skin. Should the educational intervention teach patients about the calamitous effects of damaged skin? Furthermore, there are many other questions with no easy answers. In fact, our clinical researcher may feel overwhelmed by, and ill prepared for, addressing many of these questions. 

Few clinicians apply research skills obtained through clinical research experiences to education research. Although there are commonalities between clinical and education research—the subtle differences in the nature of education research require specific skills as there is no room for errors. We acknowledge that there are many clinical researchers who bring a rigorous process of inquiry and exploration to a new discipline, but often the education research study done is not sufficient to lead and complete a clinical education research. Well, education research includes elements of Basic Science and Clinical Research. In clinical research education, the gap in knowledge is viewed from a theoretic perspective, allowing the researchers to highlight the cognitive, behavioral, and/or social forces at play.

According to study, the global market size for clinical trials can hit $84.43 billion by 2030, up from $48.4 billion in 2020. The huge prediction raises a question for the students or aspirants- Is clinical research a good career in India? Well, 100 percent yes and the need for substantial talented clinical researchers will drive this growth.

Eligibility Criteria

If you choose to pursue a career in clinical research you can be sure that you'll make a difference in people's lives, whether by curing patients in new ways, or working to combat increasingly-prevalent issues like antibiotic resistance, and more. The eligibility for taking admission in Diploma in Clinical Research is graduation in the Medical science courses (MBBS, BDS etc.) or Degree in Science, Pharmacology, Pharmacy, Life Sciences, Biotechnology, and others. With at least 55% pursued from Recognized University one can get into this field.

In the field of education, the career prospects for clinical research are varied-you can work with humans, animals, or plants to learn more about diseases. Educational efforts aimed at the medicine and health care for improving health and quality of life will certainly benefit the world, so step forward and give your contribution if you are really passionate!