Clinical Data Manager
Skills & Interest
  • Manager
  • Science
  • Technology
The Scoop

Sure, your doctor can prescribe you just the right medicine when you’re sick, but how does she know it’s the best? Because it’s been tested about a gazillion times. Someone has to organize and manage all that data from those tests (called “clinical trials”), then generate reports so that the makers of the medicine know if they need to fix anything. That’s the official job of clinical data managers. You’ve got to be extremely organized, very logical, and have a pretty good understanding of how the human body works to do this job. It’s super important: Your work and attention to detail will make sure that all kinds of vital medicines are as safe as possible and ready for the market. It’s a great job that requires a college degree to get—but once you snag that degree, you could have a very healthy (and wealthy) career for a long, long time.

The Details

Degree Required
Bachelor's Degree
Years of College
4
Average Salary
$79,290

The Impact

Any drug that can save someone’s life was, at one time, part of a clinical trial—and through careful management of the results, clinical data managers help the best and most effective drugs make it out into the marketplace.

The Fact

The pharmaceutical industry is seriously big business. Huge, in fact—in 2012 alone, the industry spent a whopping $48.5 billion on research and development.