The college-bound have a “next big thing” to look into as they search for a future career, and Northwest Vista College wants to help them take full advantage.

“The Clinical Research Coordinator program will address a critical workforce shortage in the San Antonio area,” said Colleen Smith Arrey, director of Alternative Programs at Northwest Vista. “One-third of all clinical trials in the nation have study sites here in the region, which means the demand for jobs promises to be very high.”

Classes started Jan. 14 for the program that just recently received approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Graduates will leave with an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree, trained for jobs where they manage research studies involving human subjects in the development and testing of new drugs, medical devices and human vaccines, said Northwest Vista spokeswoman Renata Serafin.

She added that clinical research coordinators will have opportunities to work in both private and nonprofit settings such as hospitals, universities, medical practices, independent research facilities, clinics, and biotechnology or medical device companies.

In addition to the “core” curriculum all Northwest Vista students take, classes in the Clinical Research Coordinator program include Intro to Clinical Research, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Business and Professional Speaking and Medical Terminology, among others including an internship.

A 14-hour semester at Northwest Vista for the 2007-2008 school year would cost a student $767.00 in tuition and fees, as compared to thousands at traditional four-year colleges.

According to the Texas Workforce Commission, clinical research coordinators with an associate degree earn $25,000 to $50,000, based on education and experience.   

Major local employers include Genzyme, KCI, Mission Pharmacal and DPT Laboratories, as well as clinical research organizations (CROs) and university and military research centers, Serafin said.

“I want all your interns, and I want all your graduates” is the reaction Arrey said she receivied from the local industry.

This sentiment is echoed by Ann Stevens, president of BioMed SA and Chair of the Alamo WorkSource Cluster Initiative for San Antonio’s healthcare and bioscience industry.

“We applaud Northwest Vista’s development and introduction of this program in direct response to industry need,” she said. “We expect individuals trained in clinical research skills to be highly sought after by many local organizations.”

As long as there are new drugs and medical technologies being developed, there will be a need for these programs, Arrey said.

“This is likely going to to be a growing and steady industry,” she said, adding that the diversity of ages and ethnicities make San Antonio an attractive research spot. “We’re sort of a snapshot of what the rest of the nation’s population is going to look like.”