Clinical Trial Specialist Apprentice Review

Due to development throughout my apprenticeship I now cover the duties of both a Global Study Associate (GSA) and a Global Study Manager (GSM). The GSA is responsible for most of the administrative tasks on a clinical study, while the GSM role is more project management based and involves being responsible for the oversight of certain countries, vendors, functions etc on the study.

I have developed a lot of new skills, including (but not limited to): - Office-based skills (Excel, Outlook, MS teams etc) - General skills required in a corporate environment (communication, time-management, punctuality, working with diverse groups of people) - Knowledge and understanding of clinical studies and how they are run - General oncology knowledge - Project management skills - Scientific writing, good academic practice and referencing - Critical thinking/analysis

I enjoy my programme and have learned a lot which will help me in my career. The team I work with are great to work with, which makes the programme enjoyable. At times, the apprenticeship does feel like it is very long and there have been times I have wished I could progress a bit quicker than timelines allow. I think perhaps a 4 year or 4.5 year apprenticeship would be more suited to this programme, that would make it more enjoyable for me personally.

Overall I don't feel that the programme has been very well structured and a bit more of a 'trial and error' experience. There have at times been the expectation for apprentices to move to different sites etc for placements, with little consideration as to how this may affect their living situation/location, mode of travel to work and their overall wellbeing as a result (due to increased living costs and travel expenses, relocation issues, long commutes). One of our placements was cancelled at the last minute. Another was not very well planned and therefore quite stressful - at one point we did not have a formal line manager on our placement. As an apprentice it is very important to be supported by a member of staff who has an understanding of the pressures apprentices face (exams, degree deadlines, the expectation for 20% off the job hours for study) and also the tasks that we are supposed to get exposure to, as part of our final assessment.

The support received from your employer is really dependent on your department and manage - it's not really possible to give a blanket comment to the company as a whole. Personally, I have had a brilliant and supportive manager for the most part of my apprenticeship, which has made the experience a lost easier, more enjoyable and less stressful. I feel able to be open about day to day challenges and my workload etc. That being said, I know not all apprentices at AZ have been as lucky and it does vary from programme to programme. I think more consistency across apprentice managers would be good (for example, some apprentices are granted additional time to revise near exams, others are not).

University of Kent seem to get a bit of a bad rep sometimes but I personally have seen them improve significantly throughout the course of my apprenticeship. I feel the support nowadays is really good. My apprenticeship advisor is organised, helpful, responds promptly and is always nice to speak to. Lecturers do differ in the support they offer, I have had some which are not overly helpful and some that have gone above and beyond (answering my queries in detail, sending good journal articles to read etc). However, all have been very responsive via email. Lecturers have always been, in my experience, happy to explain their reasoning for your grades or to organise an MS Teams call if you need some help. The programme leader for my apprenticeship is also brilliant, always takes on board feedback from the companies involved and does her very best to accommodate requests whenever possible. The university also have a really good student advice service (SLAS), wellbeing support and more recently, an apprentice social society. I personally find the university to have more support available for students/young people than my employer, so overall I think they're great.

I really enjoy my degree and it definitely helps me to perform better in my role because I have learned a lot about bioscience and the scientific background behind what I do in the workplace. This has increased my confidence in tasks to do with my role (particularly the roles that include medical terminology, such as working with ECGs, patients biological samples, the clinical study protocol etc). We have had a lot of assignments based around clinical studies and drugs - for these I usually pick the study/drug I am working on at the time and it's increased my knowledge of my assigned studies massively. Other modules such as Health Economics and Project Management have given me broader knowledge that will be useful for a range of roles in the pharmaceutical industry.

There are quite a few social events to get involved in: 'cake club', free breakfast every month, volunteering days, christmas meals, christmas parties etc. I don't tend to attend many of these as they are not my thing personally. We don't really have any clubs/sports teams as far as I am aware (not at my site anyway).

Yes

The company have good values, good employee benefits, a generally positive culture and opportunities for professional development.

If you are applying for a Cambridge-based role, be aware that the offices are moving to one central campus at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus at some point this year.