Clinical Research, Its Various Aspects and Growth in India

In the recent years, courses in clinical research have gained importance in various universities, thanks to emerging opportunities in this field. This relatively new branch of medical science has taken at the center stage of healthcare management. Clinical research is now an integral part of every hospital.

Clinical research is a branch of medical science that directly involves a group, sample or individuals for some specific study. The data collected in clinical research; if it belongs to any human is kept secret owing to privacy issues. Unless otherwise stated, healthcare management professionals ensure that any aspect of clinical research should not lead to threats of privacy for people. According to the National Institute of Health in the US, Clinical research is defined as patient-oriented research, epidemiological and Emergency Courses and outcomes and health services research.

In the first part, that is patient-oriented research, the research is dedicated to mechanisms of human disease, studies of therapies, interventions or other types of disease, clinical trials usually conducted in labs and studies that are undertaken to understand technology and its use in diseases. In epidemiological and behavioral studies, research focusses extensively on the factors that lead to the distribution of disease and how it affects health of those individuals. This particular research is also concerned with the fact how people make their health related decisions. The last research studies the essential treatment and interventions required.

One of the crucial aspects of clinical research is clinical data management which involves collecting and evaluating data collected by the concerned authorities. In the recent years, research-oriented clinical data management has become a crucial issue for healthcare management units in all hospitals. Since it is vital to put the right information into the hands of right authority, safety and security issue of data management is also a challenge.

In India, Courses in Clinical Research in UGC granted universities have become extremely popular. A large number of private universities funded by hospitals have also started to include clinical research as a major curriculum for study. Students who want to pursue a career in clinical research as a part of higher studies generally should have a minimum of graduation or post-graduation in biotechnology, chemistry, life sciences, pharmacy, medicine, nursing, and physiotherapy, Dentistry, Ayurveda, Homeopathy and Veterinary Science. The clinical research industry in India has grown exponentially in the last couple of years.

In 2010, a McKinsey report had suggested that the industry grew to Rs 5000 crores. We can only imagine the Clinical trials that are a part of clinical research and they are used to find out if biomedical or behavioral interventions established by research and study are safe and efficacious. Being a biotechnology hub, holistic Healthcare Management in India is on the rise. In India, the scope of growth in clinical data management is also tremendous. It can indeed be said that it is the right time to make a career in this growing field.