As a former research coordinator of five years, I am well aware of the extremely busy and highly demanding nature of the job. In addition to balancing multiple trials, subjects, physicians, sponsors, and monitors; coordinators are often required to perform a diverse set of tasks that go beyond the scope of subject visit conduct. This may include regulatory submission and maintenance, laboratory processing and shipping, subject recruiting, and source document creation among others. Furthermore, coordinators often work to facilitate trials across multiple locations and must ensure that studies are conducted in accordance with applicable federal regulations, the investigator agreement or 1572, the protocol, and the rules of the IRB (FAIR SHAKE). Given the multitude of responsibilities, some coordinators may be spread too thin.

As a Master’s of Public Health student at Emory University, one of the most intriguing ideas I encountered was that of upstream prevention. This concept is often illustrated by a metaphor involving drowning bodies in a river; a panic ensues at the riverfront as rescuers eagerly jump in to save the drowning victims. Although many people are saved, the rescue team can’t keep up with the sheer number of victims. One member of the rescue team (the public health expert) decides to travel upstream to find the cause of the problem. Although this member of the team is harshly criticized for abandoning the immediate rescue effort, he is later praised for identifying the source of the problem and preventing many deaths.