Clinical Specialist Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a clinical specialist. Feel free to use our clinical specialist job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a clinical specialist.
Who Is a Clinical Specialist?
Clinical specialists are medical experts who specialize in a particular field of medicine, such as oncology or cardiology. They are frequently in charge of overseeing the care of patients with complex illnesses, and they collaborate closely with other members of the healthcare team to ensure that patients receive the best possible treatment.
Clinical professionals will need to be able to not only give good treatment to patients but also understand how to make their stay in the hospital or clinic as pleasant as possible if they are to be successful in the future. They might work one-on-one with patients, in groups, or as part of a larger team. Patients with unusual or difficult-to-diagnose diseases that general practitioners cannot effectively handle on their own are frequently treated by clinical specialists. Clinical specialists are frequently found in laboratories, where they operate as part of a team of technologists, technicians, and supervisors to complete clinical lab tests. Clinical specialists play an important role in detecting, diagnosing, treating, and monitoring diseases. Clinical specialists usually specialize in one or more lab tests or procedures, such as looking for bacteria or parasites, analyzing fluids, testing for drug levels, preparing specimens, counting cells, and making cultures, though their exact duties vary depending on their training and place of employment.
An expert in clinical care, a clinical specialist, often known as a medical representative, markets medical gadgets to hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Traveling to healthcare institutions, offering items to medical specialists, and instructing users on product functionality are all part of their responsibilities. They work for businesses that import or manufacture medical equipment. Working in a medical laboratory as a clinical specialist is a demanding job. Your role is to assist in the testing of samples or the assessment of a medical product’s potential benefits. The majority of those working in this field specialize in one type of test or one type of medical issue. Analyzing fluids or other samples for parasites, drug use, or cell counts could be part of your responsibilities. While your duties normally revolve around repeating one or two types of tests, you may work with other technicians or technologists in the lab.
A Clinical Specialist, to put it simply, sells medical gadgets. But selling isn’t the only thing they do. In many circumstances, the position also entails providing more thorough descriptions of the equipment and, in some cases, training medical personnel on how to use them safely and successfully.
Clinical Specialist Job Description
Below are the clinical specialist job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a clinical specialist job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of a clinical specialist include the following:
- Liaising product features and functionality with internal departments.
- Setting appointments to accommodate the schedules of healthcare experts.
- Identifying potential customers and visiting their sites.
- Memorizing and conveying product characteristics using medical terminology.
- Providing individual product users, professional teams, or healthcare departments with post-sale training.
- Maintaining current customer networks and alerting customers about new product lines or upgrades.
- Analyzing competing items and emphasizing what makes ours stand out.
- Signing sales contracts, completing purchasing orders quickly, and maintaining a consistent supply.
- Keeping track of revenues and achieving sales targets.
- Keeping the company car in good working order and pristine shape.
- Evaluating a specific medical product or medical condition.
- Diagnosing medical concerns in collaboration with other lab workers and technologists.
- Recalling detailed and sophisticated information about a variety of products.
- Being able to display medical gadgets with confidence.
- Having the patience to train medical personnel and future clients, such as physicians, nurses, gastroenterologists, anesthetists, pediatricians, radiologists, and orthopedic
- Delivering confident presentations and workshops to medical professionals in groups.
- Responding to specific inquiries regarding their field of expertise.
- Describing how a product can be used in a specific clinical practice or setting. 6) Stay current on new clinical evaluations of the product and innovations in their field of expertise, which must then be communicated to their customers.
- Sticking to a timetable — overworked medical personnel won’t be able to stay for any longer than the agreed-upon meeting time.
- Keeping an eye on your competition so they can concentrate on the unique selling aspects of their items.
- Traveling; as many jobs require, including frequent overnight stays and even trips abroad.
- Maintaining communication with FDA reviewers and overseeing the regulatory submission process, including responding to reviewer inquiries.
- Collaborating with teams in charge of Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) standards to ensure that all patients have access to care.
- Managing and supervising the heart surgery clinic at the hospital.
- Participating in the creation and execution of policies and procedures that affect risk management and patient safety at the department and facility levels.
- Working on instances involving open-heart surgery, vascular issues, gastric bypass, kidney disorders, and other medical-surgical issues.
- Assisting with patient prior preparation and emergency trauma.
- Interacting with the regulatory team members and monitoring documents to verify compliance with ICH GCP guidelines.
- Offering group and personalized therapy, as well as medication, diabetes, and anger management instruction to patients and their families.
- Examining medical record documentation and conferring with health care providers if it is insufficient or ambiguous based on the operations performed.
- Training and assessing new individuals hired into the CAS function.
- Identifying and troubleshooting opportunities to improve procedures and implement change for a successful end.
- Managing cases of drug misuse/abuse treatment for families and children. Also manages the case of domestic violence and sexual trauma.
- Supervising staff counselors to ensure that adequate clinical treatment, quality assurance, and ethical standards are adhered to.
- Updating Internal policies and procedures to support legal and regulatory obligations as well as a clinical process improvement to guarantee that operational processes are improved.
- Formulating, implementing, and evaluating nursing practice standards in cardiology patients with an emphasis on the fundamental measure of heart failure.
- Directing difficult instrument installations and troubleshooting in remote locations and cultivating teaching and mentoring relationships with incoming CASs.
- Creating a computerized system for determining CNS requirements.
- Keeping an excellent and up-to-date customer database is essential.
- Teaching radiologists how to use DynaCAD to aid in the reading of breast MRI tests.
- Reviewing and producing regulatory documents, such as significant adverse event reports, for IRB submissions.
- Possessing the ability to recognize potential medical crises and respond appropriately. Including calling in a code when necessary.
- Training, stock inspections, and on-time delivery are all part of arranging and managing a seamless supply to clients.
- Providing treatment assistance to patients including screening, examinations, treatment strategy improvement, and treatment enactment in a skilled nursing facility.
- Creating study-specific training materials that are compliant with GCP and federal regulations.
- Evaluating the patients’ health state and history, including physical examinations and diagnostic testing such as blood samples and urine tests.
- Performing specialist therapies such as IV fluid administration or pharmaceutical injections.
- Diagnosing and treating patients with illnesses, diseases, injuries, and infections, as well as prescribing treatment strategies to aid in their recovery.
- Researching to establish new treatment procedures and examining the existing data for trends and patterns, or constructing new models based on existing theories.
- Teaching patients about their illness and medication options, as well as how to maintain their health on a day-to-day basis.
Qualifications
- You’ll need a bachelor’s or associate’s degree in business, biomedical engineering, science, or marketing.
- X years of sales experience in a medical discipline similar to your field.
- A valid driver’s license and an unblemished driving record are required.
- Excellent sales abilities, as well as the ability to describe product features using medical jargon.
- Extensive expertise in locating new customers, negotiating contracts, and achieving sales goals.
- Experience keeping records and handling sales contracts is a plus.
- The incumbent will need an MVC experience, as well as backup and recovery experience.
- A CPR Certification will be an added advantage too.
Essential Skills
- A Good Communication Skill: Clinical professionals must also be able to communicate to succeed in their careers. They frequently interact with other medical professionals, patients, and members of the general public, and they must be able to communicate successfully with all of them. Discussing with patients about their treatment plans, explaining medical procedures to other medical personnel, and talking with patients’ families are all examples of this.
- Empathy: Empathy(the ability to understand another’s feelings and perspectives)is a technique used by clinical specialists to assist patients in overcoming mental health difficulties. If a patient is suffering from anxiety, a clinical professional may utilize empathy to comprehend the patient’s thoughts and perspective before recommending tools to help them overcome their fears.
- Good Time Management: Another skill that clinical specialists require is time management. This is because they frequently have several jobs to perform in a day and must prioritize their work. They may be required to evaluate patient records, make patient assessments, and do other duties. They must be able to effectively manage their time to fulfill all of their tasks on time.
- A Good Organization Skill: Clinical professionals must frequently manage numerous duties at once, necessitating excellent organizing skills. This will allow them to prioritize their tasks and meet all of their deadlines. Clinical specialists may also be responsible for keeping track of patient information, thus they must be organized to avoid mixing up documents.
- Medical Expertise: The capacity to comprehend medical language and procedures is what we refer to as medical knowledge. Clinical professionals use this expertise to effectively identify patient needs and deliver the appropriate treatment. Clinical professionals can also grasp medical studies and therapy alternatives using medical expertise.
- Must be a strong collaborator who pays close attention to the smallest details.
How To Become a Clinical Specialist
A bachelor’s degree in biology, chemistry, medical technology, or a similar discipline is frequently required for becoming a clinical specialist. Because you’ll be testing medical samples or evaluating a product, this profession needs precision. Although most states do not require further licensing, your employer may require you to complete on-the-job training in the laboratory to guarantee that you can accurately execute each test. The following are a few steps to becoming a clinical specialist;
1) Obtain a Degree: A Bachelor’s Degree in biomedical engineering or a similar discipline is normally required to begin your Clinical Specialist career path to stay a competitive option for companies. Focus on developing industry-specific skills during your studies so that you are well-prepared for applying for entry-level jobs and joining the workforce. Before entering the workforce, you may need to complete a Clinical Specialist internship to get your Bachelor’s degree and gain critical on-the-job skills.
2) Pick a specialization in your field: You could be required to choose a specialization within your profession as a Clinical Specialist. Determine which aspect of the Clinical Specialist area appeals to you the most, then take efforts to advance in your chosen Clinical Specialist specialty.
3) Obtain a Clinical Specialist Entry-Level Position: You’ll usually start your career as an entry-level Clinical Specialist after earning a Bachelor’s Degree in biomedical engineering or a similar discipline. After earning a four-year bachelor’s degree in a related field, you can work as a Clinical Specialist. You might want to look into becoming a certified occupational therapy assistant, depending on the type of Clinical Specialist position you wish to pursue.
4) Achieve Success as a Clinical Specialist Following the entry-level position: There are numerous levels of Clinical Specialist career paths to pursue. As an entry-level Clinical Specialist, it may take two years to advance to the next seniority level post. To advance in your Clinical Specialist career path, you’ll need around 2 years of experience at each level. To develop your Clinical Specialist career path, you may need extra schooling, an advanced degree such as a Master’s Degree in a related field, or unique certifications.
5) Continuing your education as a clinical specialist: To develop your Clinical Specialist job path, not all industries and companies require continuing education. Earning this degree, on the other hand, may help you rise to higher-paying employment more rapidly.
Where To Work As a Clinical Specialist
- Health care services and hospitals.
- Health care products manufacturing industry.
- General Merchandise and Superstores.
- Biotech and pharmaceuticals.
- Research and Development industry.
- Colleges and Universities.
- Federal Agencies.
- Insurance Agencies and Brokerage.
Clinical Specialist Salary Scale
Actual income varies greatly depending on specialization, location, years of experience, and a variety of other factors. In the United States, the average Clinical Specialist income is $93,560, but salaries frequently range from $85,132 to $106,753.