What does a Medical Research Assistant do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does a Medical Research Assistant do

A medical research assistant is primarily in charge of performing support tasks in a laboratory or similar environment. Their responsibilities include gathering and organizing samples, preparing the laboratories and other facilities, compiling and managing data, updating databases, and conducting examinations and analysis, all while adhering to the laboratory's policies and regulations. They may also liaise with clients, answering inquiries as necessary. Furthermore, it is vital to maintain an active line with researchers, coordinating with them every step of the way to ensure an efficient workflow.

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Medical research assistant responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real medical research assistant resumes:

  • Create and maintain confidential patient files; implement EHR systems to automate patient records management for the purposes of meaningful use.
  • Conduct intake and triage of medical histories for new and returning patients.
  • Record patient's medical history, vital statistics and information into charts and EMR.
  • Perform appointment scheduling and registration for patients as well as updating patient demographic and insurance information.
  • Perform tests (EKG's), as per protocol.
  • Sustain compliance with OSHA and HIPPA standards.
  • Document compliance issues relating to FDA regulations and OSHA standards.
  • Include suture removal, wind care and handling patient triage on the phone.
  • Perform phlebotomy and administer vaccines.
  • Maintain strict patient confidentiality according to HIPAA regulations.
  • Maintain patient confidentiality, including HIPAA and practice specific compliance guidelines.
  • Follow evidenced base and peer review scholarly articles and educate patients on their disease process.
  • Perform telephone interviews, obtain consents, schedule appointments for physical exams and perform Phlebotomy.
  • Assist in initiating and implementing EHR for practice, including uploading patient information and providing information to the company
  • Review clinical, laboratory and radiology data, present clinical cases for a patient conference.

Medical research assistant skills and personality traits

We calculated that 20% of Medical Research Assistants are proficient in Patients, Patient Care, and DR. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Detail oriented, and Interpersonal skills.

We break down the percentage of Medical Research Assistants that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 20%

    Followed evidenced based and peer reviewed scholarly articles and educated patients on their disease process.

  • Patient Care, 10%

    Recognized for providing exceptional patient care, maintaining a calm demeanor and reacting effectively in emergency situations.

  • DR, 9%

    Helped assist Dr in taking back patients, getting vitals, getting patient prepared before Dr came in.

  • Vital Signs, 6%

    Demonstrated proficiency in taking patient medical histories and vital signs as well as scheduling, injections and various diagnostic procedures

  • Medical Terminology, 6%

    Developed an advanced medical terminology vocabulary.

  • Phlebotomy, 5%

    Perform telephone interviews, obtained consents, scheduled appointments for physical exams and perform Phlebotomy.

Most medical research assistants use their skills in "patients," "patient care," and "dr" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential medical research assistant responsibilities here:

Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a medical research assistant to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "medical assistants must be able to understand and follow medical charts and diagnoses." Medical research assistants often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "helped prepare data for various submissions to the fda as well as talking sheets for the physician's conferences. "

Detail oriented. Another essential skill to perform medical research assistant duties is detail oriented. Medical research assistants responsibilities require that "medical assistants need to be precise when taking vital signs or recording patient information." Medical research assistants also use detail oriented in their role according to a real resume snippet: "documented and consistently maintained detailed records and research data using epic software for further analysis. "

Interpersonal skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of medical research assistants is interpersonal skills. This skill is critical to many everyday medical research assistant duties, as "medical assistants need to be able to discuss patient information with other medical personnel, such as physicians." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "performed clinical skills such as blood draw, vital signs, patient care, injections, charting, and interpersonal skills"

Technical skills. A big part of what medical research assistants do relies on "technical skills." You can see how essential it is to medical research assistant responsibilities because "medical assistants should be able to use basic clinical instruments so they can take a patient’s vital signs, such as heart rate and blood pressure." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical medical research assistant tasks: "support duties for diagnostic and technical treatment procedures, including operating special medical equipment and apparatus. "

See the full list of medical research assistant skills

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Compare different medical research assistants

Medical research assistant vs. Medical scribe

As a medical scribe, their main responsibility is to follow a physician's daily work and do charting of patient encounters in real-time by accessing their medical electronic health record (EHR). It is their duty to make sure the patient schedules are followed, generate referral letters for physicians and manage and sort medical documents within the EHR. Medical scribes can be held as data custodians, medical assistants, and nurses to focus on patient in-take and care throughout clinic hours. In addition, they manage patient flow through the clinic and increase productivity to cater to more patients.

If we compare the average medical research assistant annual salary with that of a medical scribe, we find that medical scribes typically earn a $10,258 lower salary than medical research assistants make annually.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both medical research assistant and medical scribe positions are skilled in patients, patient care, and vital signs.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between medical research assistants and medical scribe. For instance, medical research assistant responsibilities require skills such as "dr," "phlebotomy," "surgery," and "patient appointments." Whereas a medical scribe is skilled in "excellent organizational," "physician assistants," "strong work ethic," and "emergency medicine." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Medical scribes tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $29,968. In contrast, medical research assistants make the biggest average salary, $41,104, in the education industry.The education levels that medical scribes earn slightly differ from medical research assistants. In particular, medical scribes are 2.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a medical research assistant. Additionally, they're 2.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Medical research assistant vs. Medical internship

When it comes to a medical internship, one of the primary duties is to attend to the patients' needs while under a more experienced physician's supervision. During this period, the medical interns must rotate in various fields of specialties or departments for exposure. Aside from learning and observing, there are also instances when medical interns are required to produce necessary reports and documentation, communicate with patients and families, and take part in more challenging cases.

A career as a medical internship brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a medical research assistant. In fact, medical interns salary is $10,540 higher than the salary of medical research assistants per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both medical research assistants and medical interns have skills such as "patients," "patient care," and "vital signs. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, medical research assistant responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "dr," "patient education," "data entry," and "research projects." Meanwhile, a medical internship has duties that require skills in areas such as "powerpoint," "cpr," "pediatrics," and "emergency room." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Medical interns earn similar levels of education than medical research assistants in general. They're 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Medical research assistant vs. Student medical assistant-externship

Student Medical Assistant Externship is a broad term for catering students for short, reliable, and practical work experience. Once you graduate, you can get a chance to meet contacts that may be useful for your career. You can have a better chance to work in a clinic, hospital, and any medical platform after going through this kind of externship.

An average student medical assistant-externship eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of medical research assistants. The difference in salaries amounts to student medical assistant-externships earning a $4,715 lower average salary than medical research assistants.By looking over several medical research assistants and student medical assistant-externships resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "patients," "vital signs," and "medical terminology." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from medical research assistant resumes include skills like "patient care," "dr," "surgical procedures," and "research projects," whereas a student medical assistant-externship is more likely to list skills in "cpr," "venipuncture," "emr," and "medication administration. "

Most student medical assistant-externships achieve a similar degree level compared to medical research assistants. For example, they're 1.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Medical research assistant vs. Unit assistant

A unit assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties within a department of a health care institution, ensuring that the patients receive the highest quality care services for their concerns and needs. Unit assistants assist the patients and the visitors, confirm their appointments, and direct them to the correct personnel or medical department. They also manage the adequacy of medical supplies and report defective equipment and machine to the maintenance for immediate repairs or replacements. A unit assistant must be highly organizational, especially on storing medical records and updating patients' information on the database.

Unit assistants tend to earn a lower pay than medical research assistants by an average of $6,501 per year.While their salaries may vary, medical research assistants and unit assistants both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "patients," "vital signs," and "medical terminology. "Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A medical research assistant uses "patient care," "dr," "phlebotomy," and "patient appointments." Unit assistants are more likely to have duties that require skills in "customer service," "adl," "direct patient care," and "cpr. "The non profits industry tends to pay the highest salaries for unit assistants, with average annual pay of $34,283. Comparatively, the highest medical research assistant annual salary comes from the education industry.The average resume of unit assistants showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to medical research assistants. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 2.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 2.6%.

Types of medical research assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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