Clinical Trials Design and Management

Clinical Trials Professionals Play Critical Roles in the Bay Area

The Bay Area and Silicon Valley are hot spots in the global biopharmaceutical and medical device industries. The continued success of these industries relies on the clinical trial—the complex process of ensuring the safety and effectiveness of new and existing medical products. Well-planned and well-executed clinical trials are the cornerstone of effective biomedical product development and are critical to ensuring the protection of human volunteers. Trained clinical research professionals are essential to this process and are in high demand in our region.

Training New and Experienced Clinical Trials Professionals Since 1999

Clinical trials personnel from all sectors, including academia, clinical practices, industry and government agencies, require specialized knowledge that was traditionally obtained only through on-the-job experience over a number of years. UCSC Extension’s well-established certificate in Clinical Trials Design and Management is designed to help professionals gain a solid understanding of the entire clinical trials process--from drug and device development to monitoring and post marketing activities--as well as a foundation in the scientific principles, regulations, and ethics that are vitally important to the conduct of clinical research. Our comprehensive and integrated certificate curriculum, taught by expert practitioners with many years of experience, develops the knowledge base and practical skills needed to succeed in clinical research.

Who Should Attend This Program

This program benefits new and experienced clinical research associates and coordinators, clinical program managers and physicians, nurses, IRB members and administrators, pharmacists, biomedical and research scientists, data managers and others interested in moving into the dynamic clinical trials field.

Keep Your Professional Certifications Current

If you are pursuing the Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC) or Clinical Research Associate (CRA) credentials, you may be able to fulfill educational requirements by completing this program. Many courses in this program qualify for recertification CEUs for those certified as CCRAs and CCRCs through ACRP. Most courses also grant BRN credit for nursing professionals.

Prerequisites

Familiarity with medical terminology is required. Successful completion of "Medical/Clinical Terminology," an equivalent course, or experience satisfies this requirement. We strongly recommend that students without a medical background take "Human Physiology in Health and Disease" early in their studies.

Recommended Course Sequence

After completing the prerequisites, we recommend that you begin the program with "Drug Development Process." From that point on, courses may be taken in any sequence unless otherwise specified.

Benefits of Declaring Candidacy

We encourage you to establish candidacy in a certificate program early in your studies. There are substantial benefits in doing so:

  • Curriculum changes subsequent to the date your application is received will not affect your course requirements
  • Candidates will be notified of updates or special opportunities related to the program
  • Priority enrollment in fully enrolled courses

Program Contact

Enroll online now or contact the Applied & Natural Sciences Department for more
information: (408) 861-3860 or e-mail program@ucsc-extension.edu.

Course Schedule
Declare Candidacy

Clinical Trials Certificate Requirements

Total: 19 units
Required: 6 courses
Elective: 6 units
GPA: 3.0
C or better in all courses.
Timeline: Complete minimum units/courses within 3 years.

Note: Courses completed more than five years prior to date of certificate issuance cannot be used to fulfill requirements.

How to Apply

Certificate applications can be submitted online. Simply click on the "Declare Candidacy" button above. Then, select the "Enroll" button next to the certificate title and follow the instructions.

Transfer a Course
Forms & Information
FAQs

Course Materials

Refer to your enrollment receipt for specific details about materials for this course. Your course may require one or both of the following types of materials:

Course Readers: Students are responsible for ordering printed course readers through our on-demand course materials service. 

Electronic Course Materials: An electronic version may also be downloaded after logging in to your course website: https://online.ucsc-extension.edu/xsl-portal

For more details on both of these options, visit our course materials page.


For information about ordering textbooks, click here.