The three new programs, part of what the company calls Parexel Academy, will join other such collaborations in India, Singapore, Taiwan and China, and include Parexel experts as teachers and advisers. Since its inception, approximately 1,000 students have graduated from the academy’s programs, including its undergraduate Bachelor of Science program.
Among the new offerings, Parexel has partnered with the Medical School in Berlin, Gemany, to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in clinical research, with courses ranging from ethics in health and medicine to conducting clinical trials.
In cooperation with Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts, Parexel will also offer a postgraduate certificate program featuring a broad-based curriculum on various components of the full life cycle of drug development.
And in Japan, the CRO will collaborate with Kyoto Pharmaceutical University in Kyoto to offer a joint program for clinical research and clinical trial management. The program provides fifth grade undergraduate students with an introductory, seven-week course in clinical research and trial management.
Lecturers for the academy “are often Parexel employees with appropriate academic education plus lecturing expertise,” Katrin Sirach, Director, Learning and Development, Parexel Academy, told Outsourcing-Pharma.com.
She added: “Academic Programs at Parexel Academy prepare graduates for careers at Clinical Research Organizations, pharmaceutical companies, patient care centers, and regulatory authorities. Upon successful completion of the program, graduates have preferred candidate status for suitable vacancies at Parexel.”
For more than a decade, the academy has designed and implemented a wide range of learning programs tailored to enable clinical research management practices.
Heidrun Bruchmann, Senior Director of Parexel Academy, also noted: “Through the Parexel Academy, we tailor educational and degree programs with our partners to equip the future health sciences workforce with a holistic and cross-functional foundation in clinical research and clinical trial management.”