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Colonial Research Associates

DCA - FLL

October 27, 2009 – 6:09 am

October 26, 2009 - late flight down to Miami.

Lots to talk about and not to much work but lots of personal stuff –

Okay so first I have been losing lots and lots of weight since July. On July 3, 2009 I weighed 236 pounds. And for those of you who don’t know me I am not that tall. So here I was classified as obese, with hypertension and not happy with myself. I was wearing 40” pants, extra large tee shirts, having to buy 18” neck shirts and get the arm custom tailored because I didn’t fit into anything off the shelf. I felt like crap. This has been a long time coming. My weight has been on the slow up tick for a long long time. My primary care has been on my case, as was my Dad and my wife. But what to do? Yes we all know what to do but for me I needed something drastic. I thought about the lap-band but surgery, no way. I have tried every diet; Atkins, slim fast, you name it I tried it and they all work and then I gain it all back and more. So cut to the chase you say – In late June I was at one of my sites, a Cardiologist, who had a little flyer, ask me about weight loss. So okay I did and, not to sound too overdramatic, he changed my life. Today my weight is, drum roll please, 168! I have lost 68 pounds since July 3, 2009. And I have kept it off! I am in 33” pants, buying shirts off the rack, and wearing medium shirts and sweaters. When was the last time that happened? I’ll tell you when – 20 years ago when I was a dumb young Paramedics. I remember my uniform size, 32. I would be more than happy to tell anyone the whole program and how to do it. I am not selling anything I am just so happy and want everyone else to experience what I have experienced.

Next – I bought a Mac Book Pro and love it. I hope I never have to buy a PC again. This Mac is awesome. Fast, no blue screen of death and I can run windows on it too. I have to run IE for one client and it works fine. Again I am not selling anything but I will tell you I love this laptop.

Work – things are busy for me. I think that the market is finally loosening up and I am getting lots of calls for both contract and salaried jobs. So everyone take heart and send me your CV.

Have a great week.

By Doug | Posted in News | Comments (1)

On the road again: Contracts rolling in!

September 24, 2009 – 8:27 pm

So I am back traveling and contracts are rolling back in. It was a very funny summer. I was super busy through the end of July and then a number of contracts came to a halt. And the way they came to a halt was weird. The first one I was expecting and new was going to end July 31. So, no surprise there. The next two were maddening.

The first firm terminated my contract, after 4+ years for a very odd reason. Okay so here is the story: I have been with this firm for 4+ years. A number of the managers are my friends. Never any issues and I have a few of their biggest sites. FDA comes and audits two of my sites. No 483s! No nothing. The PIs like me, the coordinators like me and I like the sites too. So the main PM (all fluff no substance) calls me out of the blue and is rambling on about how I have been a good contractor, one of the few who turns their reports in on time, how the sites like me – and I am thinking this is odd why the pep talk. But then she tells me that the FDA auditor had “concerns” about the monitoring for one of the trials and that they were going to make a change. I was so taken aback I really didn’t know how to respond.

After thinking about it, the most maddening issue is the FDA auditor didn’t even look at the trial she stated he has issues over. So she lied to me and I will tell you it has been awhile since someone lied to my face. Look, at the end of the day all contractors are 30 away from having their contract terminated. That is the price we pay for getting paid so much money. So okay, if you are going to terminate my contract, terminate my contract but you don’t have to lie to me. And as an FYI, I still haven’t been paid for my last month of work. It isn’t a lot, ~$2K but still. Remember there is no loyalty out there.

The next firm really didn’t terminate my contract. They, the other PM, just acted odd. So I busted my hump on this trial. Was there for multiple dosing, got there early, stayed late and all that. The PM is young and inexperienced and prone to overreactions. And to boot, the protocol was poorly written and some CRFs made no sense. So after all the monitoring was done, and I was planning to return to the site to return drug and close the site out the PM calls me and tells me “I heard you were working for another client when you were at the site”. I calmly tell her no. Then she gets all excited and says, “Well I told you to be at the site for X number of days and you were there for Y.” The funny thing was all the work was done. Then the final straw was that she told me that the co-monitor I was with told her she didn’t want to monitor with me any more. Now I know, this sounds like high school but the co-monitor told me she said no such thing. So someone is lying.

The worst thing, and this co-monitor where friends but now really don’t talk much anymore, is that she wouldn’t call the PM and call her out on the lie. So either the PM is lying or the co-monitor is. If it where me I would have called the PM and told her that was a lie and to take it back. Again, no loyalty.

So August was a light month. I did some monitoring but was home most of the month. It was a bit nerve racking but also nice to be home with the family. We also went to Maine for a week which was great too.

September started off slow but it’s really heating up. I will be going to Miami quite a bit for the next few months. There are worse places to be in the fall/winter than South Florida. The job market is starting to loosen up a bit, so fingers crossed.

Since I am traveling more expect more postings.

By Doug | Posted in News | Comments (0)

On the road again.

June 22, 2009 – 10:31 am

Okay so business for me is crazy busy and I am trying figure out why some of my friends are out of work. Is it that I have 16 years experience in the industry and know a lot of people? Maybe. Is it that I such a great monitor? One hopes but I’m not that vain. I think it is luck and networking. So sports fans that is what I am going to talk about.

My wife jokes about me that “I am a man of the people” (bonus points if you can name the movie that comes from ). I don’t dispute that. I think I am a kind person who listens and because of that people are willing to tell me just about anything, If you ask me what is more important in this industry knowing 21 CFR 312 or knowing your coordinator’s children’s names I’ll pick their names every time. I mean you can look up the regs. But finding out what is happening with your coordinators gets you further then riding a site about every mistake. I have had coordinators tell me about their marital problems, problems with their kids, good times and bad and you know what because they trust me they in turn listen to my suggestions and, in general, do what I ask of them. I think so monitors miss that. I know that companies don’t care about it. I will give you a specific example.

Last year I thought I wanted to go back and work full time so I interviewed with a big Pharma firm. It doesn’t matter who just that it was one of the big ones. So the interview panel was so ridged they got all agitated when I answered a question about how I get a site to do what I ask. So besides being a flawed question…I answered that I get to know them, find out what makes them tick, and have them trust me. They didn’t like that. The interviewers wanted ridged notes to file, power point presentations, firm letters. Good Lord can you say “X” style of management. I’ll pass. Most of the monitors I have been with at this firm have very weak interpersonal skills. So what am I saying to you all. Befriend them. You will get more done with honey then vinegar.

Finally the job market is a bit tight for full time salaried monitors but don’t fret it will loosen up. Still send me your CVs.

By Doug | Posted in News | Tagged | Comments (0)

Tampa to DCA

November 2, 2008 – 9:01 pm

Long week this week sports fans. Raleigh Monday, Tampa Tuesday, Crystal River Wednesday and Ocala Thursday. Just one of those things. The funny thing is being regionally based in the Baltimore/Washington DC area I’ve never really had that many local sites. The usual suspects, University of Maryland, George Washington and that is about it. I had a private practice out in Warrenton, VA a while back. Funny thing about that site. One day I was walking in and guess who was walking out…Robert Duvall. How cool is that. Would have been even cooler if he was on the trial I was monitoring but he wasn’t.

The point I am getting at is that I am at a cross roads. I really don’t like the Doctor of Management program I am in. It isn’t what I had expected and the worst part is I don’t know what I was expecting. My cousin, who has her Doctorate and is a Dean of a Junior College in Northern California, told me that the new way to teach adults is the way they are doing it the program I am in. The way it works is that the Professor doesn’t lecture us but “facilitates” the discussion. My opinion he really isn’t doing much and I told him so and he got really defensive so I say he who protests to much! The biggest thing I can’t get my head around is that I am paying $50,000 to have discussions with other students. You know what I have learned in the time I have been in the program so far – almost all of my fellow students need to get out more. There is only one other one who has a private sector job like me. One works for an association, ½ work for the government and the other ½ for University of Maryland. I don’t want to have discussions with these people. I want the professor to lecture us on the topics in regards to the reading and then that is that. I guess I am old…so be it so I think my days are numbered in the program. I am a bummed out but better to find out know then in a year from now.

The second issue is a large pharmaceutical firm wants to hire me for a home based position. I am tempted to take the job but in the end probably won’t. The salary is a bit on the low side and would be a slight pay cut which in this market isn’t good. They give you a company car so that is nice. I need to talk to them some more to get the exact salary and package. I don’t really want to work salary for firm again but the stability and being home nearly every night would be nice.

So is anyone reading my posts? If so can you just respond saying hey so I know I’m not just writing for no one.

By Doug | Posted in News | Comments (1)

Why is Vista and HP out to get me?

October 22, 2008 – 10:16 pm

So I am flying from Charlotte to Tampa tonight, trying to do some mindless data query work and my MS Outlook has decided to repeatedly shut down and re-start itself. I bought a new HP laptop a couple of months ago and I will tell you I don’t know if it is the lap top or Vista but it is frustrating. For whatever reason when I am working on a word document through outlook and I close the word document my computer freaks out and tells me it unexpectly stopped. I closed it! And now, when I am on the road my outlook decides to re-boot itself over and over and over. I think I know the problem. So when I got the lap top I told HP I want MS office installed. So I get the computer and no Outlook. I call and they say “Oh you didn’t specify”. What a bunch of morons! So I had a old 2003 copy and I think it doesn’t like being with Vista. And don’t get me started with Vista. I am not crazy about it. Word is confusing and the whole platform doesn’t seem logical.

So I am half way through my first class in the Doctor of Management program and so far so good. A lot harder then I had thought. I have an annotated bibliography due in two weeks and then a 15 page paper two weeks after that and then the final in December. I am looking forward to finishing this class. It will feel good to finish. I will say this I do find the whole thought of a Doctor of Management odd. I mean we have professors and student, most who have never held a private sector job in their life, pontificating about management. And a lot of the readings are nonsense. It is easy to get up an preach about change management and evil of large firms and business ethics and on and on. But at the end of the day it is about making money for the firm and shareholders so the firm is successful so it can hire more people who can become productive members of society who can pay taxes so we can live in a nice country.

I mean if I have to hear one more time about how bad Wal-Mart is I am going to freak out. Look I am no Wal-Mart fan and we rarely shop there. But I am a fan of their business model. Look no one is making anyone work there. I am sorry some people don’t have college degrees or any other skill and that is the only job they can get. At least they have a job. And as for the business’s they supposedly put out of business, I’ve got some advice for you: the world changes and adapt. People will still come to your store if you provide them with something they want. Example, there is a Home Depot 20 minutes from my house. There are also a number of mom and pop hardware stores on the way. I usually go to the mom and pop store because I get better service. I get an old guy who knows what he is talking about not some 22 year old who is more interested in playing grab ass with the cute cashier.

As for work things are going well. As usual I have a number of clients needing experienced people. I had an earlier posting about Krieger. I’d still like to talk to someone who is in the program to understand exactly what they are offering. So if someone is reading this and is in the program email me. Getting ready to land in Tampa so everyone have a great week and if someone knows how to fix my computer problem please email me…if you can fix it you will be compensated!

By Doug | Posted in News | Comments (0)

More Musings but this time from DCA – FLL.

July 30, 2008 – 4:15 pm

Okay so I was away for 10 days with my family in Santa Cruz, California to see our families…not really a vacation and I really feel that I need a vacation from my vacation. I am so spoiled in traveling for work in that I am usually upgraded for all my flights, not that first class is any great shakes on USAir or any domestic U.S. airline. Was in coach with my wife and kids and the out bound flight was okay. BWI – LAS – SJC. The guys didn’t sleep from BWI to LAS but then crashed on the second flight to SJC. Coming home thought, what a drag. First USAir screwed us. I used one of those buy one get 2 tickets for $99 and then used miles for the fourth ticket. Okay so again outbound Baltimore, Vegas, San Jose. Fine. Home the guy tells me San Jose, Phoenix, Baltimore. Well I made a rookie mistake and didn’t look carefully at the times. I should have realized that there was something funny with the return flight times. Funny alright, the flight from Phoenix to Baltimore stopped back in Vegas. What a drag. Well we made it.

Great news! I was accepted in to Graduate School at University of Maryland. So this fall I start the Doctor of Management program. Three years from now Doctor Stagnaro. It is going to be a hard three years but will be worth it. Part of the program is a research project and fine is going to be the development of Bachelor in Science Clinical Research Associate program. With so many CRA jobs out there I think this program will be super successful. Had an interesting conversation with a friend who works at Georgetown and pitched my idea to her. She loved the ideas but stated that GU would never go for it because GU doesn’t “teach a job”. So I guess that Nursing, Medicine and Law, all degrees with teach people skills to have jobs in those field are much more important then clinical research. Well their loss. I am sure the parents of all those students coming out of GU with a BS and then working at Starbucks while moving back home are just thrilled to have shelled out $100,000 for that. My program would give them a marketable skill and a $60,000 a year job right out of the chute and they will be at $100,000 with in 5 years. Let’s see any other Bachelor’s program provide that.

As you know from looking at the website I have so many open clinical research jobs that I struggle to fill every day. So again if Google routed you here because you searched CRA jobs and you have at least 6 months CRA experience with a CRO or Pharma firm please email me your CV. As for everyone else, foreign MDs, lab techs, coordinators, to name a few, I really can’t help you. You can continue to email me your CV but they all end up in the trash.

Speaking of unqualified candidates, can some one who has attended the Krieger institute in Canada email me. I am very interested in this firm. I receive lots of CV from people who have taken this program. I really think they are being sold a lot of smoke and mirrors. Just because you have six months “experience” at Krieger that doesn’t translate into six months industry experience. I emailed them a few months ago and played the dumb new college grad and tried to find out what their story was. To their credit they didn’t make my any promised via email but they claim to have job placement on their website. Very curious what firms would take someone with this “experience”. None of my firms would. So if you are thinking about paying for this type of training I would suggest you don’t. If you are an American citizen and have a bachelor’s of Science just apply to any of the big CROs directly. Get six months of monitoring experience and then contact me and I will move your career up.

Enough for now. All my best to you all.

Doug

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Musings from DCA to ALB

July 1, 2008 – 10:09 pm

On a plane again flying from DC to Albany for my site in Bennington, VT. On the flight read an article that a Dad wrote his son regarding why are we here and it made me think…why am I on this damn plane. I don’t want to sound like a lame country western song but really for all of us monitors, married with kids and especially if we are 40 or older why do we do this grind?

Yes I know I am the primary bread winner and have a wife, two kids and a Saint Bernard who count on me but there has to be a better way. Don’t know what that way is right now but if you do feel free to let me know.

I have applied for a Doctorate program so think a good thought for me and hopefully I’ll get in, finish and then get a job as a college teacher. That would sure alleviate the 9:20 pm flight from DCA to ALB. And people will have to call me Doctor, how cool is that.

Does anyone think the Presidential election is going to mean anything for the Pharmaceutical industry? Talk about every extreme, White Black, Young Old, Highly experienced lightly experienced. But the question always is does it matter. Does the President of the United States really have power. Or are we going to be stuck with each lunatic fringe of our parties screaming about individual things that really doesn’t address high gas prices (speculators or India/China or a vast conspiracy), the crazy war in Iraq (Fanatical Islam or again a vast conspiracy), health care prices (my firm pays $800 a month for two employees one with children and one without and the insurance really isn’t’ that great) and the mortgage crisis (the MBA in me says kick them out of their houses because they should have never been in them in the first place but the Catholic in me thinks you can’t kick 2 million people out of their homes…again a gigantic conspiracy to make some people wealth or just American greed that got out hand?).

Back to Pharmaceuticals, does anyone think that if Barack Obama is elected President that the Pharma industry is going to change? I mean right now we are in a bear market, okay the Dow is down 19.9% not 20% but please, and as usual I have clinical research jobs galore. Maybe if the economy stays this way the jobs will be less but it has been my experience that in an up market it is fat city and in a down market Pharmaceutical’s is a defensive play. There will always be a need for our industry. I think the one thing that could radically change clinical research is individual tailoring of drugs. So I go see my GP for my hypertension (damn I’ve got to loss those 20 extra pounds I’ve gained sitting my ass on USAir flights and eating Biscoff cookies like I am right now) and she draws a bit of blood and then make up a drug cocktail for me right there. Sounds like Star Trek but people a lot smarter then me are working on that. Then the question is how do we “test” a drug. Wow it will be a hell of a ride.

Last thought before the captain makes we turn off the lap top. I married a friend of mine last weekend. I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t either of their first marriages so instead of having someone they don’t know they asked me. I said yes, got ordained (not as hard as I had thought…maybe I’ll rant about that some more later) and did the service. I was nervous and thought I could have done better but for my first one not too bad. They really seem to be in love so all my thoughts and prayers to them!

Well one really final thought and this has nothing to do with pharmaceuticals. I have XM and love it and have been listening to Rabbi Shmuley’s radio show. I am hooked. I think he has great wisdom and I really like how he ends each call with God Bless You. It makes me feel good so to everyone who is reading this I hope this makes you feel good too…God Bless You.

By Doug | Posted in News | Comments (0)

CRA Jobs - Boston, New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey and Baltimore / Washington, DC

March 19, 2008 – 6:08 pm

Okay everyone I am back and posting a new blog. So the usual – I am looking for qualified CRAs all over the country but especially the Northeast. I have open positions in the Greater Boston, New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey and Baltimore / Washington, D.C. It is crazy the number of jobs I have open. Again if you have six months experience as a monitor for a CRO or pharma firm email me your resume and let’s talk. Enough of that…

My little firm is moving along, I have just got a contract with a small pharma firm in New York and am managing a 17 center trial. It is a great little contract and I am able to hire a couple of monitors to help me with this project. If you are a monitor in Tampa and are looking for a little part time work, email me your resume.

As for me life is good. Had a rough few weeks as one of my son’s got the flu which meant that everyone got the flu. Fortunately I wasn’t scheduled to travel for a few days so I was able to recover. So much for the flu vaccine…I never had great confidence in it anyway.

Okay TTFN (bonus points if you get the reference).
Doug

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The Holidays

December 26, 2007 – 2:46 pm

December 26, 2007…so Christmas has come and gone and we had a good time. My boys scored pretty well. Now we will get through New Years and then another long year. I have been working on expanding the recruiting part of my business with some success. The main problem - to many jobs and not enough qualified people. I have also been posting my jobs on craigslist in all different cities and you won’t believe the candidates I get. I have in in bold and capital letters - NO FOREIGN MDs, NO LAB TECHs and NO ONE WHO KNOWS THEY CAN TO THE JOB (yet they are currently a real estate agent). What I need is people with at least six months of CRA experience in any city with a decent airport. I can probably get you $65,000. So check out my employment page and email me your CVs. Cities I really need people - NYC, Boston, DC, Baltimore, Chicago, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Atlanta, Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, San Francisco, LA, San Diego and Seattle.

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Welcome to the Colonial Research Associates Blog

November 20, 2007 – 11:23 am

Welcome to the Doug’s blog for Colonial Research Associates. How about a short one to start us off:

I thought that I would have a blog to talk about/vent the craziness of the clinical research business. So it is Thanksgiving week and already they are talking about a crazy, more crazy then normal, travel week. Thank God I am local this week. I am sure one of the many things I will be blogging about is travel. As all CRAs know it is a part of our business but it has been getting worse and worse over the years. I have been traveling weekly since 1993 so you can imagine the changes I have seen. I always had a dream of real remote monitoring…another time.

So how about a bit about me. I am the founder and President of Colonial Research Associates, Inc. I like to say we are a small boutique CRO (Clinical Research Organization) that provides cost effective solutions to small pharmaceutical firms. Check out the web site for more info.

I have also started to do some recruiting, or headhunting like it used to be called. I will have lots to say about that.

So on that note Happy Thanksgiving and I look forward to having you all read about my life running a small CRO and all the other stuff that and life brings with.

By Doug | Posted in News | Comments (1)

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