Career Overlap Transition record Edition 1 · ESCO v1.2.1
Table 1Transition record

clinical trial assistanttoclinical coder

A clinical trial assistant already meets 27% of what the clinical coder role asks for. The move turns on 8 required skills not yet in the profile.

From clinical trial assistant
27%
Overlap1
To clinical coder
5 Skills carried over
8 Required, not held
65.8 Difficulty2
Career overlap Distant match

27%

Learning distance Substantial retraining

65.8/ 100

1 Share of the clinical coder role’s weighted skill requirement already met by the clinical trial assistant profile. Required skills count in full, supplementary skills at 0.35. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. 2 Combines what is missing with how specialised it is, so a gap of general skills scores easier than the same number of narrow ones.

Why

Why this move works

A clinical coder role treats 4 of its required skills as things a clinical trial assistant already does. These are the ones it depends on most.

  • clinical coding
  • manage healthcare users' data
  • perform clinical coding procedures
  • professional documentation in health care

What stands in the way is 8 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 5 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A clinical coder role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a clinical trial assistant background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held clinical coding health and welfare
  • already held perform clinical coding procedures information skills
  • already held health records management business, administration and law
  • already held professional documentation in health care health and welfare
  • already held manage healthcare users' data information skills

All 5 carried skills, including the 4 the clinical coder role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you would need to learn

The 18 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered below in the order worth working in: the areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the supplementary ones.

Skill to acquire Tier
01 assisting and caring 3 required
  • required, not held maintain healthcare user data confidentiality required
  • required, not held adhere to organisational guidelines required
  • required, not held follow clinical guidelines required
02 health and welfare 1 required, 4 supplementary
  • required, not held medical terminology required
  • optional, not held healthcare analytics optional
  • optional, not held human anatomy optional
  • optional, not held human physiology optional
  • optional, not held medical informatics optional
03 information skills 1 required, 3 supplementary
  • required, not held review patient's medical data required
  • optional, not held archive healthcare users' records optional
  • optional, not held collect healthcare user's general data optional
  • optional, not held collect statistics on medical records optional
04 working with computers 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • required, not held use electronic health records management system required
  • optional, not held manage digital documents optional
05 communication, collaboration and creativity 1 required
  • required, not held communicate in healthcare required
06 social sciences, journalism and information 1 required
  • required, not held document management required

2 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a clinical coder role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 5 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held clinical coding knowledge
  • already held manage healthcare users' data skill
  • already held perform clinical coding procedures skill
  • already held professional documentation in health care knowledge
  • already held health records management knowledge
The 2 learning areas not shown above
Skill to acquire Tier
07 management skills 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held identify patients' medical records optional
08 services 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held health care system optional
10 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to acquire Tier
  • optional, not held archive healthcare users' records optional
  • optional, not held collect healthcare user's general data optional
  • optional, not held collect statistics on medical records optional
  • optional, not held healthcare analytics optional
  • optional, not held identify patients' medical records optional
  • optional, not held health care system optional
  • optional, not held human anatomy optional
  • optional, not held human physiology optional
  • optional, not held manage digital documents optional
  • optional, not held medical informatics optional
10 held skills the clinical coder role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role apply good clinical practices skill
  • not needed by the target role clinical reports knowledge
  • not needed by the target role clinical science knowledge
  • not needed by the target role conduct health related research skill
  • not needed by the target role evidence-based approach in general practice knowledge
  • not needed by the target role maintain treatment records skill
  • not needed by the target role medical studies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role patient record storage knowledge
  • not needed by the target role record data from biomedical tests skill
  • not needed by the target role record treated patient's information skill
7 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to acquire Tier
  • required, not held document management required
  • required, not held medical terminology required
  • optional, not held healthcare analytics optional
  • optional, not held health care system optional
  • optional, not held human anatomy optional
  • optional, not held human physiology optional
  • optional, not held medical informatics optional
Index
Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.