Clinical Research Coordinators
In short: today's best AI models could do about 73% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 77% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 23% of the time, stays with people.
Plan, direct, or coordinate clinical research projects. Direct the activities of workers engaged in clinical research projects to ensure compliance with protocols and overall clinical objectives. May evaluate and analyze clinical data.
$167,220 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on29 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet2 h
- Stays with people9 h
Clinical Research Coordinators, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 29 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 2 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 9 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Monitor study activities to ensure compliance with protocols and with all relevant local, federal, and state regulatory and institutional polices (about 4 h); Assess eligibility of potential subjects through methods such as screening interviews, reviews of medical records, or discussions with physicians and nurses (about 3 h); Review proposed study protocols to evaluate factors such as sample collection processes, data management plans, or potential subject risks (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 77%
- 15%
- 8%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 44%. Today's estimate: 73%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.053% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 224th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 3 of its 33 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.093% to 0.065% (released February and March 2025); 0.084% to 0.062% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.068% to 0.053% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.093% | 176 of 708 | 10 of 33 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.065% | 226 of 703 | 9 of 33 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.084% | 174 of 655 | 5 of 33 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.13% | 126 of 672 | 9 of 33 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.062% | 225 of 677 | 10 of 33 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.068% | 198 of 434 | 3 of 33 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.053% | 224 of 447 | 3 of 33 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 15% of this job's working time as physical work. For 6% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 6% in a purpose-built cell. 0.06 of 3, the 565th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 85%
- No robot shown 9%
- In a purpose-built cell 6%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 33 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monitor study activities to ensure compliance with protocols and with all relevant local, federal, and state regulatory and institutional polices.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 10% | 1.7 h50 min to 5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Collaborate with investigators to prepare presentations or reports of clinical study procedures, results, and conclusions.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 8% | 3.3 h50 min to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Assess eligibility of potential subjects through methods such as screening interviews, reviews of medical records, or discussions with physicians and nurses.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 7% | 50 min17 min to 2.1 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Review proposed study protocols to evaluate factors such as sample collection processes, data management plans, or potential subject risks.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | 91%Half by now | |
| Perform specific protocol procedures such as interviewing subjects, taking vital signs, and performing electrocardiograms.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Identify protocol problems, inform investigators of problems, or assist in problem resolution efforts, such as protocol revisions.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Code, evaluate, or interpret collected study data.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 5% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Participate in preparation and management of research budgets and monetary disbursements.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | 61%Half by now | |
| Prepare for or participate in quality assurance audits conducted by study sponsors, federal agencies, or specially designated review groups.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 4% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 1.7 work days | 84%Half by now | |
| Participate in the development of study protocols including guidelines for administration or data collection procedures.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | 89%Half by now | |
| Prepare study-related documentation, such as protocol worksheets, procedural manuals, adverse event reports, institutional review board documents, or progress reports.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Arrange for research study sites and determine staff or equipment availability.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | 89%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Clinical Data Managers53% now, 90% by 2028
- Clinical Nurse Specialists42% now, 74% by 2028
- Health Informatics Specialists40% now, 95% by 2028
- Social Science Research Assistants72% now, 95% by 2028
- Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary26% now, 49% by 2028
- Medical and Health Services Managers31% now, 63% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Clinical Research Coordinators is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 73% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 77% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Clinical Research Coordinators come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Monitor study activities to ensure compliance with protocols and with all relevant local, federal, and state regulatory and institutional polices (100% of the task's time now); Assess eligibility of potential subjects through methods such as screening interviews, reviews of medical records, or discussions with physicians and nurses (100% of the task's time now); and Review proposed study protocols to evaluate factors such as sample collection processes, data management plans, or potential subject risks (91% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Clinical Research Coordinators stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Collaborate with investigators to prepare presentations or reports of clinical study procedures, results, and conclusions; Perform specific protocol procedures such as interviewing subjects, taking vital signs, and performing electrocardiograms; and Solicit industry-sponsored trials through contacts and professional organizations. Together such tasks are about 23% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Clinical Research Coordinators?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.053% went to this job's tasks, the 224th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 3 of its 33 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 6%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Clinical Research Coordinators?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 15% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 6% of the working time. Its index is 0.06 of 3. One example: Amazon Vulcan for "organize space for study equipment and supplies". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 33 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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