Medical Statistician

Hannah is a Medical Statistician who works on Clinical Trials. She is a member of the Clinical Trial Management team, which includes a Principal Investigator and Trial Manager, to design the protocol of a study. “Before a trial begins,” she says, “I have to advise the team on how many people are needed in a trial and the design of the trial. I also have to advise on the appropriate statistical methods to answer their question.”

“During a trial, I monitor the quality of the data and liaise with the trial team. I work with the Trial and Data Manager to make sure that the data I am analysing are accurate. The safety and conduct of the trial is monitored regularly by an independent committee. It’s my responsibility to produce reports summarising the data collected so far for the committee to review. When a trial is finished, we do a full analysis and write a final report.”

Besides this, Hannah also reviews other research and teaches basic statistics and principles of clinical trials to both doctors and medical students.

Statistics is a field that requires mathematical skills. Hannah earned her undergraduate degree in Mathematics and her masters degree in Medical Statistics. However, a Medical Statistician does more than crunch numbers. Hannah says, “Good organisation and communication skills are essential for my job, in particular the ability to convey statistical ideas to the general public.” She adds that it’s not necessary to have a medical background to do her job, but learning about diseases and their treatment is something she enjoys.