Dyo Breton van Groll – Clinical Trial Assistant (CTA)
Dyo Breton van Groll
1. What is your educational background?
I do not have any medical or clinical background. My educational background is: School of Higher General Secondary Education and after that I studied to be an Art director at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague. In my free time, after a period of two years of hard bodily training, I past my Master exam and became a Sports Instructor.
2. What did you do before you joined Quintiles?
Well, that is a long story; before I worked for Quintiles I worked for an Academic Publisher but lost my job after an internal reorganization plan. Within a couple of weeks a company offered me a job as a Project Associate in a Clinical Imaging Company. I worked there for two years, which I enjoyed very much. That is the place where it all started. My Clinical education brought me to a large Japanese Pharmaceutical company where I worked as a Secretary/CTA for Exploratory Medicine and Translational Science on an 80-20% basis; 20% CTA tasks 80% Secretary. A company I enjoyed working and learned a lot about the different trials and phases.
3. How did you learn about Quintiles?
In my former jobs the name Quintiles came along at several occasions. During my projects, I had contact with Quintiles in different foreign countries. Besides that, I knew that some of my colleagues at the Japanese pharmaceutical company where outsourced by Quintiles.
4. In what position did you start and how did you reach the level that you are at right now?
I am new at Quintiles. I started as a CTA in May 2008 and I am still working as a CTA. In the future I hope to earn the title Senior CTA.
5. What are your responsibilities as a Clinical Trial Assistant?
I’m responsible for 5 Projects; I assist two Clinical Research Associates on four projects and I assist one Global Clinical Team Lead. The CTA tasks are my responsibility, together with my presence as a colleague. I am also responsible for creating a pleasant working environment between my colleagues and me. This is a basic element for enjoying my work.
6. What does a day as a CTA look like?
I start in the morning at 9u15 and my e-mail is the first thing I do… I try to follow my plan that I have made the day before, but that plan doesn’t live through the day. It has died somewhere in the middle. Ad hoc items will always overtake the path I’ve planned to go. There is not a day that is the same. At this moment one of my projects is closing and another one needs to be rearranged.
My day mostly ends somewhere after 18u00. I always try to join colleagues for lunch or go out for a small walk.
7. Five keywords that describe Quintiles best?
- Personal independence
- Evolvement
- Appreciation
- Conviviality
- Time flies
8. Why would you advise people to join Quintiles?
I would advise people to join Quintiles because it feels solid. You do need to have a strong backbone and guts to join Quintiles. It is a place where people really work.
