Meet Alethia Bautista: Clinical Data Analyst II

"In Parexel Mexico, we are a little team that keeps growing and growing every month. We have new talents anxious to learn all they can about Data Management and we have fully experienced Data Management Leads and Clinical Data Analysts who love to help and share knowledge."

• Please introduce yourself and your role as a Clinical Data Analyst II at Parexel.
  Hi, I am Alethia Bautista, I am 26 years old and I am a biotech engineer. I like to practice outdoor activities, crossfit, meditate, play with my 3 dogs and cat, and I am a volunteer in a dogs and cats refugee. Also, I listen to history podcasts and I like several kinds of music. In a few words, I am an easy-going person who likes to learn and teach.
  
  I have been working in Clinical Research Organisations (CRO) for three years now and currently, I am developing as Clinical Data Analyst II in Parexel Mexico. From the beginning I noticed that CROs perform an important task, that is to improve people’s life quality and that’s what I wanted when I started searching for a job.
  
  I like Parexel because at its core is first the patients and their needs, second their employment needs and development, and third business evolution. I think this equation results in solid business culture and ambient that allows you to learn and grow.
  
  Sometimes as a Clinical Data Analyst (CDA) you may get simple tasks to do or repetitive work to deliver, but here at Parexel, already during my first few months, I have been doing completely new tasks that allow me to prepare for a Senior position and give me experience.
  
  
• How would you describe what it’s like to work at Parexel and specifically Parexel Mexico?
  Working in Parexel is demanding, but in a way that nourishes you and does not burn you out. My foreign teams (located in the USA, China, and India) are open to sharing their knowledge and working together to deliver high-quality data.
  
  In Parexel Mexico, we are a little team that keeps growing and growing every month. We have new talents anxious to learn all they can about Data Management and we have fully experienced Data Management Leads and Clinical Data Analysts who love to help and share knowledge, in fact, we once said that the best thing that can happen to Parexel Mexico is to keep the area growing.
  
  The people in Parexel are intrigued to learn even more than what experience has taught them about Data Management, including social topics like inclusion.

• When did you join Parexel, and why did you choose Parexel above our competitors?
  I joined Parexel in mid-2021, and I choose it because of its values, vision, and mission. The first time I read about Parexel on social media like Instagram, I knew this was the right company to be part of. It also helps that a Mexican colleague told me how great and happy she was feeling at work. The third reason was the home-based position because it allows me to visit my family, enjoy time together and take care of my work at the same time. This is translated to life quality.
  
  Image of Alethia in her home office.

• What excites you most about the work you do?
  What I love about my job is the possibility to help people and better their life quality. I feel we are doing a difference in the world each day to many people and their families. Also, I love to interact with different cultures and see how dynamic teams can be.
  
• What are your day-to-day responsibilities?
  My day-to-day activities, at the moment, are focused on set-up studies. Together with my teams, we generate the main documents to set the database, these are the Data Validation Specification in its entirety, EDC Completion Guidelines, Offline listings Mockshell, etc. We also build the database with programmers, performing Screens and User Acceptance Testing. I have recurrent meetings with other Mexican CDAs to resolve doubts together and coach each other.
  
  
• What traits and/or skills are needed to be a successful Clinical Data Analyst?
  • Definitely, you must have good oral and written communication in English. The CRO world is mainly managed in English and it is the only way in which language barriers can be minorized.
  • You might have attention to detail, self-organization, and task prioritizing so you can reach established timelines. 
  • A lot of patience, because Data Management is a qualitative analysis that demands you (most of the time) to work from scratch to give life to a complete study from cradle to closure.
    
    
• How has Parexel supported your personal development since you joined?
  I’ve learned to administer my time efficiently, even in personal matters. I have reached a balance between my personal life and my job that allows me to enjoy both in their respective way. Also, being a home-based employee allows me to work and travel to my family house on the northwest coast of Mexico.
  
  Images of Alethia with her family, on a hike, of La Paz and Mexico City.

• How has Parexel supported you in difficult situations?
  During the pandemic, Parexel has helped me to stay safe in my home and provided me with a flexible working schedule when I needed to get vaccinated. I have noticed that Parexel is flexible when it comes to an understanding that there are situations out of our control, and we need to take care of other matters too.
  
  
• How do you like your work location (office/remote)? How does your team work together?
  I love to be remote, for me, it’s the perfect way to work and gain life balance. My teams and I are flexible with our schedules and we always find a middle point to meet or if we can’t, we try to be as communicative as we can through emails and chat.
  
  
• What would you like people to know about your job or department?
  Data management is the core of a study from the set-up of a database until a sponsor launches the new pharma product. We are involved in all phases of clinical trials!
• Is there anything else you want to share about your work at Parexel? 
  Honestly, I think Parexel is an amazing company to work at, and with its constant growth, especially in Mexico, we can reach being one of the top 5 CROs in Mexico in the future. Mexico delivers high-quality Data Management and our effort is getting noticed more every day.

• What do you enjoy when you’re not at work?
  I enjoy playing with my pets (3 dogs and 2 cats) and being with my partner, family, and friends.
  
  
• What is your untrainable superpower?
  Whenever I am in a public space, I am the person who always watches when something funny happens, when nobody else notices.
  
  
• Tell me something most people don’t know about you.
  I am a huge fan of Star Wars and my favorite thing to do is swim in seas or oceans.

• What habit or behavior or belief have you recently acquired? Why is it now in your life?
  A lot of discipline to accomplish personal goals and professional goals. It is now in my life due to my flexible job schedule and personal objectives.

• Tell me three beliefs that you think would change the world for the better?

  1. Love yourself before you say you love anyone else.
  2. Support a Non-Profit Association. For example, if you like animals, then support a local shelter and involve in its activities. If you are worried about children's education, then support and volunteer to be a teacher in an NGO that is involved with that. Support in the best way you can.
  3. Have Civility.
  4. Bonus: Invest your money (financially talking), do not waste it just pretending.

• If you wrote a ‘user manual’ for how people should interact with you, what would be the most important point in the manual?
  Give the same treatment that you would like to receive.

• What advice would you provide to future candidates?
  The best advice I can give is to look for a job that makes you happy and nourishes you in a professional and personal way. Then all other benefits will come to you on their own.

Do you want to work with Alethia and her colleagues? Look for available Data Management opportunities here.

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