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The framework

Ten domains, twenty competencies, twelve role families.

Everything we assess maps to this structure from BORAKA-VCS-CR-001 v1.0.0. Each competency has one meaning across roles; roles differ in which behaviors and evidence they emphasize.

The ten domains

  1. D01

    Participant Rights, Ethics, and Informed Consent

    • C01. Protect participant rights, safety, well-being, privacy, and confidentiality.

      Recognize and act on circumstances that could compromise voluntary participation, safety, privacy, confidentiality, or equitable treatment.

    • C02. Conduct or evaluate the informed-consent process.

      Apply approved consent requirements, confirm that consent precedes trial participation, identify consent defects, and escalate or remediate within role authority.

  2. D02

    Protocol Interpretation, Eligibility, and Study Planning

    • C03. Translate the protocol and schedule of activities into operational requirements.

      Identify required procedures, time windows, dependencies, prohibited actions, decision points, and documentation expectations.

    • C04. Evaluate eligibility and protocol compliance.

      Apply inclusion and exclusion criteria, distinguish facts from unresolved questions, avoid unauthorized medical decisions, and document the appropriate determination or escalation.

  3. D03

    Participant Safety and Safety Reporting

    • C05. Recognize and characterize safety information.

      Identify information requiring clinical evaluation, obtain role-appropriate detail, distinguish urgency, and avoid delaying participant protection.

    • C06. Escalate, document, and follow safety-reporting requirements.

      Use the protocol, investigator direction, sponsor process, and applicable requirements to support timely and traceable safety action.

  4. D04

    Study Conduct and Operational Execution

    • C07. Perform or oversee trial activities according to approved requirements.

      Coordinate visits, procedures, vendors, participants, and staff while maintaining protocol and role boundaries.

    • C08. Manage operational exceptions and continuity.

      Recognize missed windows, unavailable resources, scheduling conflicts, process failures, and other exceptions; document and escalate them appropriately.

  5. D05

    Source Documentation and Data Integrity

    • C09. Create or evaluate attributable and contemporaneous source records.

      Ensure that records support what occurred, who performed it, when it occurred, and how the information can be verified.

    • C10. Maintain accurate, complete, consistent, and traceable data.

      Apply appropriate corrections, preserve audit trails, reconcile discrepancies, and avoid obscuring original information.

  6. D06

    Clinical Systems and Data Workflow

    • C11. Perform or oversee role-appropriate work in clinical systems.

      Use EDC, CTMS, eTMF, safety, randomization, document, or related systems within assigned access and procedural controls.

    • C12. Resolve data and document workflow issues.

      Investigate queries, missing data, inconsistent records, reconciliation gaps, access problems, and workflow exceptions without creating unsupported information.

  7. D07

    Investigational Product, Device, and Specimen Accountability

    • C13. Maintain or evaluate custody and accountability.

      Apply requirements for receipt, storage, access, dispensing or use, return, destruction, shipment, and reconciliation.

    • C14. Recognize and respond to accountability exceptions.

      Identify excursions, discrepancies, missing records, broken custody, dosing or use concerns, and other exceptions; protect safety and evidence integrity.

  8. D08

    Regulatory and Essential Records

    • C15. Maintain or evaluate required approvals and essential records.

      Confirm that records are current, complete, appropriately authorized, accessible, and consistent with trial conduct.

    • C16. Assess inspection and audit readiness.

      Identify material gaps, reconstruct the evidence trail, distinguish missing documentation from missing activity, and support timely remediation.

  9. D09

    Quality, Risk, Monitoring, and Corrective Action

    • C17. Identify and prioritize quality risks and findings.

      Evaluate impact on participant protection, data reliability, protocol compliance, and trial continuity.

    • C18. Investigate causes and develop proportionate corrective and preventive action.

      Separate immediate correction from root cause, define ownership and due dates, and evaluate whether action was effective.

  10. D10

    Communication, Collaboration, and Professional Judgment

    • C19. Communicate effectively with relevant trial parties.

      Tailor accurate, respectful, role-appropriate communication to participants, investigators, site staff, sponsors, CROs, vendors, and oversight bodies.

    • C20. Document and escalate decisions with professional judgment.

      Recognize the limit of personal authority, communicate uncertainty, preserve the decision trail, and escalate before risk becomes harm.

The twelve role families

Three role families are specified in this version; nine are registered for structured development and public review. Listing a role family does not mean its tasks, rubrics or validation evidence are complete. Today, only Clinical Research Coordinator has an open verified pathway.

CodeRole familyPrimary evidence emphasisStatus
RP-CRCClinical Research CoordinatorParticipant-facing conduct, source, EDC, visit execution, safety escalationSpecified
RP-CRAClinical Research Associate or MonitorOversight, source and system review, risk, findings, follow-upSpecified
RP-CTAClinical Trial Assistant or Clinical Operations AssociateTrial administration, CTMS, essential records, action tracking, controlled communicationSpecified
RP-PIPrincipal Investigator or Sub-InvestigatorMedical oversight, delegation, participant safety, protocol decisionsRegistered
RP-CRNClinical Research NurseParticipant care interface, procedures, safety, consent support, source evidenceRegistered
RP-CDMClinical Data Management ProfessionalData lifecycle, edit checks, query strategy, reconciliation, database qualityRegistered
RP-CPMClinical Project Manager or Clinical Trial ManagerCross-functional delivery, risk, vendors, timelines, escalation, oversightRegistered
RP-REGRegulatory Affairs or Study Start-Up ProfessionalSubmissions, approvals, essential records, country and site activationRegistered
RP-PVPharmacovigilance or Drug Safety ProfessionalCase intake, assessment support, reporting workflow, reconciliation, signalsRegistered
RP-TMFTrial Master File or Essential Records ProfessionalFiling quality, completeness, metadata, inspection readiness, remediationRegistered
RP-QAClinical Quality Assurance Professional or GCP AuditorAudit evidence, systemic risk, root cause, CAPA, effectiveness checksRegistered
RP-CSMMClinical Scientist or Medical MonitorProtocol and medical review, safety interpretation, benefit-risk, escalationRegistered
Specified
The role purpose, boundary, and observable evidence expectations are published for public review.
Registered
The role family has a stable identifier, boundary statement, and preliminary domain emphasis. It is not an assessment product.