registered nurse

clinical research coordinator

programmer analyst

senior clinical research coordinator

social work supervisor

Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute

The patients are absolutely Amzing. The kindness from them makes my day, every day. But you are not paid fairly for the work you do, no matter how good you do it.  They just dump more work on you from other departments even though you are already short staffed, and they expect you to do that as well as everything else. There isn’t a definitive training program for front desk. You have to rely on the knowledge of the individual training you. Most of the people in that position are fairly new. Very high turn over rate due to pay and treatment. 

This is a great place to work if you have a main bread winner at home already. If all you want is to come in to do your 40 and go home with a little money in your pocket, then PSR is the job die you. Bring Tylenol and your patience with you though. And don’t expect to get ahead. 


A typical day at work was data entry, comparing the information that was entered into the database to the paperwork in the office and monthly reports were ran and distributed, filing and telephone assistance as needed to the staff that worked in the field, request for reports, paperwork and supplies were given weekly, I crossed trained the new employee after hired into the department. I learned to work with about 30 employees as needed. Management was fair and were hard workers. My co-workers were different each person in his/her own way, I was a help to them as they requested assistance while working out in the field and when they came into the office on a monthly basis. The hardest part of the job was when I had to do the work which took two people to do, after my fellow side by side co-worker quit to move on to another company to take on another position. I was responsible for her work and what I was previously responsible for (I handled it, one day at a time). The most enjoyable part of the job was the respect that my co-workers had for me, they appreciated my efforts and most important of all I still had a job after the company Wayne State University made an agreement with Karmanos Cancer Institute, I worked in the same office/same location, only my job title changed and I also received a pay raise.

Management is very indifferent to the needs and mental/physical health of workers. Midlevels are treated very poorly, and are thrown under the bus when one of the doctors makes a mistake.  NPs and PAs are there strictly to cater to the MDs. We were scribes and secretaries, and not allowed to function to the full spectrum of our training. Clinic space is very insufficient, and they continue to cram ever more providers and staff in extremely close quarters.  Very chaotic.  I absolutely dreaded Mondays.  "Office space" was a joke, crowded with no windows. Most of the medical assistants were lazy and not helpful, except for one or two.  I could go on ad nauseum.

On the plus side, there were some very devoted physicians, and most of the midlevels there are wonderful people.  I cannot fathom why they stay there.  I also loved the DMC, and the patient population.  They were so grateful, and I have many wonderful memories of patients and their families.

Please, if you are a midlevel (NP or PA), find another position.  There are better places to work in the Detroit Metro area.

Karmanos Cancer Institute provides individuals with the necessary tools to advance in their career at our institutions. This is because while the tools are given at KCI, a lot of individuals struggle with the large workloads and the low level compensation (a Clinical Research Coordinator I at KCI is only offered $40k starting with no opportunity to negotiate salary). Furthermore, there are specific time periods in which one can get promoted at KCI, meaning there's a chance you will work there for over a year and still be a Level 1, depending on the hiring cycle you were in.

This is coupled with the large amount of turnover in certain departments, while the responsibilities are still maintained by remaining staff members, increasing their responsibilities and making them perform their jobs a lot harder than it already is without any sort of incentive. There are enjoyable moments at the job, but in this case, the bad outweighs the good. It is a place where you work until you find a place that appreciates your skills more and will compensate you for what you deserve.

Karmanos operates like a large doctors office with multiple clinics, providing all their own testing and treatment for patients.  They are in the process of making substantial changes in the operation of the business to better their financial stability by initiating changes in the scheduling process to include a financial clearance component for patients.  They are also introducing patient navigators to provide personal assistance to patients through their entire experience at Karmanos.  It is very exciting to be a part of the growth and changes taking place there and I really enjoy meeting and making connections with the patients who I get a chance to know over the course of their treatment.  The hardest part of course, is the loss of patients and watching many of them suffer through their treatments.  It can be both rewarding and challenging in many ways.

What karmanos is trying to do for patients with cancer is excellent. Unfornately they could care less about their employees. Basically I believe that their philosophy is "just be happy you have a job. Now shut up and get back to work." We haven't had a raise in 4 years and when we finally did receive one it was on for $0.25. They never ask for employees opinion, seeing how we are the ones actually on the floors and dealing with patients on a day to say basis oppose to pulling strings from upstairs like we're their puppets. I absolutey HATE working here. Everyday it's a struggle to get out of bed and work for Karmanos. I don't complain but quietly I'm just going with the flow and praying for a better opportunity.

There was an Intense and long training program that lasted for about 3.5 months. Unfortunately my coworkers were very cliquey and only spoke to me when they wanted me to do work for them, and many times they gossiped about each other. My supervisor was amazing and I had weekly meetings with them to discuss progress and comprehension. When I put in my 2 weeks, they were very supportive, whereas my coworkers did not appear to be pleased. I was told I could work remotely in my interview but you have to tell the supervisor everything you plan on doing if you’re remote. The salary isn’t great at all for my role, hence the high turnover. Overall, the team works together to meet a common goal adequately.

Awful place to work for. Understaffed and overworked. No patient care. Runs like an assembly line. The management does not care to change anything. We would have monthly meetings and any kind of concerns or problems the technologists would bring up, the manager would say "its been like that for as long as I've been here." Very high turn over rate in my department. Went through two managers while I was there. The first manager had zero experience in radiology. We would have over 100 patients on the schedule and just four of us technologists. They also expected us to go over to general x-ray in the midst of all the chaos we were already dealing with. Never worked for a more horrible company in my life. Save yourself and apply somewhere else. Also the salary does not compare to the amount of work you do.

I can honestly say this was the worst job I have ever had.  Unrealistic expectations from management.  Very little training or guidance to help me achieve department goals, which lead to constant reprimanding.  Pretty much had to learn through failure (if the stove is hot don’t touch it again kind of mentality). Looking back I am amazed I made it 1.5yrs in the position.  When I went to give my 2wks notice they did not allow it and made me resign immediately.  Happy to no longer be working there and more than happy to share my experience.  My wife (who I did not know at the time) also worked there and had a very similar experience, so I know it wasn’t just me, which makes me feel slightly better. We have been able to share “war” stories through out the years from this horrible place. 

My typical day at work would be verifying the patients' database and their bone marrow transplant details, getting signatures from doctors, picking and dropping files to clinical research assistants. I have learned a lot right from time management, professional ethics, typical office culture to multi-tasking. The whole management is very supportive. The workplace is very quiet, relaxing and everyone has their own privacy as well. There is not really a 'hardest part' of the job. All the tasks are distributed among different coworkers and me efficiently without stress. The most enjoyable part of the job is to deliver a few documents to various offices and assistants as I like walking.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 3 salaries reported	$39.67 per hour
Clinical research coordinator 3 salaries reported	$54,960 per year
Programmer analyst 6 salaries reported	$50,085 per year
Senior clinical research coordinator 3 salaries reported	$55,333 per year
Social work supervisor 2 salaries reported	$69,588 per year

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