research assistant

graduate researcher

teaching assistant

senior research technician

research associate

Duke University

I can only speak to the research side. Duke has been a great place to work for the last (almost) 5 years. 

A typical day at work in my position has been very much up to me. Whatever my priorities are for that day are typically what I end up accomplishing. That being said, things always come up that might require you to rearrange your priorities, but for the most part I have felt a great deal of confidence and encouragement to continue performing without a lot of supervision.

I'll start the day by reviewing the calendar and checking emails. I'll flag any emails I need to respond to later that day and prepare to make phone calls to patients who have confirmed they're interested in research. I'll then check to see the status of any IRB submissions I've made recently (if modifications are required or if approved). If I have a study visit, I'll prepare the exam room and calibrate the equipment. If I have a visit coming up the next day, I'll review the protocol schedule of assessments to confirm what the visit will require and whether the PI/Sub-I will need to be available.

On-boarding for new hires in clinical research is very dependent on the research group you end up with. You will complete the Duke orientation and the standard research training courses, but once that's completed there really is no standard training. This can be difficult for people new to research and your on-boarding experience relies heavily on how much time your supervisor is willing to spend with you.

The hardest part of the job is time management. Balancing the time you spend with recruiting participants, completing study visits, making sure your case report forms are entered in a timely manner after the actual visits, following up on adverse events (which may require medical records to be requested from outside institutions), responding to emails and data entry queries from monitors, while still completing the administrative tasks (i.e., regulatory, CRMS, meetings, and other institution specific duties).

I think the best part of working at Duke is the work culture. It's very supportive (not cut-throat at all) and management are typically very encouraging of professional growth. If there's a chance your position could dissolve, Duke is very loyal and will help find a new position within the institution. Alternatively, if you leave Duke on good terms, it seems they treat you like a family member and welcome you back into the fold.

A typical day at work: Doing my job and going home. Little to no interaction with coworkers, because they were all depressed about being there.

What I learned: Duke isn't such a great place to work (at least not in my department). At least I got to hone my Excel skills. It's hard to move to another department if you don't know someone already there.

Management: Duke is well-known in the area as being a good employer, but it isn't all it's cracked up to be. Managers are backstabbers and utilize retaliation whenever possible. Minorities are only allowed to go but so high, then they're held back. Departments are notorious for only hiring Caucasian males, yet nothing is done to encourage diversity. The only benefit Duke has going for it is the Child Tuition Assistance. Otherwise, they don't offer anything any other employer doesn't offer. Duke will say they pay the same as the market, but they don't. They pay at least $10,000 less than the market, depending on the job. The market comparisons they do compare their salary and benefits to other companies salaries. They want to retain new talent, but that's near impossible when young people are exposed to favoritism, backstabbing supervisors, retaliation and low pay. If Duke wants to retain younger workers, the current management needs to be gutted. Having middle-aged Caucasian males in positions of power is counterproductive, because they will only hire Caucasian males, and the occasional Caucasian female, if they need a minority. Take complaints seriously. Stop letting managers reorganize departments without having to TELL the people they will be leaving. That sneakiness breeds mistrust and low employee morale. Pay attention to miserable employees, because in their misery, they're telling the truth.

Coworkers: For the most part they were okay. I stayed to myself, because managers encouraged backstabbing behavior. As such, a coworker would throw anyone under the bus to save him/herself.

The hardest part of the job: Going to work everyday and keeping it exciting. It can get boring rather quickly.

The most enjoyable part of the job: I met a couple of really wonderful people I'll keep in touch with. They didn't subscribe to the backstabbing mentality encouraged by management.

I can only speak to my experience at Duke. These experiences vary because Duke is broken up into Departments and Schools, and every culture is different. I have worked in the School of Medicine and in the School of Nursing, and found SON to be a much more caring, nurturing environment. This environment could be because of my current (awesome) manager.

If you are a staff person working on grant-funded projects, your salary is not guaranteed for any period of time after your effort runs out. This is probably the same at every research institution and not particular to Duke, but it is very stressful. If you have a good manager, she will advocate for you and keep an eye out for other opportunities for advancement, education, and additional effort when needed. However, there isn't much to do about your position when there is no effort to be had. It is likely you will have to look within Duke for a different position.

Duke has just done a salary increase across the board so that their salaries are in line with other institutions. They're pretty good about doing things like that (i.e., the recent increase was about 10%). The time-off benefits accrue and the hours you accrue are based on how long you have been at Duke. I currently earn about 15 hours per month for vacation / personal and 4 hours per month for sick time. It builds up pretty fast. Duke also gives holiday pay, and (depending on what division you are in) things called discretionary holidays. D-days are given in lieu of holiday time in each month there is no holiday (March, April, June, August, October). You can use this as you wish.

The thing about Duke, on the research side, is that if you are a staff person you are at the whim of faculty. This can be a bad (really bad) thing. Faculty is king at Duke. IF you have a good manager, she can blunt some of that for you but there is only so much she can do. If you have a bad match with faculty -- say your personalities don't match -- they can get rid of you whether or not what they are telling their division chiefs is true. In my 10-year tenure I have experienced this twice and both times it was sickeningly stressful. However, this is probably no different than at any other university.

Overall, there is a lot more good at Duke than there is bad. The major takeaway is that if you want a solid, steady job with no threat of losing your hours, don't work as a research staff person. 

The work culture is full of inconsistent expectations. Supervisors avoid proper disciplinary action to not rock the boat and issues are often swept under the rug instead of being dealt with. If something is dealt with, it is so random there is no consistency to when or how it is done.  Accountability is pretty much nonexistent.
There are attempts at being inclusive and diverse, but the culture doesn’t even accept simple differences in current staff.
Even some staff are beginning to not care about each other or show interest in helping other garden departments/ areas out. Some departments/ areas are better than others about it, but the general attitude is to trudge through the day with your head down, doing what you need to do to just to get to the end of it.
Some people take a lot of pride in their work; almost working harder at being treated well and trying to keep this a professional atmosphere.
Staff opt out of mandatory staff meetings or team building activities because they think they are a waste of time.
It’s a shame because it didn’t used to be like this.
This is not a professional work environment and hierarchy rules.  Supervisors with terrible management skills aren't required to and don't try to improve.
The Gardens are a part of Duke University but don’t adhere to any Duke policies ex: Proactively providing a safe work environment, eliminating discriminatory talk and jokes, adhering to and enforcing honest time reporting/ use of work time, etc. The present environment makes employees of all levels feel it’s safe to make inappropriate comments or jokes.
Current management cannot refute and of these points, because they have been brought to their attention numerous times with nothing done to resolve any of the issues.
It’s just how it is, I am not a disgruntled employee; I just want people to know what they are entering into when taking a job here. It really has proven to consistently change good people’s attitudes over time because of the negative atmosphere that defines the work culture here. Great horticulturists have moved on from this place because of these reasons.  less

The work itself is reasonable as far as expectations.  You are able to provide good patient care because staffing is good.  Great providers. Good education experiences. Pay is good, but benefits poor to average for nurses. Good for your resume.  Little to no flexibility on schedule which creates terrible tension within the nursing staff. 
The real problem there is that management rule with an iron fist.  They make people cry a lot over nit-picky stuff like what someone said at the nursing station, like a curse word, or an unspoken 'poor attitude', and then hand out serious warnings, then stalk those nurses to get them fired/force resignation.  They pull up security cameras around to watch certain nurses, which HR says is allowed. They basically terrorize certain nursing staff.  I have witnessed many older nurses get pushed out in very sad ways.  Many older nurses are scared and vocal about it but their complaints are ignored or they receive retaliation.  Most fear making a complaint to administration or HR because they see the consequences. Older nurses are replaced by new grads constantly. The Duke culture is the opposite of working at a place that has a nursing union or something like that where the admin cares that the nursing staff are happy.  I have never seen so many co-workers cry, quit or be forced out.  There are some very bad apples in nursing management and for some reason they keep getting promoted?  The providers are not managed by nursing administration so they don't get involved with the drama and I would say if you're a provider it would be a great place to work.  So go there to work as a nurse knowing what you're getting into and that you probably won't want to stay long because they truly don't care about RNs at all, that way you won't get hurt.  There is no point complaining because Duke is big and powerful.  The management even says aloud, "everyone is replaceable".  I'm still there but definitely making an exit strategy. 

Duke (research) offers an amazing work environment, with room for advancement, support from management, resources, and an engaging group of individuals whom you can trust.  There are trade offs - hrs are long and sometimes unpredictable (but this is due to how grant announcements sometimes happen or demands placed upon us by publishers or reviewers - so it's not always the fault of the other scientists).  Duke does it's best to sustain their researchers in this trying economy but one thing they do offer - security.  During the last recession and the current one (2020)- Duke has not shut down research areas or depts, but has been able to sustain their employees without resorting to layoffs or unpaid furloughs (as other institutions have done).  The benefits and retirement resources are amazing - and in talking to others at different academic institutions across the country, I have come to the conclusion that Duke is among the best.  Yes, there are demands, long breaks without vacations,  and sometimes disappointments - but this is not unique to Duke but common in all types of jobs everywhere.  But in exchange Duke offers a exciting research environment, a wide range of people and diverse backgrounds to work with, and an overall sense of collaboration and "family".  The one thing - through thick and thin - I have found through the years, Duke will stand by you and is there for you.  Working here demands perseverance and sacrifice as anything worthwhile does. I would say if you have drive and passion about what you do, and want to offer something and to make a contribution beyond yourself - then Duke is the right place for you.  

I worked in the emergency department and almost every day was filled with excitement, drama and tragic situations. I loved interacting with individuals and their family members. I found that you can learn something of significance from any and everyone. When you treat people like you really care about them instead of a statistic, they are much more likely to co-operate and feel relaxed. When you treat them with respect when they are upset and not react  with a  negative respone or attitude the situation will be de-escalated more quickly. The hardest part of my job was when a person or their family member expired. I definitely didn't condone gossip in the work place. The best part of my job was making sure the customer were satisfied and trying to put a smile on their faces, if possible, as well as fellow employees. I absolutely believe in being a team player. This is necessary for a productive work environment.
Duke is an institution that provides programs to promote better physical and mental health for you and your family members. The make sure you receive reasonable breaks to relieve stress and your physical well being. Every five years you recognized for your dedication to job. For the most part, it was a fairly good place to work because we always tried to be supportive of each other if we could be.

a typical day at duke is very busy . Patient care is very  high in demand
and the number one priorty for this hospital. I learned how to assist Nurse and Doctors in patient care from surgery to in house to assisting patients to going home. When i work in the post -op and preop area i learn alot about getting patient ready for surgery by assiting the nurse with vitals and weights and helping the patient with changing their clothes to assiting the family with where they will go until their love one  surgery was over. pre- op is recovery area where the patient would come after surgery my job there was to help hook patient up for vitals and assits the nurse with making the patient  is comfortable and ready to see family. I also assist nurse with getting patient ready to go home or moving the patient to a room for a hospital stay until Doctor decide on discharge. I enjoyed helping the staff make each patient visit as smooth as possible . I love helping people and knowing I done my best.  The part I love the most is when patient are feeling good about the care the received that day and through out there stay at Duke,and the staff worked hard together to make it happen , That's when my job was the most enjoyable at Duke . Duke is a Number One Trauma Center for patient care......

Pro
Great place to start out as a new grad nurse learn a lot , work 3 days a week 12 hr shifts, student loan reimbursement total 15k given over a period of 3 years after taxes are taken out, management is ok , staff nurses are nice and try to help each other as much as possible.  Benefits include health, dental, vision , disability, life , pto and pension plan if you work full time at duke for 5 years or longer. 

Cons
Nurses dont get paid enough for all the things we do each day to keep our patients safe and alive by the end of the shift it is extremely stressful, and this low pay creates a high nurse turn over rate most nurses stay for a total of 3 years. 

Patients are becoming more an more critical care as every year passes so pcu an step down units end up caring for 4 patients at a time who are really icu acuity, and floor nurses end up caring for step down acuity patients . patient ratios = 1 nurse to 4 to 5 patients on average depending on if you are short staffed which happens more often than not. 

And if anything goes wrong it’s always the nurses fault never management, NP , PA, MD or cna.

 In addition most cnas don’t help RN take care of patients on unit  even when asked politely so RN end up having to do full care of patients like incontinence care , bed changes , hand feeding patients, vital signs every hour ADL etc on top of doing RN assesments, documentation , medication administration, drip rate adjustments an more . So don’t be surprised if you end up staying after hours to get everything done before you get to clock out . 

Working at the Duke University Health System is fast-paced and highly structured, with a strong emphasis on patient care, accuracy, and collaboration. I learned how to work effectively within a large academic healthcare system while managing complex workflows and maintaining compliance. Management is knowledgeable and focused on quality and outcomes, though expectations are high. The culture is professional, diverse, and mission-driven, encouraging growth and teamwork. The most challenging part is balancing workload and pace, while the most enjoyable part is contributing to meaningful patient outcomes alongside skilled professionals.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Research assistant 11 salaries reported	$17.73 per hour
Graduate researcher 6 salaries reported	$39,250 per year
Teaching assistant 13 salaries reported	$16.54 per hour
Senior research technician 6 salaries reported	$22.80 per hour
Research associate 3 salaries reported	$61,167 per year

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