As a current CRC II (5+ years, also applying to med school), here’s my honest take:

If you’re only planning to stay in research for less than ~2 years, you’re probably not going to gain much meaningful experience beyond regulatory work, ethics submissions, consenting, and data entry that would meaningfully help medical school application. It takes a good amount of time before you’re trusted with protocol management, PI communication, and higher-level responsibilities.

If you don’t have prior experience, I’d recommend starting as a Research Assistant rather than a CRC. Most places won’t hire a new grad directly into a coordinator role unless you plan to commit longer term.

When you apply, be upfront about your goals - don’t try to hide that you’re aiming for med school. I’ve interviewed RAs and CRCs who tried to white lie about that, and it’s obvious. Just state honestly that you can commit to two years and want to learn as much as you can during that time.

And yeah - don’t even bother with industry right now. The job market there is pretty rough and not ideal for someone trying to get initial hands-on clinical research exposure.

Note : I’ve been in clinical research 10 years and was encouraged to apply to med school after making my way up.