Graduate programs place additional emphasis on laboratory work and original research. These programs offer prospective medical scientists the opportunity to develop their experiments and, sometimes, to supervise undergraduates. A Ph.D. culminates in a thesis, which the candidate presents before a committee of professors.
Those who go to medical school spend most of the first 2 years in labs and classrooms, taking courses such as anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, psychology, microbiology, pathology, medical ethics, and medical law. They also learn to take medical histories, examine patients, and diagnose illnesses. For more information, see the profile on physicians and surgeons.
Medical scientists often continue their education with postdoctoral work at universities or with federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health. Postdoctoral work provides valuable lab experience, including in specific processes and techniques such as gene splicing, which is transferable to other research projects. In some institutions, the postdoctoral position leads to a permanent job.
Licenses
Medical scientists who administer drug or gene therapy to human patients, or who otherwise interact medically with patients—drawing blood, excising tissue, or performing other invasive procedures—must be licensed physicians. To be licensed, physicians must graduate from an accredited medical school, pass a licensing examination, and complete 1 to 7 years of graduate medical education.
Important Qualities
Communication skills. Communication is critical because medical scientists must be able to explain their conclusions. Also, communication skills are important when medical scientists write grant proposals, which are often required to continue their research.
Critical-thinking skills. Medical scientists must use their expertise to determine the best method for solving a specific research question.
Data-analysis skills. Medical scientists use statistical techniques so that they can properly quantify and analyze health research questions.
Decision-making skills. Medical scientists must use their expertise and experience to determine what research questions to ask, how best to investigate the questions, and what data to will best answer the questions.
Observation skills. Medical scientists conduct experiments that require precise observation of samples and other health data. Any mistake could lead to inconclusive results.
Pay
Medical Scientists
Median annual wages, May 2010
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
$76,700
Life Scientists
$67,400
Total, All Occupations
$33,840
All Occupations includes all occupations in the U.S. Economy.
The median annual wage of medical scientists was $76,700 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $41,560, and the top 10 percent earned more than $142,800.
Median annual wages in the industries employing the largest numbers of medical scientists in May 2010 were as follows:
Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing $95,530
Drugs and druggists’ sundries merchant wholesalers 89,730
Scientific research and development services 82,140
General medical and surgical hospitals;
state, local, and private 74,570
Colleges, universities, and professional schools;
state, local, and private 53,470
Most medical scientists work full time.
Job Outlook
Medical Scientists
Percent change in employment, projected 2010-20
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
36%
Life Scientists
20%
Total, All Occupations
14%
All Occupations includes all occupations in the U.S. Economy.
Employment of medical scientists is expected to increase by 36 percent between 2010 and 2020, much faster than the average for all occupations.
Ongoing medical research, as well as an increased reliance on pharmaceuticals, will likely maintain current levels of demand for medical scientists. A growing and aging population also is expected to increase demand for these scientists.
Most employment growth for medical scientists over the next 10 years will likely be in private industry. Demand has increased because medical scientists’ expertise is needed in developing prescription drugs and other biomedical tools. Pharmaceutical companies and other firms whose work is not just in biotechnology have adopted biotechnology techniques in their other work, thus creating employment for medical scientists.
Employment also should grow as a result of an expected expansion in research related to illnesses such as AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer. Treatment problems, such as antibiotic resistance, also should spur growth. Moreover, environmental conditions, such as overcrowding and the increasing frequency of international travel, will spread existing diseases and give rise to new ones. Medical scientists will continue to be needed because they contribute to the development of treatments and medicines that improve human health.
The federal government is a major source of funding for medical research. Large budget increases at the National Institutes of Health in the early part of the decade led to increases in federal basic research and development spending, with research grants growing both in number and dollar amount. However, the increase in spending slowed substantially in recent years. Going forward, the level of federal funding will continue to impact competition for winning and renewing research grants.
Employment projections data for medical scientists, 2010-20
Occupational Title SOC Code Employment, 2010 Projected Employment, 2020 Change, 2010-20 Employment by Industry
Percent Numeric
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
19-1042 100,000 136,500 36 36,400
Similar Occupations
This table shows a list of occupations with job duties that are similar to those of medical scientists.
OCCUPATION JOB DUTIES ENTRY-LEVEL EDUCATION MEDIAN ANNUAL PAY, MAY 2010
Biochemists and Biophysicists
Biochemists and biophysicists study the chemical and physical principles of living things and of biological processes such as cell development, growth, and heredity.
Doctoral or professional degree $79,390
Epidemiologists
Epidemiologists investigate the causes of disease and other public health problems to prevent them from spreading or from happening