Becoming a Medical Scientist?

[tqn]

Hey guys this is my first post and I just want to ask...

How does one become a Medical Scientist and is there any good job prospects for this?

Thanks very much 

[slothpomba]

Depends what you mean by medical scientist exactly?

When i think of medical scientists i think of pathology and testing like blood samples in a lab and stuff. There are definetly jobs out there but they don't pay very much.

If you mean like a researcher well thats a different thing...

We can help you out if you clarify more

[tqn]

Well a medical scientist that uses blood to study and diagnose diseases.

Sorry for not giving too much detail but that's what i consider when i think about a medical scientist.

[Edmund]

Well a medical scientist that uses blood to study and diagnose diseases.

Sorry for not giving too much detail but that's what i consider when i think about a medical scientist.

That sounds like clinical/medical research. You'll probably need a medical degree (MBBS, MD or equivalent) and a research degree after (masters or PhD).

Or you could just become a medical/biomedical researcher through the Bachelors - Masters - PhD pathway but you won't be able to do diagnosis and other clinical aspects.

Job prospects are good depending on the field of research.

[Russ]

That sounds like pathology to me, which often has the job title "medical scientist". Dad worked as one for a while and you definitely don't need a medical degree

[mystikal]

That sounds like pathology to me, which often has the job title "medical scientist". Dad worked as one for a while and you definitely don't need a medical degree

yea +1, dont need medical degree i know peeps who are working from doing normal science bach degrees, just pick the right subjects. 

[Edmund]

That sounds like pathology to me, which often has the job title "medical scientist". Dad worked as one for a while and you definitely don't need a medical degree

yea +1, dont need medical degree i know peeps who are working from doing normal science bach degrees, just pick the right subjects. 

Really depends on the type of research. If you are interested in patient oriented research or applying research principles to clinical scenarios, then you would go for the MBBS + PhD pathway.

[tqn]

That sounds like pathology to me, which often has the job title "medical scientist". Dad worked as one for a while and you definitely don't need a medical degree

yea +1, dont need medical degree i know peeps who are working from doing normal science bach degrees, just pick the right subjects. 

Oh ok looks like Pathology is the way to go with the comments posted.

Thx guys for helping me out

[Russ]

Really depends on the type of research. If you are interested in patient oriented research or applying research principles to clinical scenarios, then you would go for the MBBS + PhD pathway.

Yeah but that means working as a researcher not a scientist, which is generally a fancy term for lab monkey

[scocliffe09]

Really depends on the type of research. If you are interested in patient oriented research or applying research principles to clinical scenarios, then you would go for the MBBS + PhD pathway.

Yeah but that means working as a researcher not a scientist, which is generally a fancy term for lab monkey

Not at all - clinical researchers are common and they are certainly not lab monkeys...

[shinny]

Really depends on the type of research. If you are interested in patient oriented research or applying research principles to clinical scenarios, then you would go for the MBBS + PhD pathway.

Yeah but that means working as a researcher not a scientist, which is generally a fancy term for lab monkey

Not at all - clinical researchers are common and they are certainly not lab monkeys...

I think he meant that scientists are the lab monkeys.

[scocliffe09]

Really depends on the type of research. If you are interested in patient oriented research or applying research principles to clinical scenarios, then you would go for the MBBS + PhD pathway.

Yeah but that means working as a researcher not a scientist, which is generally a fancy term for lab monkey

Not at all - clinical researchers are common and they are certainly not lab monkeys...

I think he meant that scientists are the lab monkeys.

ah #jetlagbrainfail

[slothpomba]

That sounds like pathology to me, which often has the job title "medical scientist". Dad worked as one for a while and you definitely don't need a medical degree

yea +1, dont need medical degree i know peeps who are working from doing normal science bach degrees, just pick the right subjects. 

Yeah, that description smacks of pathology to me. You won't really be doing much studying (of diseaseS) in your average pathology lab though, its more running samples/analysing samples you get from collection places; So application stuff really. When you go get a blood test, they take some and send it off to a pathology lab.

Unless you get a PHD and you might be able to do some kind of research into pathology with in that, finding a new way to detect X disease or x vitamin level or something. *shrug*. Can't stay for sure though. Otherwise its more or less you standard lab monkey work unless an interesting sample comes in.

For this you'd go Bsc Hons.(Pathology)*->Phd(Something in pathology)
*Of course you can probably do it inside biomed and maybe there are dedicated pathology courses or something similar out there as well.

I'm still not quiet sure what job you mean but this is a job as a scientist really not as a doctor since you didn't get a med degree, i think that is what you meant anyway.

Or who knows you could of mentally mish-mashed a bunch of jobs together in your head, not really sure mate haha