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| Biological and Medical Scientists |
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| Employment Increase: |
31% |
| People In Field: |
148,000 |
| Average Salary: |
$36,225 |
| Qualifications: |
Doctorate Degree |
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Nature of the Work:
Biological and medical scientists study living
organisms and their relationship to their environment. Most specialize
in some area of biology such as zoology or microbiology.
Many biological scientists and virtually all medical scientists work
in research and development. Some biological and medical
scientists work in management or administration. Biological
scientists who do biomedical research are usually called
medical scientists. Medical scientists working on basic research
into normal biological systems often do so in order to
understand the causes of and to discover treatment for disease and
other health problems.
Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement:
For biological scientists, the Ph.D. degree generally is
required for college teaching, independent research, and for
advancement to administrative positions. A master's degree
is sufficient for some jobs in applied research and for jobs
in management, inspection, sales, and service. The
bachelor's degree is adequate for some non-research jobs. Some
graduates with a bachelor's degree start as biological scientists
in testing and inspection, or get jobs related to biological
science such as technical sales or service representatives. In
some cases, graduates with a bachelor's degree are able to work in
a laboratory environment on their own projects, but this is
unusual. Some may work as research assistants. Others
become biological technicians, medical laboratory technologists
or, with courses in education, high school biology teachers.
Many with a bachelor's degree in biology enter medical, dental,
veterinary, or other health profession schools. Some enter a
wide range of occupations with little or no connection to biology.
Job Outlook:
Employment of biological and medical scientists is expected to
increase faster than the average for all occupations through the
year 2005. There will be an estimated 148,000 biological and
medical scientists by 2005. Biological and medical scientists will
continue to conduct genetic and biotechnological research and help
develop and produce products developed by new biological methods.
In addition, efforts to clean up and preserve the environment will
continue to add to growth. More biological scientists will be needed
to determine the environmental impact of industry and government
actions and to correct past environmental problems. Expected
expansion in research related to health issues, such as AIDS, cancer,
and the Human Genome project, should also result in growth. However,
much research and development, including many areas of medical
research, is funded by the federal government. Anticipated budget
tightening should lead to slower employment growth of biological and
medical scientists in the public sector and in some private industry
research laboratories as the number and amount of government grants
increases more slowly than in the past.
Sources of Additional Information:
For information on careers in physiology, contact:
American Physiological Society Membership Services Dept.
9650 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20814
For information on careers in biochemistry, contact:
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
9650 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20814
For information on careers in botany, contact:
Business Office, Botanical Society of America
1725 Neil Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210-1293
For information on careers in microbiology, contact:
American Society for Microbiology
Office of Education and Training, Career Information
1325 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Information on federal job opportunities is available from local
offices of state employment services or offices of the U.S. Office
of Personnel Management, located in major metropolitan areas.
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