Unusual Medical Jobs: Biomedical Researcher and Other Interesting Medical Jobs

The medical field is always growing in popularity because there are rarely layoffs, and the pay is usually very good for skilled medical staff. You can work in the medical field in any capacity that you want to; you just need to know what you want to do and then go about to get the education and training to make your employment goals a reality.

Are you interested in the medical field, but you don’t necessarily want to be a doctor or a nurse? This article will delve into different medical positions and what is required to be trained for that position. There are many types of positions such as researchers, biostatisticians, cytotechnologists, operating room technicians and much more. The following paragraphs will discuss three of these interesting medical jobs and how you can train for them.

Biomedical researcher

Biomedical researchers may or may not be medical doctors. Some researchers may hold a medical degree while others hold a PhD in biological science. Biomedical researchers investigate the causes for disease such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, all things related to gene research, discover vaccines to protect people from disease and also conduct studies for drug development and much more.

A person studying to be a biomedical researcher will study for about 6 years in the field of biology, neuro sciences, genetics, chemistry and other related courses. Many people start working in the field after having earned a Master’s degree, and then go on to obtain a medical degree, a PhD or a combination of the two. Biomedical researchers may work for the National Institutes of Health, in hospital environments, colleges and universities, pharmaceutical companies and other medical related venues.

A person working as a biomedical researcher may make anywhere from $107,000 to $110,000 and above depending on his/her years of experience.

Biostatistician

A biostatistician works with statistics in the medical field. A person working as a biostatistician may work in medical research and also with public health statistics. Biostatisticians are the people who do the math and figure out the statistics for medical risks, such as risks for smoking and lung cancer, hypertension and heart disease, obesity and diabetes and so on.

A person working as a biostatistician must have a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree. Most people working in this field have doctorial degrees in mathematics, science and statistics. A biostatistician may earn anywhere from $69,000 to $112,000 and above.

Cytotechnologist

Cytotechnologists work in a lab; they study cells under a microscope. A cytotechnologist will work alongside pathologists. They do a lot of the investigating for the pathologist. They look at tissue samples taken from biopsies to look for signs of cancer and other disease processes and conditions.

The minimum education level needed to work as a cytotechnologist is a Bachelor’s degree. These scientists may also be medical doctors and scientists holding a PhD. Depending on their years of experience, cytotechnologists can make upwards to $160,000 and above.

Photo credit: Morguefile.com

Sources:

Healthcare jobs

US Department of Labor