To ask for career advice after a biomedicine degree

[aconfusedgraduate]

I have a degree in Biomedicine and a related MSc. I have no clue what to do now.

I love biomedicine, however my favourite part of the courses were the lectures, reading and essay writing. I found parts of lab work enjoyable but I am quite an anxious person and found being in the lab triggered my anxiety a lot as there are high stakes where a mistake can be very expensive, dangerous or ruin yours or someone else's weeks/months/years of work. However I did settle into it and enjoyed it in the end, particularly because I was in a quiet lab with a very easygoing and approachable PI.

I am taking a year off and working retail for now whilst I try and figure out what to do. Right now I am seriously considering going for a PhD which has been my plan throughout my degrees. I love being in academia and feel like there is still so much more about being a scientist I want to learn. However I do know that my anxiety will probably return once I am back in a lab, but then I know once I have settled into a routine and gotten used to it I will be fine. All the PhDs in my research area of interest (cardiovascular disease) that my background qualifies me for are wet lab projects.

However, I definitely do not want to be a lab-based researcher for my career. I would love to work for a scientific journal or be involved in systematic reviews or something more writing or statistics-based.

Does anyone have any advice?

Thank you

Why have you got a poll on for AIBU? What is the AIBU? is that an error?

No advice but hope you find what you are looking for. Tbh it sounds like you really want to do a PHD so best of luck with that.

You'd really be better off speaking to your university's careers department, your tutor and your lecturers rather than AIBU.

something more writing or statistics-based

How analytical are you and why do you want to do a PhD?

Biologists often make good data scientists and medical data would be sub speciality. Do you have much of stats background?

I did a similar degree and felt the same about lab work. I've enjoyed using my medical knowledge and analytical skills from my degree and worked in medical writing, pharmaceutical market access and health economics, NHS service redesign and commissioning and healthcare project management.

My daughter is a medical writer,she did exactly the same as you,then a PhD.

She works for herself now,before that she worked for a big company and travelled all over the World.

Medical communications? I work with a few people with a similar background to you that now do that.

MSL or medical writer

Clinical scientist? Several fields to choose from. Very methodical. Desk based. Usually analysing results from lab and producing reports

Have you thought about bioinformatics? There are paid training schemes within the NHS (see www.nshcs.hee.nhs.uk ) and it’s a profession in huge demand with the Genomics Medicine Service being rolled out this year. (Big demand in the private sector too.)

Or if you are not so keen on the computing aspect of bioinformatics, genetic counselling is also a profession in demand in the NHS - and is now also part of the funded healthcare science training.

Clinical trial manager?

What about training as a patent agent? It involves a lot of science writing and from what I have seen, once you are qualified it seems pretty family friendly.

it doesn't sound like you have any relevant experience to do stats or lead systematic reviews. University contract (researcher) is the place to start with getting that experience, but sounds like you'd need a lot of hand holding.

Was your degree a 1st or 2.1? What stats did you actually learn to do? Have you written or helped edit any articles? Most Unis are keen to retain bright u-grads to do research or PhDs... I'm being horrible, but it doesn't sound like they sought you out to stay on.

Thank you everyone for your replies. I will do some research into your suggestions before making individual replies.

@MedSchoolRat I got a first in my undergrad and distinction in my MSc and was top of my cohort for both. I wasn't retained as a PhD student because there are no PhD funding opportunities in my area of interest in that department.

@MeadowHay Yeah I am not sure why a poll was there as I don't remember clicking to add a poll. I think I do want to do a PhD first.

@Lockheart I know but I have left university now so cannot really speak to my lecturers anymore.

@C8H10N4O2 I am quite analytical. The only stats background I have is statistics as part of a research techniques module which I did well at and the stats I had to do during my undergraduate and master's research projects. I enjoy statistics and do well at it but I don't really have "proof" of being experienced in stats aside from my research projects.

I wish to do a PhD because I have loved being in academia and don't feel that I have reached my peak of interest yet. There is more that I want to learn about and discover. I love biology and find it all fascinating. I also still feel so young and inexperienced and I believe a PhD will accelerate my learning and after obtaining a PhD I feel like I will be in a better position to move onto my career because I will feel more knowledgeable and confident.

@ticketstub I like the idea of being a medical writer. May I ask if you did a PhD? If not, what were your initial steps after university to get into medical writing?

@heath48 @tinylittlehat @IndefatigableMouse @ticketstub
Medical writing and medical communications definitely sound really appropriate for me so thank you for the recommendation. I am now thinking I should definitely do a PhD and just try and "grin and bare" the lab work (I know when I am there I will be fine and will enjoy the lab work but I just dread it in the anticipation) and then look into being a medical writer. I was wondering if there was anything I could/should be doing in the interim to aid in me becoming a medical writer? Should I be doing any writing courses or anything?

@Waveysnail This looks interesting too. I will have a look into this, thank you.

@NHSerrr I have considered bioinformatics but have not had much experience with it at university so don't really have a background in it.

@kittifer Being a patent agent seems interesting and I think I would be good at it as I am good at being meticulous with a high attention to detail. However I have no background in law so would not know whether it is something I would be good at or enjoy.

Thank you again everyone for your help. I have really appreciated it.

I do not have a PhD but started as an entry level trainee research associate/medical writer at a large medical communications company. I was in the Cheshire area at the time where there are a lot of such companies but there are also a number of recruitment agencies (eg, Barrington James, non stop pharma - do a quick google to find more) specialising in this field that could probably give you more guidance on what they are seeking nowadays and the opportunities available.

All I would say is that lab practicals (which I hated) is nothing like working in a research lab (which I loved). I was lucky in that I got a Summer job in a lab which totally changed my view of what direction to take.

I think even if you go the writing route you would find it beneficial to have a PhD if you want to stick to the biosciences field. From recollection my colleagues who left science fairly early went into editing (one did exceptionally well at Nature but she was the most hard working individual I have ever come across), patent work, a few into medical sales (most hated this & left pretty quickly), teaching (secondary level), retrained as medical doctors etc. If I had my time over again I would have looked for a training position in the NHS for biomedical science as it would have offered a bit more job security than the pure academic route & their short-term contracts.

What about clinical trial project management? You can work in academia and work in all sorts of disease areas plus there are opportunities for PhDs down the line if you wish

I would recommend doing a PhD even if you don’t want to end up in the lab, however the anxiety is going to be an issue as it’s pretty intensive few years. Have you had some help with it?

Another consideration could be a Public Health/Epidemiology PhD which are less likely to be lab-based.

There are also more public sector organisations such as NICE who I believe have offices outside of London and do a lot of work such as systematic reviews to inform health policy. There may also be some interesting policy and research roles at the Department of Health, Welsh Government etc and other national organisations in areas such as public health. In addition it may be worth looking at third sector organisations such as cancer research/Macmillan Cancer or whichever health field you're interested in to see if something appeals.