I want to know what some people think. I am interested in studying viruses and diseases, and researching and developing vaccines and drugs to fight those pathogens and diseases. I have been doing some research and two very similar careers seem to contain aspects of the all of the above: Medical Scientist (Physician-Scientist) and Pharmacist. In order to be a Medical Scientist, they suggest that I obtain a M.D. and B.S. in a biological science, most likely biochemistry. In order to be a Pharmacist, of course, I would have to obtain a Pharm.D., but, I’m not so much interested in the patient-pharmacist interaction in the career of pharmacy, I just want to research and develop drugs and vaccines. So would it be better to pursue a career in Pharmacy or Medical Science or something else? And if Medical Science, would a B.S. in Biochemistry, M.S. in Microbiology, a M.D. and Ph.D in Medicinal Chemistry suffice?
If you want to seriously get into academic research, skip the MS, unnecessary if you get a PHD.
You can go the PHD route, the MD route, or the MD/PHD route. All of them could work. Furthermore, realize that there is a difference between working in an academic setting and doing research on diseases and entering the pharmaceutical industry.
Im not too too much concerned with the path I take, I just need to know whether or not I should pursue M.D. to be a Medical Scientist or a Pharm.D. to be a Pharmacist. Which of the two careers is more closely related to research of diseases and development of vaccines? Or are they the same thing? Does it matter?
maybe pharmacology?
Many roads to get to the same place honestly. The degrees are all represented in the end result.
I would try to talk with a few people involved in the field and get the current lay of the land. My degrees were from the early 80’s and I was never truly interested in research though quite a few of my friends were.
I have college buddies with PhD’s in Biochem and/or Microbiology (Or Chemistry, these days the new Biotech programs are starting to show up) who now work for various Pharm companies and University research departments. These guys typically (not universally) are more involved with the early groundwork and basic research aspects of medicines and disease processes.
My Med School friends went various routes including straight MD with a research specialization (including Pharmacology specialities) and a few were in some of the early PhD/MD combined programs. Most of these guys might consult with the folks in the last paragraph, but tend to be much more involved once the Meds get to the Human stage…
In reality, both groups often work quite closely together and sometimes it’s hard to tease out who is in the lead. In my experience the PharmD are more often consultants in the process rather than the lead investigator, but I’m sure this due to very small sample size.
The one thing that I often hear is that when it comes down to asking for money (research grants from private source or government, inhouse funds from Pharm companies or University programs, etc) having the MD behind your name still throws some weight behind the proposal unless you have some big-name awards in your portfolio or some tangible(profitable) past results.