<p>If my long term goal is to work as a research scientist for a biopharmaceutical company, what should I get my undergrad degree in? Molecular Biology or Biochemistry?
I personally prefer Mol Bio. to Biochem, but I was just curious as to which has more to do with the creation of biopharmaceuticals?</p>
<p>Also, what would I get my grad school degree in? Biotechnology? (Not Pharmacy-- right?)</p>
<p>(Btw, I'm not sure if this is the right topic to put this thread in, but I figured that since a lot of people look here, someone might know.)</p>
<p>Organic chemistry probably matters more in drug design, biochemistry is probably second. All in all you REALLY need to understand chemistry to understand biology. You should look at the actual classes that you would be taking at your university though, for the most part they will probably be really similar. Also it doesn’t really matter which one you choose for undergrad as both can lead to PhD programs that culminate in a job working for a pharmaceutical company.</p>
<p>The exact wording of your undergraduate degree is pretty irrelevant – you could choose to get a biochemistry degree, or molecular biology, or any of many other specific or general topics and would still get into a graduate program. For undergrad, it’s a little better to go more general, since you’ll specialize in graduate school, but it’s fine to take courses that interest you as an undergraduate. The most important thing is for you to participate in undergraduate research in a lab whose research interests you – this will help you get into graduate school.</p>
<p>What sorts of PhD programs you’d apply to depends on what role you want to play in a pharmaceutical company. If you want to synthesize drugs and compounds, a program that focuses on chemistry might be ideal. If you want to study the effects of drugs on cells or animal models, a program that focuses on biology might be better for you. Ultimately, you should pick a graduate program based on the faculty in the program whom you’d like to mentor your PhD studies – the name on the degree doesn’t matter very much. (The point of a PhD, after all, is to teach you to research scientific problems, not necessarily to pigeonhole you into a particular subfield for the rest of your career.)</p>
<p>Your distinctions between majors are unnecessary. As long as you’re in a related field, you can get the job you want. For example, physicists have a legitimate claim to most engineering jobs. As for whether you need a PhD, you should talk with professors, but I believe PhDs will have the lion’s share of research scientist jobs.</p>
<p>It completely depends on what part of the process you want to be involved in.</p>
<p>Your best bet is to learn and understand the methodology of fields from chemistry (all kinds) to chem bio to bio chem to molecular bio to human bio and decide what along that path uses the tools you’re interested in and looks at the systems you’re interested and specialize in that.</p>
<p>You’ll likely have to sample courses across this array as an undergrad before declaring in any of these fields anyway, so you have time.</p>
<p>Even a bachelor’s of science is plenty to do lab work at those companies, but advancement to having more autonomy and potentially manage others will require further education.</p>
<p>All of the above are true, but do read Mollie’s advice carefully, she is right on the money. </p>
<p>This is all cart and very little horse- these kind of decisions won’t get made until you are a postdoc (after your Phd) when you are in your early thirties. </p>
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<p>In the biomedical sciences, grad school (that is Phd) is basically just an entry level job in many respects. You start right out of undergrad, you get a measly salary and health insurance, you spend the vast majority of your time working in a lab on a project. If you want to make a career of drug design a Phd is an important piece of the puzzle; while there are marginal careers for lifelong techs and manufacturing/qc roles, leadership roles really require a Phd.</p>
<p>Best of luck in your pursuits. The only legitimate advice I can offer you is to get involved in research early, it’s fun and a de facto requirement for any career in the sciences.</p>
<p>Rhodes has a single major in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology as well as undergrad research opportunities at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and elsewhere.</p>
<p>Absolutely no reason to study medicinal chemistry at an undergraduate level, and at least the Missouri-Columbia is identical to most biochem or chem bio programs.</p>
<p>UB, too, besides the two course sequence in med chem which can be taken as electives pretty much everywhere else.</p>