<p>I'm currently a sophomore chem major and am looking into graduate school in science. I have always been fascinated by infectious disease research and am thinking of pursuing this, rather than a pure chemistry, graduate degree. My school offers biology, chemistry, and biochemistry degrees and I'm assuming that out of these three, biology would be the best to go with if I want to do immunology/virology, etc. Unfortunately, I can't switch to bio as I would not be able to fill the requirements before graduation. I could still switch to biochem from chemistry though. I'm interested to hear what people think - would I be okay sticking to my chem major or do I need to switch to biochem? If I were to get a graduate degree in immunology, virology, or microbiology, what would my job prospects be like? Could I expect to be doing infectious disease reasearch (on the order of USAMRIID or CDC)? Thanks so much for any imput!</p>
<p>I would go with biochem. My husband has a biochem degree and went through med school, and he often said how helpful having experience in both was for understanding the functions of immunology (among other things). The body functions often on chemical reactions, and it's important to understand those reactions when doing work with viruses and bacteria.</p>
<p>You may want to look into an MD/PhD program, as well as MDs. People who do research in these fields often have MDs as well (although not always). While you will get clinical training in med school, there are people in med school who want to do straight research.</p>
<p>Point being, look into a variety of pathways, and check out the jobs you want to get and their requirements befor committing to a path. The USAjobs site (<a href="http://www.usajobs.gov/%5B/url%5D">http://www.usajobs.gov/</a>) lists jobs in the CDC and the educational and experiential requirements.</p>
<p>So you would suggest doing medical school if I decided to do immunology, etc.? I go to school with a lot of pre-med people and would really like to escape the cut-throat one-upping which is why I've never considered med school in the first place. In your opinion, is medical school truly like this or do people moderate, at least a little bit? Also, what kind of monetary aid is available for MD/PhD programs? I know med school is quite expensive, as a lot of my friends discuss that fact quite often, but are schools more generous if they know you're eventually going for the PhD rather than just trying to be a doctor?</p>
<p>I forgot to put this in my reply, but the biochem degree at my school allows you to take either a more biology-focused direction or a chemistry focus. Since I already have quite a few chemistry credits, would I be at a disadvantage if I did the more chemistry focused degree? They are both the same degree, so I doubt it would be a big deal for graduate school applications, but would I be behind in the grad school classes?</p>
<p>There aren't a ton of scholarships/grants for med school, if that's what you mean. Most take out loans, the assumption being if you have an MD, you'll be able to pay it off later. My husband's experience was not cutthroat at all, but it may depend on the school and curriculum. Be sure to find out from people what their school's culture is like. My husband went to UChicago's med school (Pritzker). The first 2 years of classes are pass/fail, which eliminates a lot of the cutthroat stuff, because no one is in competition with one another. med school climates differ as much as any school's, so check them out carefully.</p>
<p>I would take the biochem with the biology focus - you'll get enough chem to understand what you need, but ultimately you'll use the bio more. However, if you choose med school, you'll get bio classes there, so really it won't completely matter. Just be sure that if you choose the med school route, you've covered the science requirements.</p>
<p>It won't really matter what your exact major is, but it will be really good if you can take some extra biology classes -- maybe a lab and some upper-division courses. So feel free to finish the chemistry major, but take some biology classes in there for sure.</p>
<p>The most important thing, of course, will be your research experience -- you could probably major in underwater basketweaving and it wouldn't matter, if you had stellar research experience.</p>
<p>You should do some research into which pathways interest you -- MD/PhDs are great, but they're not for everyone. And they do take about a decade, versus 5-6 years for a straight PhD. </p>
<p>(Disclaimer: I am a PhD student in a PhD program housed in a medical school, and I find several of the MD/PhD students unbelievably annoying.)</p>
<p>What I worry about with a PhD/MD is the cost - at least for those going to med school to be doctors, they're going to recoup the cost of med school. However, PhD's, as far as I know, don't make near the salary of a doctor. I have never had any interest in going to med school, but have gone back and forth about grad school. Molly - as far as upper-division courses, would a biochem course fit the bill? Most of the upper level bio courses at my school tend have a more macroscopic focus, and I wouldn't want to waste time on classes that really wouldn't be applicable, especially since my junior and senior years are going to be pretty tough regardless whether I choose chem or biochem.</p>
<p>Again, you need to do a bit of research into what kinds of jobs you want to get and what kinds of education they require. If the jobs you want require a PhD, you can't really get around that, unless you are willing to change your job focus. Ditto if they want an MD. You seem to be doing this the wrong way around - looking at education without being sure what careers you're looking at. Grad school is a lot of work, no matter what grad school it is - be sure you're planning for a specific career you really want.</p>
<p>Therein lies the problem - I don't have a specific career goal in mind. I'm majoring in chemistry because I enjoy it, not as a means to an end. I'm also doing history because again, I enjoy it. I really don't know what to do, or what I want to do, with either one or the other. I'm considering a number of things with the hope that something will pique my interest. What I've read of prospects for chem BS majors doesn't sound very hopeful, so I'm sure I'll be doing graduate work of some kind, but whether that ends up being law school or an advanced science degree, I haven't yet decided.</p>
<p>Well, then, your first step is to decide on what you want to do. I'm not sure what year you are in undergrad, but if you're looking at this general area, I would be sure to take at least the requirements to get into med school in case you decide in the future that's what you want to do. That will save you the hassle of doing it after already graduating. Start looking into jobs, shadow some people to see what it's like, and basically do your research. Until you have a plan, you can't even consider grad school. Cart before the horse, so to speak. Good luck!</p>
<p>I agree with DespSeekPhd -- grad school is something you have to go into purposefully. It's a big commitment, and feeling ambiguous about your options is a recipe for disaster.</p>
<p>At this point, it would be good to get a research job to see if a PhD program would be a good fit for you, and do some reading to see if you would rather do an MD/PhD or a JD. To prepare for a graduate program in immunology, you'd just need to take as many upper-division biology classes as you can/want to take. There are specific requirements for medical school and MD/PhD admissions.</p>