<p>I want to become a microbiologist, focusing primarily on research. Since there are many fields related to microbiology, I'm not entirely certain what types of research are limited only to medical microbiology. For example, let's say I don't go to medical school and instead go to graduate school at a public university and specialize in virology. How would specializing in virology at such a graduate school be different than studying in medical school?</p>
<p>I’m confused. If you want to be a research microbiologist and not a doctor, why are you even considering medical school?</p>
<p>If your career goal is be an academic, government or industrial research scientist, then then the more direct pathway is via graduate school for a PhD. Or possibly a MD/PhD.</p>
<p>To use your example, medical students are required to have a general knowledge of some of the basics virology, but they don’t study virology in depth* or do research in that field. Med students take what is already known and understood and apply that knowledge to the treatment of patients. (* As in they don’t take single course about virology ever. It’s a topic mentioned in passing in the context of other material.)</p>
<p>You may be confused because many of the best biomedical research programs are offered thru medical schools or at universities associated with a medical school. But the biomed students are not actually going to “med school”; they’re attending a program that may share some faculty and facilities with the medical school.</p>
<p>I was confused because I want to perform research dealing with disease-causing microorganisms and I thought some websites said that in order to do so, one needed to attend medical school. So what you’re saying is that I don’t need to go to medical school if I wanted to perform research on, for example, HIV? Perhaps I was confused on what the websites were talking about and their mentioning of clinical laboratories?</p>
<p>Defintely do NOT need to go to medical school to do that.</p>
<p>Medical school do have clinical labs, but those labs may or may not be engaged in basic research. And basic research is not done by med students, but by faculty and grad students of the associated biomed programs,</p>
<p>For example, I know a student who is attending grad school in microbiology. He works with strep bacteria, studying their genome, how drug resistance develops and new points to attack the microbe. He’s working thru the graduate biology department at his university and has zilch to do with any of the medical school’s laboratories. (Although there is a medical school associated with his school about 3 blocks from his lab.)</p>
<p>Unless you want to treat patients you do not need medical school</p>
<p>Both of you, thank you very much! This was very helpful!</p>