<p>-Do some pathologists really work at biotech companies?
"Pathologists can work in a number of settings. ...biotechnology companies." (1)
-Do any of them work with say, nanites?
-Are people doing this or is it my fantasy? </p>
<p>My heart is really set on studing diseases and working on robots. I've already started engineering. It is my dream to combine the two. (working with nanites to cure diseases) </p>
<p>1.(Becoming</a> a Medical Pathologist: Job Description & Salary Info)</p>
<p>There are people who work with nanotechnology (they’re only nanites on Star Trek) with medical applications. In fact there’s a whole specialist professional journal devoted to it. (Called Nanomedicine.)</p>
<p>However, the people who work in medical applications of nanotechnology aren’t pathologists. They’re MS or PhD holders in variety of fields, including: electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, computer science, material science, biochemistry, chemistry, physics, nanotechnology.</p>
<p>As an example of the kind of work being done in medical applications of nanotech–try looking at the program;</p>
<p>[The</a> University of New Mexico Nanoscience and Microsystems Program (NSMS)](<a href=“The University of New Mexico Nanoscience and Microsystems Engineering Program”>http://nsms.unm.edu/)</p>
<p>It’s joint program run by a medical school and a college of engineering. (I know 2 grad students in the program. One is working on cancer therapies–basically try to develop a way to implant single gold atoms inside individual cancer cells to kill the cell. One is developing immunohistology sensing device that works from outside the skin. No blood needed to do bloodwork.)</p>
<p>~~~</p>
<p>FYI, UNM has summer REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) program that includes opportuities to work in nanosciences for biological systems.</p>
<p><a href=“https://reu.unm.edu/[/url]”>https://reu.unm.edu/</a></p>
<p>There are also nanomedicine research centers are the following universities: UCSF, UCSB, USF, Stanford, UMD, Johns Hopkins, Northeastern. There are probably more.</p>
<p>Other summer REU programs are available.</p>
<p>Below is a link to a searchable database. Use “nanotechnology” as your search term.</p>
<p>[US</a> NSF - REU - Search for an REU Site](<a href=“http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm]US”>Search for an REU Site | NSF - National Science Foundation)</p>
<p>I appreciate all this information. I really do.
But what would a pathologist do at a biotech company then?</p>
<p>Pathologists at biotech companies are often involved in epidemiology studies. They also do follow up studies on the effectiveness of and injuries caused by of a company’s devices and/or medications. They may also serve as an alpha tester for new devices–comparing traditional pathology methods against new devices which automate certain testing processes and protocols.</p>
<p>For example, a pathologist would study the removal causes and types of failures for hip implant devices.</p>
<p>That saddens me. Maybe I could do my own research? Nothing wrong with that. You’d imagine they would let me help with design, being an engineer.</p>
<p>And if it would take a masters to get to help with these devices, I’d be willing to get that (eventually). It’s only a year.</p>
<p>There are only a dozen or so MEng/MD programs in existence–most of them at extremely competitive schools (UCSD, Stanford, Dartmouth, Case). </p>
<p>Also by the time you’ve completed med school (4 years) + residency in medical pathology (another 4-7 years) you may have changed your mind about going back to add a MEng or PhD engineering degree.</p>
<p>Is Case in Cleveland?
And your probably right about going back to school. Unless I did it at a very slow rate.</p>
<p>Case = Case Western Reserve University. It is in Cleveland.</p>
<p>One option to possibly consider is a MD/PhD program–which a 7-8 program followed by residency. Still it will take you something on the order of 11-15 years before you’re ready to start a biotech career. That’s a very long time…</p>
<p>I don’t know how accommodating MD/PhD programs are toward engineering PhDs, though. I suspect it varies by school. Most are geared toward bioscience PhDs.</p>
<p>And it’s virtually impossible to complete a PhD in engineering part-time. You’re required to complete an original research project which is a full time endeavor.</p>
<p>Haha. I could play football for them! Anyway, if it’s a 7-8 program why the 11-15 before anything biotech? Or do you mean it takes 7-8 after high school (undergrad and med) and another 3-4 for residency before you’re ready for biotech?</p>
<p>Nope.</p>
<p>MD/PhD program takes 7-8 years (4 years med school + 3-4 years for the PhD), then you have 4-7 years of medical residency once you’ve finished your MD/PhD program.</p>
<p>I must admit, that’s a very long time. A masters and med school won’t suffice?</p>
<p>Nano-- do you want to be a design engineer or do you want to be physician?</p>
<p>I guess that’s the key question. Because once you become a trained pathologist (with 8 years of post grad training–4 med school + 4 residency) you become much too valuable to work as a design engineer (which takes at most 1-2 years of post-grad training). You might consult on a robotic design project, but you’re not going to be laying out circuit patterns on chips or devising new servos.</p>
<p>I understand the attraction of engineering + medicine. I really do. It’s very exciting. I think big things are coming in this area. Telepresence/teleoperation of surgical robots. Nano device drug delivery. Cybernetics/artificial limbs that respond to thought. Lasers used to do bloodless bloodwork and treat neurological illnesses via visual pathways. New imaging technology. </p>
<p>But—right now those are engineering projects carried out by PhD level engineers, physicists, chemists, and molecular biologists. Not particularly by physicians. The medical part is understood–it’s the engineering that cutting edge.</p>
<p>I can not respond to PM because I have not made enough posts on this site. That being said, my response will be posted here. Not including details of why you sent a PM over a post.</p>
<p>First off, I would like to thank you personally for typing all this very useful information. I greatly appreciate everything you have said to me. </p>
<h2>You show great kindness. </h2>
<p>I believe I am going to take the engineering route. To explain my interest in pathology is easy, I wanted to know enough about the human body so I could work in “Nano device drug delivery.” or attacking disease in some fashion. But you said “The medical part is understood–it’s the engineering that cutting edge.” do you think Bio Medical Engineering will teach me enough? So, if you had to best prepare yourself for that type of goal, what would you do? I was thinking something like…
Undergrad: E.E. & C.S. Masters: B.M.E. minor M.E. PhD: Robotics
<em>Noted that the minor in mechanical engineering was recommended by Dr. Rich Hooper from an e-mail he just sent me. I just wanted to explain that random minor lol</em></p>
<p>Once again, I want to thank you so very much for your time.
-Nano</p>
<p>I can’t speak to engineering but as WOWMom pointed out, a pathologist’s job is to diagnose disease based on some sort of tissue sample or lab value. In my first two years of medical school I haven’t learned a single thing that would be useful for nano device drug delivery.</p>
<p>Well, I thought it would make me much more valuable to help with nanites (I love Star Trek) if I knew more about the human body and possible diseases they can help with.</p>
<p>You really don’t need to mix it up on your engineering fields. There’s tons of crossover among engineering and hard science (chem, physics, material science) specialties. Especially at the PhD level. I suggest choosing one engineering discipline and sticking with it while finding research projects that fill your interest.</p>
<p>The one grad student I know who is doing nano device drug delivery (for cancer treatment) is actually doing his project thru the biochemistry dept. (The group is using cellular antigen markers attract the nanodevices to cancer cells. The nanodevices are actually biological, not robotic, and trick the cell into accepted a single gold atom inside the cell wall–which then poisons the individual cell.)</p>
<p>BTW, cool beans! I was looking thru Medline Plus this morning and found this:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.vscan.gehealthcare.com/gallery/a-quick-look-at-vscan[/url]”>www.vscan.gehealthcare.com/gallery/a-quick-look-at-vscan</a></p>
<p>Medical tricorders!!! This stuff is soooo cool!</p>
<p>That’s so amazing.
What would be more efficient is IF they could program a single nano to just jab the cancer and poison it.
Also, a portable ultrasound? Pregnant woman everywhere would want one.</p>