Nov
19
I am going to do B.Sc (Hon.) in Biochemistry. It’s gonna be equivalent to the undergraduate course and will be for 4 years. So what are the most successful career or study options after that?
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I live in San Diego, so everyone I know who has a biochem degree went on to get their PhDs then entered the pharmaceutical R&D field. San Diego is a huge market for pharmaceutical companies. UC San Diego is a great place to do your graduate work.
I did my undergraduate degree in Biochem, and most of my friends in the program went onto graduate school to either do a Master’s degree or PhD. The only job opportunities in Biochem is research and development, such as working for a pharmaceutical company or at a university as a tech or professor.
With just a Bachelor’s you may find a position as a lab technician but higher education like graduate school is needed to get a better position if you are interested in research and development.
With a bachelors you may also find a job as a sales representative for a company (equipment supplies for labs etc.), but it may require extra training or schooling.
Bear in mind, if you do wish to go to graduate school, then it will take 2 years minimum for a masters. You can stop here and try to get a job or you can continue and get a phd which is 3-5 on top of a masters, and then you will need to do some post doctorate work for 2-3 years. After that, you will be eligible to work in a company or apply to for a faculty position at a university. You typically start of as an Assistant professor, and then progress to an Associate professor and then a Full time professor. This can take anywhere between a couple of years to never, depending on your work output, interest and university in question.
If none of these interest you, then you may also wish to consider other related career options. I didn’t like research so applied to pharmacy school and I am currently in my first year.