Science has never gone out of fashion in pop culture: Ghostbusters and The X-Files are both back, forensics still draws viewers to TV shows like CSI and Bones, Neil deGrasse Tyson is like a national hero. And while sci-fi plots just scrape the surface of what’s out there for real-life, working scientists, there’s a reason some of these jobs are so glorified.
Sure, there are plenty of IRL forensic scientists—Bones is based on Kathy Reichs after all—but you probably shouldn’t lean on your favorite TV character for career validation. Nonetheless, there are plenty of cool, lucrative science jobs that need applicants, and you don’t necessarily have to go through a decade of formal schooling to land one.
One of the most popular fields of scientific study for undergraduates is in the world of the biomedics. For a lot of students, an undergraduate degree is just the start, but given the job market, there’s plenty of opportunity for millennials with a bachelor’s degree in this field to embark on a new career.
Read on for a list of some of the most interesting career options for biomedical scientists.
- Especially for recent grads, science writing is one way of putting your knowledge to good use. Science writers work in both the public and private sectors and often help translate complex ideas into laymen terms.
- Pharmaceutical sales representatives and marketers need a basic grasp on biology and chemistry and help drug companies push their wares to doctors and hospitals.
- A botanist is a specialized scientist working with and around plant life.
- Forensic scientists use applied sciences like biology, chemistry, and physics in the world of criminal and civil law.
- Toxicoligists study the relationship between organisms and ingested chemicals.
- Research scientists work in all fields of science and collect and compile data to further understand new developments. Most research scientists work in academics.
- Biostatisticians apply statistics to the fields of biology, including healthcare, pharmacology, agriculture, and more.
- Phlebotomists are medical professionals trained to draw blood from patients for testing, research, and donations.
- An epidemiologist studies the patterns and developments associated with illness and disease in a pre-defined population.
- A healthcare scientist or clinical scientist can be expected to work in the research field of medicine.
