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Cancer researcher vs doctoral fellow

The differences between cancer researchers and doctoral fellows can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a cancer researcher and a doctoral fellow. Additionally, a cancer researcher has an average salary of $73,896, which is higher than the $53,366 average annual salary of a doctoral fellow.

The top three skills for a cancer researcher include patients, clinical research and clinical trials. The most important skills for a doctoral fellow are patients, cell culture, and data analysis.

Cancer researcher vs doctoral fellow overview

Cancer ResearcherDoctoral Fellow
Yearly salary$73,896$53,366
Hourly rate$35.53$25.66
Growth rate17%17%
Number of jobs24,19922,661
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Doctoral Degree, 46%
Average age4141
Years of experience44

What does a cancer researcher do?

A cancer researcher is a medical scientist who devotes their time working at laboratories to study and discover ways to diagnose and treat cancer, saving countless people's lives in the process. Their duties usually include gathering and analyzing samples through basic or complex laboratory processes, studying existing cases from people of all ages, organizing specimens and instruments, coordinating with fellow experts, conducting experiments, and maintaining extensive records. Moreover, as a cancer researcher, it is essential to keep an open communication line with fellow researchers, collaborating efforts for a smooth workflow.

What does a doctoral fellow do?

A doctoral fellow is a physician that has completed studies and receives a fellowship to cover his/her or her expenses while completing his/her or her medical dissertation. A doctor fellow undergoes this fellowship to get additional training for their chosen sub-specialty. During the fellowship period, a fellow can act as an attending physician or consultant physician with other physicians' direct supervision in the sub-specialty field.

Cancer researcher vs doctoral fellow salary

Cancer researchers and doctoral fellows have different pay scales, as shown below.

Cancer ResearcherDoctoral Fellow
Average salary$73,896$53,366
Salary rangeBetween $46,000 And $117,000Between $39,000 And $72,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaHawaii
Best paying companyAstraZenecaIBM
Best paying industryHealth CarePharmaceutical

Differences between cancer researcher and doctoral fellow education

There are a few differences between a cancer researcher and a doctoral fellow in terms of educational background:

Cancer ResearcherDoctoral Fellow
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Doctoral Degree, 46%
Most common majorBiologyChemistry
Most common collegeUniversity of Southern CaliforniaDuke University

Cancer researcher vs doctoral fellow demographics

Here are the differences between cancer researchers' and doctoral fellows' demographics:

Cancer ResearcherDoctoral Fellow
Average age4141
Gender ratioMale, 36.9% Female, 63.1%Male, 55.3% Female, 44.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 26.4% White, 53.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 32.9% White, 47.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between cancer researcher and doctoral fellow duties and responsibilities

Cancer researcher example responsibilities.

  • Manage mouse colonies (breeding, weaning and genotyping).
  • Create Linux shell scripts to automate common process which severely reduce manual work load and processing time for the entire lab.
  • Perform quantitative analysis of DNA, RNA, and the use of RT-PCR.
  • Perform clerical duties in accordance with HIPAA regulations.
  • Inscribe and design genotyping protocols for new studies using rare Finnish DNA samples.
  • Bill workers compensation, no-fault, HMO, commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid.
  • Show more

Doctoral fellow example responsibilities.

  • Lead the in-vitro biophysical and biochemical characterization of homologous recombination and investigate structure-function effects of mutant enzymes.
  • Attend courses in drug discovery, python programming, and next-generation sequencing analyses.
  • Coordinate the validation of data aquisition algorithms (C++, python) for all real and simulate data.
  • Conduct custom synthesis of organic molecules, key intermediates and building blocks for medicinal chemistry applications.
  • Design PCL/PLCL drug delivery system for DC immunotherapy.
  • Succeed in using CRISPR to genetically correct diseas iPSCs.
  • Show more

Cancer researcher vs doctoral fellow skills

Common cancer researcher skills
  • Patients, 19%
  • Clinical Research, 9%
  • Clinical Trials, 8%
  • Data Collection, 6%
  • Patient Care, 5%
  • Informed Consent, 5%
Common doctoral fellow skills
  • Patients, 8%
  • Cell Culture, 6%
  • Data Analysis, 5%
  • Research Projects, 5%
  • Cell Biology, 5%
  • Immunology, 5%

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