How To Become A Medical Research Scientist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a medical research scientist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Josh Kaplan Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a medical research scientist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $37.56 an hour? That's $78,125 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 17% and produce 20,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a medical research scientist?

Josh Kaplan Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Western Washington University

Being able to work with various computer coding languages and implementing free, open-source software, will be increasingly valuable in a work setting that involves research, data analysis, or program optimization. Many workplaces used to rely on expensive software, but can now be replaced by open source programs and used by those who are comfortable with common computer coding languages. This can save an employer loads of money without sacrificing performance outcomes or deliverables.

ScoreMedical Research ScientistUS Average

Salary

6.1

Avg. Salary $78,125

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.3

Growth rate 17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.15%

Asian 27.22%

Black or African American 6.28%

Hispanic or Latino 9.50%

Unknown 4.08%

White 52.77%

Gender

female 60.00%

male 40.00%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

6.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a medical research scientist

Explore medical research scientist education requirements

Most common medical research scientist degrees

Bachelor's

51.0 %

Doctorate

22.4 %

Master's

18.4 %

Start to develop specific medical research scientist skills

Skills	Percentages
PCR	20.61%
Research Findings	19.58%
GMP	16.88%
Genotyping	15.28%
Elisa	12.86%

Complete relevant medical research scientist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical research scientists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a medical research scientist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical research scientist resumes.

Research medical research scientist duties and responsibilities

Manage sample inventory via in-house laboratory information management system (LIMS) and implement additional systems for sample and chemical organization.
Experience working in a GMP regulate environment.
Experience with``firefight"responses and working with FDA.
Mouse colony maintenance are paramount, mouse genotyping, data organization.

Prepare your medical research scientist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your medical research scientist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a medical research scientist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable medical research scientist resume templates

Build a professional medical research scientist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your medical research scientist resume.