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

What is a medical researcher and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Neal Palmer Ph.D.

The average medical researcher salary is $61,177. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an biology major. It usually takes 2-4 years of experience to become a medical researcher. Medical researchers with a Medical Assistant certification earn more money. 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 researcher?

Dr. Neal Palmer Ph.D.

Chair, Associate Professor, Christian Brothers University

I think the pandemic will affect history graduates in many of the same ways it will affect graduates in any major. I hope they will be struck, hopefully, humbled by the power of the natural environment to dictate the terms on which humanity can function. I also hope that it teaches the importance of group cohesion and cooperation in confronting problems. If this happens, I think it could have long-range effects on the personal and political behavior of these graduates as they confront future environmental and social challenges. If you are asking about the more mundane question of jobs, I think history majors should fair well in the post-pandemic world. History majors leave college with communication and thinking skills that will help them adapt and succeed in a fast-changing and unpredictable world.

ScoreMedical ResearcherUS Average

Salary

4.8

Avg. Salary $61,177

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 26.31%

Black or African American 6.45%

Hispanic or Latino 9.71%

Unknown 4.13%

White 53.25%

Gender

female 57.40%

male 42.60%

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 researcher

Explore medical researcher education requirements

Most common medical researcher degrees

Bachelor's

55.6 %

Master's

12.7 %

Doctorate

9.5 %

Start to develop specific medical researcher skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	13.56%
Statistical Analysis	10.52%
Vital Signs	9.65%
Laboratory Practices	8.23%
Clinical Research Studies	7.52%

Complete relevant medical researcher training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical researchers 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 researcher based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical researcher resumes.

Research medical researcher duties and responsibilities

Create Linux shell scripts to automate common process which severely reduce manual work load and processing time for the entire lab.
Experience in quantifying RNA and protein (BCA method) as well as synthesizing complementary DNA from RNA.
Extract RNA and protein using TRIzol reagent.
Compose PowerPoint presentation providing in-depth explanation for lack of preliminary results, as well as proposed process resolution.

Get medical researcher experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a medical researcher. The most common roles before becoming a medical researcher include research assistant, internship team lead and volunteer.

Prepare your medical researcher resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your medical researcher 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 researcher 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 researcher resume templates

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