Pharmaceutical/Medical Research

Pharmaceutical research may be conducted in laboratories at universities or in pharmaceutical companies. Research may be of the more biological type (e.g., why different people respond differently to drugs) or may be of the R&D type (e.g., to develop new products, techniques, etc.).

With a Bachelor's degree, one can usually work at the research associate or assistant level. The degree does not have to be in pharmacy – it may be in chemistry, nursing, pharmacology, immunology, etc. Actual researchers (with employment titles such as researcher or scientist) require Master's or PhD degrees.

People in pharmaceutical research must be comfortable with scientific material, technology, technical equipment, and numbers (and associated tables and graphs). They must be highly analytical and detail-oriented and have strong written and verbal abilities.

Research associates assist researchers with data collection, management and analysis, clinical trials processes, preparing reports, and/or with the actual development/manufacturing of products.

Researchers are also usually responsible for developing, establishing, evaluating models and protocols, conducting research and testing, and evaluating, reporting, and presenting results.

The research environment is often high-pressure, as scientific competition can be intense. In research, one must accept that the work is ongoing and that discoveries may take a very long time to achieve (or at least to finally market).

For more information, read our articles En Route to Designer Drugs? and In Defense of Pharmaceutical Companies? and, for a humorous take on research, Acronyms. Also related are: If It Quacks Like a Duck …. and In Praise of Quackery?.

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