Julie Phillippi presented biomedical research as a career to a room full of students on Wednesday, Nov. 20. It was a part of the “Career Spotlight” program.
Dr. Phillippi is a faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine and an Assistant Professor of Cardiothoracic.
She’s well educated with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and a minor in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Penn State. Her Ph.D. is in Biological Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University.
Those considering a career path with biomedical research would follow a similar education path as Dr. Phillippi.
It is typical for those intending on entering this field to get a Bachelor of Science and a Ph.D., which would be more specified to the field that is most interesting to the student. Although a Ph.D. is not required to receive a job in this field, it is recommended.
With only a Bachelor’s degree, the job opportunities of Lab Manager and Research Assistant are available. However, with a Ph.D., in addition to jobs that are available with a Bachelor’s degree, one can also become a Principal Investigator. Principal Investigators, or PIs, are independent researchers who run their own research programs.
One of the traits that is necessary to enter the field of biomedical research is curiosity. One must always ask “Why?” or “How?” when in this field. Other traits include an interest in heath medicine, but not an interest to become a doctor.
The salaries of biomedical researchers vary greatly. A typical starting salary of a lecturer is around $29,336. From lecturer, one can advance eventually to a professor, who makes around $120,520 a year. This transition takes about twenty years from the start of college.
Most of the time of a biomedical researcher is spent writing and designing experiments. The remaining time is spent doing research or experiments or reading academic journals.
The field of biomedical research is currently very competitive. This is due to the lack of funding that is able to be obtained from the federal government for research and experiments.
In addition, stresses such as pressure to publish, balancing work with home life, and getting and keeping funding swamp this field.
Despite the stresses and competition, biomedical research provides many great opportunities. These opportunities include expressing creativity and meeting people in different medical fields.
Overall, Dr. Phillippi stressed the importance in choosing the right career path.
“You want to find a passion that gets you out of bed in the morning,” Dr. Phillippi said. Biomedical research may be that passion for you.
