Biomedicine: future jobs??

Originally Posted by JaeShaan

I think because they have more practical (relevant) skills in what they learn i.e. better qualifications that employers prefer.

true unless youre looking at more researchy side of things e.g. PhD --> postdoc --> lab head in which case MedSci/BioMedSci would actually be the ideal course

Originally Posted by JaeShaan

I think because they have more practical (relevant) skills in what they learn i.e. better qualifications that employers prefer.

Errr... what the hell?

So very many jobs (and emigration to several countries) require a Bachelor's minimum; TAFE seldom offer Bachelor's.

LOL; perhaps it's the target pool of jobs that's the causation of any issue here.

I'm going into second year Biomed feeling really uneasy about whether this is something I should continue. I've always hated the thought of research as a career, didn't want to do med either, but basically did this because nothing else in Uni appealed to me career wise. Now I'm worried I am going to be stuck doing something I hate, or even worse, struggle to find a job.


Any graduates want to enlighten me on what kind of jobs you have gotten/heard of graduates getting? I plan to do honors hopefully, and masters but NOT a phd.
I can't stand the thought of doing a phd, because it's simply not something I am passionate about.

Thanks, feel like I'm wasting my ''intelligence'' on a degree that will get me nowhere in life ):

Originally Posted by stuckinpause

Any graduates want to enlighten me on what kind of jobs you have gotten/heard of graduates getting? I plan to do honors hopefully, and masters but NOT a phd.
I can't stand the thought of doing a phd, because it's simply not something I am passionate about.

Thanks, feel like I'm wasting my ''intelligence'' on a degree that will get me nowhere in life ):

Have you actually done a research? Maybe a summer scholarship? My mate is starting a PhD this year and he says research is different to what you expect and my actually like it. If you leave biomed with hons and masters you may or maynot struggle finding jobs but a Lab tutor of mine actually recommended that do masters and go into the workforce, this way apparantly there was plenty of flexibitlty.

Simple biomed graduate jobs Iv heard is respiratory technition and lab technician. Well your still very young and when I was in your position I didnt know anywhere nearly as much I thought about professional courses so really try and shadow and doctor,pharmacist,dentist, physio,optom etc. Have an open mind to everything and give yourself a fresh start including research.

You havent wasted your life even if you complete this degree little one, same thought I was under but actually it opens so many doors you have no idea! There are so many options think out of the box. You dont have to do a masters in epithelial physiology or human anatomy. There are so many other long distance masters that have solid jobs out there just go on random uni wesites and flick thru the list of masters. I almost gave up chasing dentistry because I was angry at myself for not looking up random masters degrees that are likely to interest me, the variety is mind boggling. Also you can change subject after your bachelors. MY hsc teacher did microbiology major and did her masters in criminal psychology DO NOT BE confined to the biomedical departments there are many other departments out there willing to take you psych, commerce so many.

The course has very few job prospects outside of research. However a small number of graduates go into journalism (I know, I know, a bit weird?) - medical journalism, etc. So that's a different job prospect if you have good written communication skills. I'm not sure if you need to complete a B Arts in Media/Communications to get those kinds of jobs though.

However, for all those hoping to do grad medicine/dentistry/other health courses, the biomed degree (I hate this name...used to lure 'smarter' students in, but if they were so smart they'd probably know it's the same thing as med science...) really sets you up for section 3 of the GAMSAT, so that's an upside. However, the difficulty in maintaining that high GPA needed is probably an issue. You'd be disadvantaged agaisnt those people who studied a B Arts with easy majors or any easy uni course just to get good marks for graduate entry, but you'd be more likely to beat them in section 3 of the GAMSAT.

That being said, I'm fairly sure that e.g. University of Melbourne doesn't even look at Section 3 scores for selecting applicants for the MD. However, I believe they do only accept Med Science graduates into the MD as is, and so testing biomed knowledge would be pointless (since all the applicants have high GPAs, they know their stuff obviously).

If you want to do Medical Science because you like the science rather than the clinical side of life, then I'm sure you'd love the research jobs, provided you find yourself one. However, if you're applying for graduate courses later, probably choose an easier degree, and something you'd be satisfied with if you were not to get into your graduate course - and then cram some biomed before sitting the GAMSAT (It's possible, a lot of Arts + Business graduates get into Medicine and Dentistry + others).

I had this same dillema. If I didn't get into undergrad med I was tossing up between Med Science or Economics, since I was more interested in the latter and could see myself working in the field (in medical research on the other side, not so much). Do what makes you happy I guess.

I think you're right, Biomedicine is useful for pretty much two things- one, research, and two, leading to either Medicine or some other health course.

The main ones I've heard are research, education, patent attorney, working for a biotech/pharm company but for most of these you'll need to do further education (PhD, MEd, MSc or something).

research, lab work, education