Is there any qualified Biomedical scientist/ trainee/ student here?? I need some help.

What's d problem? Maybe i can b of help. I'm a trainee though.

I am a qualified Biomedical Scientist (though I don't practice) what is the issue?

@ ELL77

I was just wondering about other related fields/areas where biomedical scientist can work beside hospitals and pharmceutical companies. Ichose the course cos I thought it was flexible and can be integrated into other scientific area but my opinion is begining to change on that.

@ Chynenye

Did you do Genetics and molecular biology as part of your module?
I've got no idea what dat is all about, dont understand it at alllllll.

Yes you can work in hospitals or pharmaceutical companies. You can work in the lab or as a marketer selling pharmaceutical and health care products including artificial limbs! (ok, I know that last bit is not a selling point but hey!)

You can work for firms who need specialist health care knowledge and combine it with another field.For example here they often need life science graduates for financial services companies to help them when analysing healthcare companies.

You can be a medical writer.

There are a variety of things you can do here in UK, not certain if the field is as well acknowledged in Nigeria, but you can carve your own path (maybe even your own business?).

You can specialise in microbiology and various other fields or be a generalist.

You can further your studies and convert to something like environmental science and work for environment consultancies (who also help oil companies - maybe even get recruited by oil company). Or a toxicologist which is similar but more to do with hazards.

You can be a forensic scientist with further education (do you watch CSI?).

Also there are the jobs that take any field like banking etc.

You can teach!

But what is your career aim?

wowww, thanks. that was really informative. I wanted to work in a hospital before but i dont think i'll like it anymore. The labs all look depressing. Got a work experience this summer though and i'm just hoping it will be ok. I havent decided on my career path yet because I want to know all of my options first and see if I can actually carry on with the course, I'm just in my first yr but the course seem a bit difficult than expected.

Yes the course is very difficult. Try and keep focused and don't allow for any distractions.

I will be honest with you, outside of hospitals, most people will struggle to understand the course so you need to do well in it to succeed. In my uni people generally respected our course and said it was harder than medicine because we were expected to know everything the medics knew and also know what's cooking in the lab!

In the end i never practiced in the lab as I found it boring, but to each their own anyway, I still rate anyone who does the course.

Did you choose the course or it was the only choice you had? You seem very hesitant, sorry to pry, I just remember like 50% of my class wanted to do something else and many dropped out. But some who didn't like it at first on the other hand and carried on to the end now enjoy great salaries, it is quite strange how life plays itself out, I guess.

If you don't have any other option, why consider dropping out?

I chose the course myself actually and I was really excited when I started in september but I just find it a bit difficult than I expected. I dont think i can actually drop out of the course because I do love it. I was begining to think its career path is not as flexible as i thought , I chose the course for the flexibility and integration into other field.

Thanks for the information/advise. I think i just need to put in more work now.

Did you ever work in a labthough? i knw they are boring, I've visited some, I just want to know what its like.


Did you do molecular biology as part of your module?
Its like arabic to me, I've got no idea what the module is all about.

Yea, i really agree its a very tough course esp d genetics nd molecular biology part. Majority of my classmates used to complain abt it nd i must say i was not an exception. I think its actually d fault of d lecturers cos they make students believe its a hard nut to crack but its not so. Genetics is quite easier to understand. Molecular biology requires a lot of studying nd u will discover its quite interesting. Try to go beyond ur notes, u can use various texts. Nester's microbiology is quite simplified. I must say dat d best part of d profession in Nigeria is lab practice esp private. But u must luv d profession to excel. I urge u to dev a special likeness for it esp while u r at ur summer job. Its a lovely profession.

1honeybee:

I chose the course myself actually and I was really excited when I started in september but I just find it a bit difficult than I expected. I dont think i can actually drop out of the course because I do love it. I was begining to think its career path is not as flexible as i thought , I chose the course for the flexibility and integration into other field.

Thanks for the information/advise. I think i just need to put in more work now.

Did you ever work in a labthough? i knw they are boring, I've visited some, I just want to know what its like.


Did you do molecular biology as part of your module?
Its like arabic to me, I've got no idea what the module is all about.

Yes molecular biology is very difficult to begin with, but once you understand it everything clicks in terms of understanding the theory. I hated it at first but then ended up enjoying it later. My lab speciality in my final year was even human genetics, working with PCR was sooo difficult and I had to understand molecular biology to get a handle of it, but I got to meet the patients I was testing the blood samples for and interview them about their genetic disorder (haemochromatosis) so it was still very interesting.

The variety of biomedical science was something I loved though. I also liked neuroscience and immunology which I specialised in, with my final year choices. I didn't fancy histology much - I could not really recognise what i saw in the microscope and the lectures bored me.

Yes, the lab can be a bit boring. It can be a series of monotonous movements all day long, but these can be punctuated by moments of "eureka" and "thank God it actually went according to plan!".

Depending on what you like this may be perfect for you and it also depends on who is in your lab and if you have a real interest in what you are doing. What always made things interesting for me was context, when you know the person behind the blood sample (or other sample) and understand the importance and relevance - maybe even met the person it makes things worthwhile.

After my degree I never worked in the lab in the UK until i came to Nigeria to do NYSC and I was posted to NAFDAC! Funnily enough I was even working in the food lab - far different to what I studied but I learned as I went along!

Explore the profession more and plan ahead as to which path you would like. It really can be a great profession if you give it a chance (just like honeybee said develop a special likeness in an area) - my purpose in life has led me elsewhere but i don't regret doing the course for one day - very interesting and it developed me as a person. When it comes to maths, biology, physics, computing, teamwork, individual work, English; I usually excel - and can give a lot of this credit to this course.

Good luck!

@Ell77
@Chynenye

thanks for your encouragement and advise. I really appreciate it.

Don't mention it.