Hi, thank you all for your replies. They are really very helpful. I'm sorry but I just had a few more questions after seeing them. I'm wondering in the case of industry work, pharmaceuticals for example, when they hire PhDs what do they be look for and pay attention to? Is it a strong publication record, or it's more the kind of projects a person has worked on? Also, in relation to this, does a post-doc help in such cases and do people in fact often go to post-docs to make themselves more attractive? On the other hand, what kind of qualifications would be important for getting an academic job? And what would be expected of a new faculty for him or her to get tenure at a research university, especially since there may be much collaborative work?
I'm really interested in biostatistics and the kind of work biostatisticians do. I am seriously considering getting a PhD in it. Meanwhile I thought it wouldn't hurt to know as much as possible about what it's like in advance. Thanks again, very much. dax urbszat Warren wrote: > D.U. > Here's my experience as a Biostatistician: > -Try to get in one of the top schools, especially if your intent is to > go into academia where your alma mater seems as important or more > important than your competence. > > -Some Biostatisticians become faculty, but I think an awful lot of > them end up in the pharmaceutical industry or working for government > agencies like the CDC or NIH. Many of the "academic" positions are > with NIH agencies. Some of the industry jobs have excellent pay and > benefits, probably better than many academic positions. Not a bad > life if you are a corporate type. > > -If you go into industry, you will have the option of going with a > consulting firm or working directly with one of the companies like > Lilly, Merck, etc. > My feeling is that getting a company position is "better" but I have > friends who have done the consulting thing and liked it...they were > young and could move easily. > > -I work in a University Medical Center. I've heard some say that you > are better off in a School of Public Health. I can't judge that. > > -We often do work with others on projects, but many Biostatisticians > are in leadership roles. You can usually choose who you will work > with and you will have time to pursue your own interests. In > academia, you usually have to teach a little, consult and do research. > I find it a pretty good balance. Now, if you see yourself as the > pure academician scholarly type, then go into something else. > > -Working on projects can generate ideas for research. I don't think > Biostats is as Ivory Tower as, say, pure math but there are tons and > tons of problems still left to do. And you need a diverse background > with some linear models, generalized linear models, categorical > analysis, nonparametrics, survival analysis, study design, sample and > power calculations, sampling, etc. > > -Epidemiology is also a good field but there are lots of differences > between Epi and Biostats. > > -A good introductory Anatomy and Physiology course should go a long > way. And you might want to take a course in Genetics since there are > tons of new problems with analyzing that type of data. You get a > chance to get up close and personal with some of the medical types if > you consult and they love to talk about their research too. Most are > glad to explain things to you and you learn a lot. I use this as a > guage to separate the ones who will have a good project versus those > that won't...if they are willing to sit and talk with me for a while, > they are serious about what they are doing. If they send in one of > their "underlings" then I usually don't put as much effort into the > thing because they aren't that serious. > > -I have had a chance to work with various researchers in Psychiatry. > One of those papers got a fair amount of publicity and I had fun doing > the analysis. The study was looking at a link between depression and > smoking...their theory, although not proven, is that smokers may be > self-medicating and feeding the dopamine and other "feel good" > receptors. It was a rewarding experience. > > Go for it! > Warren May > University of Mississippi Medical Center > > "D.U." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message >news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>... > > Hi, I am wondering whether you have any suggestions or comments about > > going for a PhD in biostatistics? What would the job prospect be for a > > PhD in biostats in 2-5 years? Is it true that most of these go to > > faculty positions? Is it a concern that often biostatistics faculty need > > to work on other people's projects? How does an epidemiology degree > > compare to a biostatistcs degree? Is a certain amount of knowledge of > > biology etc. highly beneficial? How about research related to mental > > health? Any help would be greatly appreciated! > > > > D.U. . . ================================================================= Instructions for joining and leaving this list, remarks about the problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES, and archives are available at: . http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ . =================================================================
