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Science and Research | Medical Research Scientist

Medical Research Scientist

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Medical Research Scientist conducts research with the goal of understanding diseases and improving human health. May study biology and causes of health problems, assess effectiveness of treatments or develop new pharmaceutical products. May direct clinical trials to gather data..

Job Outlook

There were 189 Medical Research Scientist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 7139 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Medical Scientist industry, which includes the Medical Research Scientist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Medical Research Scientist jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $181,757.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $154,633.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Medical Research Scientist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $109,723.

Education and Experience

Posted Medical Research Scientist jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree0%
Bachelor's Degree11.77%
Master's Degree9.47%
Doctoral Degree22.64%
Other4.01%

Posted Medical Research Scientist jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years42.11%
3 to 5 years39.8%
6 to 8 years12.04%
9+ years6.05%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Medical Research Scientist positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

  • Research (29.67%)
  • Communication (12.79%)
  • Teaching (11.74%)
  • Management (10.46%)
  • Leadership (9.03%)
  • Writing (6.89%)
  • Operations (6.57%)
  • Presentations (6.12%)
  • Innovation (5.58%)
  • Interpersonal Communications (5.01%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

  • Clinical Research (9.26%)
  • Diabetes Mellitus (24.47%)
  • Endocrinology (80.61%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

  • Biomarkers (2.49%)
  • Workflow Management (2.02%)
  • Biotechnology (2.14%)
  • Pediatrics (11.77%)
  • Molecular Biology (4.88%)
  • Quality Improvement (2.65%)
  • Cell Biology (4.66%)
  • Biochemical Assays (5.93%)
  • Clinical Practices (2.33%)
  • Biochemistry (3%)
  • Metabolism (7.09%)
  • Immunology (4.81%)
  • Clinical Trials (6.86%)
  • Flow Cytometry (4.24%)
  • Cell Cultures (4.27%)
  • Biology (7.66%)
  • R (Programming Language) (1.18%)
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent (ELISA) Assay (2.61%)
  • Data Analysis (4.75%)
  • Internal Medicine (7.25%)
  • Oncology (8.78%)
  • Nursing (4.85%)
  • Western Blot (2.16%)
  • Research Experiences (2.67%)
  • Pharmaceuticals (3.96%)
  • Surgery (4.35%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

  • Endocrine Diseases And Disorders (3.68%)
  • Thyroid (7.47%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

  • Endocrine Diseases And Disorders (4.57%)
  • Thyroid (9.26%)
  • Endocrinology (99.93%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Medical Research Scientist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

  • Endocrinologist
  • Endocrinology Physician
  • Pediatric Endocrinologist
  • Endocrinology Registered Nurse
  • Oncology Research Scientist
  • Reproductive Endocrinologist
  • Endocrinology Medical Assistant
  • Scientist
  • Endocrinology Diabetes Care Specialist
  • Medical Researcher

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Medical Research Scientist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

  • Archway Physician Recruitment (361)
  • CompHealth (175)
  • AMN Healthcare (135)
  • Enterprise Medical Recruiting (128)
  • Britt Medical Search (103)
  • University of California (77)
  • Weatherby Healthcare (77)
  • Jackson Physician Search (72)
  • Cedars-Sinai (67)
  • The Curare Group (63)

North Carolina

  • Archway Physician Recruitment (23)
  • Atrium Health Floyd (18)
  • Atrium Health (15)
  • Novant Health (14)
  • AMN Healthcare (13)
  • UNC Health (7)
  • University of North Carolina (6)
  • HCA Healthcare (5)
  • Wake Forest Baptist Health (5)
  • Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital (3)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!