Degree to get involved in cancer research (1 Viewer)

[someth1ng]

Hey guys,

I've always wanted to do something related to Science and in particular, research. It then came to my attention that a lot of people were affected in some way and I wanted to know what degree is needed to have a career in cancer research.

I was thinking of BSc (Advanced) but was unsure of what I needed to major in.

Help appreciated

 

[MetalTheory]

B Medical Science is the degree you should try if you're interested in cancer research. I know a friend of mine who's going to use the degree to get into general medical research, so cancer research should fall under that. You only need an ATAR of 92 for high-end universities like Sydney and UNSW, and you'll need a PhD in it to get into research.

As for majors, I'm sketchy on that. My guess is that a major in either physiology, biochemistry/molecular biology, cell pathology or immunobiology should be acceptable for the field, but I need someone to correct me on that.

 

[Obvious]

B Medical Science or BSc (Advanced) are both equally valid options IMO. Don't stress too much over your undergrad degree, as long as your major is related to human biology it should not matter too much. As MetalTheory said, physiology/biochemistry/molecular biology/cell pathology and immunobiology are all acceptable.

If you're not already aware of this, Sydney/UNSW/ANU all offer programs that allow you to undertake research in your undergrad years (iirc they are all 99+). This is an extremely valuable opportunity to develop your research skills and get your name on a few papers. It should also make it significantly easier to get into a PhD program at a good school.

It then came to my attention that a lot of people were affected in some way

If you want to research something that's interesting and has the potential to positively influence the whole world, take a look at this - http://sens.org/sens-research and this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iYpxRXlboQ (don't get put off by the beard, the guy's brilliant).

"Of the roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two thirds—100,000 per day—die of age-related causes. In industrialized nations, the proportion is much higher, reaching 90%." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortality_rate)

 

[someth1ng]

Okay, thank you (both of you) for your help - it's a lot clearer to me now. I'll probably major in Biochemistry and Cell Pathology, of course, if I can get to BSc (Advanced).