I want to be a clinical scientist. What qualifications do I need?
Clinical scientists take a degree in a subject such as biochemistry and often go on to do a PhD. You usually then undertake a three-year paid programme of basic training, followed by four to five years of specialist training.
Clinical scientists work alongside pathologists and provide scientific leadership in laboratories. Clinical Scientists can work at consultant level, running laboratories in specialties such as virology and clinical chemistry. It takes at least 10 years to become a fully-fledged clinical scientist, and often longer than that.
