Medicine is a fun but stern taskmaster - I work 11 hours per day, sometimes 80 hours per week. The patients come first. Each of the physicians who gave presentations during this course reported work schedules similar to this - 60 to 80 hours per week. Research, academic, or applied medicine Dr. Thomas Pickering, M.D., of the Hypertension Center at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center described the activities involved in clinical research. Some examples he cited include observational studies, chart reviews, laboratory studies, randomized control trials, and drug studies.
Clinical research takes a long time, often years, and usually involves a team.
You won't get rich, you have little job security, you have to be a workaholic, and your results may be negative after years of research. Dr. Pickering stated that the qualities needed include a passion for the field, an ability to focus in one area, and persistence. The issue of job security is related to the ability of drawing sources of funding. Dr. David Sax, MD, Senior Director of Cardiovascular Clinical Research at Merck Pharmaceuticals described his frustrations at being unable to fulfill his research goals as an academic cardiologist. For that reason, he decided to go to Merck, where he is actively involved in the testing and evaluation of new drugs.