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Thoughts on a career change to Pharmacology?

A few years ago I started a Computer Science degree and I am now doing my 3rd year level modules towards this degree while I am working full time doing an IT role and earning a little over £20k in the North West of England.

However I feel that I have lost my passion in my current role and I find myself spending much more time reading pharmacology and medical journals about new therapeutic compounds, especially in the area of neuro and psychopharmacology. I've read through the entire book of Rang and Dales pharmacology and I can probably list off the top of my head about 500 drugs and describe their pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics.

I know I don't want to do medicine or pharmacy as being a healthcare professional and working on the front line and dealing with patients doesn't appeal to me very much. The idea of contributing to the research of new therapeutic compounds interests me very much in contrast. I prefer technical and analytic work.

I'm 28 so despite having A levels and a few uni modules in biology, they wouldn't be considered as they're over 3 years old and I wouldn't be allowed to do a foundation year so I'd have to do an access to higher education course including chemistry and biology to gain entry to a university.

My main question is, how realistic is the prospect of changing careers to pharmacology at my age? I realise that after doing a part time access course, I'd have to spend something like 6 more years at uni to get a PhD to enable me to work effectively in the field. It would be a lot of debt and a big change in lifestyle for me, would I even be able to get funding for it? Are there any career prospects? I'd appreciate any advice and input from fellow students and graduates. Is this just a pipe dream?

Regards

Reply 1

randombiochemist

If you're interested in the computational side of pharmaceutical research, e.g. simulation studies of drug properties and ligand-protein interactions or screening of bioactive compounds, then having a Computer Science degree could well be an advantage, particularly as you seem to already have a fairly solid background in pharmacology through independent reading/studying.

Have you considered DTC (doctoral training centre) programmes perhaps, e.g. in Systems Biology / Interdisciplinary Bioscience? They're fully funded 4-year PhDs that take students from different maths/science backgrounds and provide training in the 1st year (with an emphasis on complementing your previous degree, so a biologist would learn to code and a computer scientist would learn biochemistry and pharmacology, for example). You could then choose to do a pharmacology-related project for your PhD thesis, which could then naturally lead to, e.g. an R&D job in a Pharma company?

Reply 2

LingoHorse

I didn't know about those courses, sounds very interesting if I could be using both computing and pharmacology skills.

Reply 3

macpatgh-Sheldon

I was in a similar situation to yours as far as age is concerned - I did 3 years of a medical degree, then after some changes in my life, changed over to BSc in pharmacology which I completed in 2 years instead of 3 based on my medical knowledge, Therefore, I was nearly a similar age to yours at the end of my pharmacology degree.

I worked for a few years in the pharma industry (I have a profound interest in the subject) then did a conversion MSc in computer science, so in a way, the other way round from what you are planning. I think if you are determined to do whatever you set out to do, nothing can stop you, least of all age.

I do some teaching and lecturing now, mostly self-employed, and am working on a software package to do with primary health care - I don't think my software will come close to competing with Bill :smile:

, but it will hopefully pay the bills. I have also had a couple of books published and write several articles for journals.

If you are interested in the development of new drugs, you will need to like lab work, which is where the starting point would be, then you can move vertically or laterally. I started off as a medical rep, as I don;t like lab work!

M