MSc or PhD in Biostatistics for industry?

[AtlasShrugged]

Hi everyone,

I am currently a master student of Bioinformatics, GPA 8.9/10.0. I come from an applied statistics background (psychonomics). Besides the basic elements of bioinformatics, the focus of my master has been on machine learning, algorithm's and biostatistics. After work experience in a biotech company, I have decided to move into the direction of biostatistics. I want to work at a pharmaceutical company/cro, conduct clinical trials and progress to a manager/director function. The level of mathematics/statistics I have obtained is not sufficient to confidently perform analyses in a clinical setting yet. I therefore have two options, earn a(nother) master in biostatistics, or do a phd. A phd would cost me four years, a master only one and a half. Taking into account my goals, what do you suggest? A phd will give me a more solid theoretical background, but I sometimes get the feeling a phd is not valued by industry. What is your guy's take on this?

Hope you can help!

Regards

Edited September 23, 2010 by AtlasShrugged

[statsguy]

Hi everyone,

I am currently a master student of Bioinformatics, GPA 8.9/10.0. I come from an applied statistics background (psychonomics). Besides the basic elements of bioinformatics, the focus of my master has been on machine learning, algorithm's and biostatistics. After work experience in a biotech company, I have decided to move into the direction of biostatistics. I want to work at a pharmaceutical company/cro, conduct clinical trials and progress to a manager/director function. The level of mathematics/statistics I have obtained is not sufficient to confidently perform analyses in a clinical setting yet. I therefore have two options, earn a(nother) master in biostatistics, or do a phd. A phd would cost me four years, a master only one and a half. Taking into account my goals, what do you suggest? A phd will give me a more solid theoretical background, but I sometimes get the feeling a phd is not valued by industry. What is your guy's take on this?

Hope you can help!

Regards

In the US, almost every good pharama biostatistics job requires and PhD in Statistics or Biostatistics. It is absolutely required for advancement to a management or supervisory position. There may be some jobs available with a Master's Degree, but there is a very low ceiling for those people in terms of salary and advancement in pharma-- you will likely be stuck as a SAS programmer and work under a PhD for most of your career.

[MaxwellH]

In the US, almost every good pharama biostatistics job requires and PhD in Statistics or Biostatistics. It is absolutely required for advancement to a management or supervisory position. There may be some jobs available with a Master's Degree, but there is a very low ceiling for those people in terms of salary and advancement in pharma-- you will likely be stuck as a SAS programmer and work under a PhD for most of your career.

First time creating an account to post here, though I’ve been lurking for a while.

I’ve been wondering about a similar question for a while now too; i.e. how necessary is it to have a PhD in Statistics/Biostatistics to advance your career in the private industry. From what I’ve gathered looking at job postings, on the surface there doesn’t seem to be many limits for those that only have a masters degree. A couple of example job listings below:

Senior Statistician - Amylin

Senior Manager, Statistics - Takeda Pharm.

Biostatistician - Genzyme

…these posting are commonly what I’ll see; a (bio)statistician job is open to people holding different levels of degrees, with more work experience required for people holding lower degrees.

Statsguy: From your experience would you say that even though someone with an M.S. in statistics could technically apply for these positions, the majority of the time the job would go to the candidate with the PhD?

I realize a definitive answer isn't really possible, and that sometimes there is a discrepancy between what a company will “list” as who can apply for a position, and who they will actually hire at the end of the day. Also, I’m not looking for any kind of analysis on the specific duties for the above job listings; they’re just example postings. I’ve seen a number of postings (for the pharmaceutical industry and others) where they say they are only accepting PhD candidates a listed position. I’m curious about the situation where a job posting says it’s open to both M.S. and PhD candidates…and rather the M.S. candidates are just being shown a carrot on a string.

[statsguy]

First time creating an account to post here, though I’ve been lurking for a while.

I’ve been wondering about a similar question for a while now too; i.e. how necessary is it to have a PhD in Statistics/Biostatistics to advance your career in the private industry. Depends in what industry. Big pharma = absolutely required. Finance/actuarial work/insurance etc.... = not required. From what I’ve gathered looking at job postings, on the surface there doesn’t seem to be many limits for those that only have a masters degree. A couple of example job listings below:

Senior Statistician - Amylin

Senior Manager, Statistics - Takeda Pharm.

Biostatistician - Genzyme

…these posting are commonly what I’ll see; a (bio)statistician job is open to people holding different levels of degrees, with more work experience required for people holding lower degrees.

Statsguy: From your experience would you say that even though someone with an M.S. in statistics could technically apply for these positions, the majority of the time the job would go to the candidate with the PhD?

The job will go to the PhD. A friend of mine works at one of the big pharma companies (he has an MS in Statistics) and has seen PhDs with no experience or internships get hired and promoted over experienced MS candidates. His salary is pretty good (I think it was 60-70k) but he has practically no potential for moving into management or into a supervisory position and he may not see six figures for a long time. PhDs start close to six figures (85-95k/yr) and jump up pretty quickly. He is thinking about either going back to getting an MBA or maybe moving into a field like finance, where there is more room for growth with an MS in Statistics.

I realize a definitive answer isn't really possible, and that sometimes there is a discrepancy between what a company will “list” as who can apply for a position, and who they will actually hire at the end of the day. Also, I’m not looking for any kind of analysis on the specific duties for the above job listings; they’re just example postings. I’ve seen a number of postings (for the pharmaceutical industry and others) where they say they are only accepting PhD candidates a listed position. I’m curious about the situation where a job posting says it’s open to both M.S. and PhD candidates…and rather the M.S. candidates are just being shown a carrot on a string. It depends. Sometimes a company just wants a SAS programmer with an MS so they don't have to pay him as much. These jobs will emphasize the fact that only an MS is required. Sometimes they want a PhD who is an expert in some subfield (ie longitudinal data analysis) and is familiar with the FDA approval process. From what my friend said, lots of those postings (which accept both MS and PhD applicants) are more of a general call for applications. The applications they receive help form their hiring decisions. Sometimes they may loosely intend on hiring 3 MS and 2 PhD Statisticians and receive applications from 4 excellent candidates who are native English speakers -- there is a good chance 3 of 4 or even all 4 of the PhDs will be hired and no MS applicants will be hired. On the other hand, they may not get great PhD applicants (those who went to unknown schools, don't have US citizenship, speak terrible English etc...) and may just hire 3 MS applicants. It's REALLY hard to say ---- but they general rule is the PhD trumps in Pharma. Applications are very unpredictable -- that's why the pharma job postings are purposefully vague and frequent.

Edited October 6, 2010 by statsguy

[AtlasShrugged]

Thanks a lot for the information!

Do you know if statistician salaries between Big Pharma and Finance employers vary a lot? I live in a country with little pharmaceutical industry, and see many finance jobs with excellent salary and career development prospects, but very little pharma jobs. And if there are pharma jobs, the salary isn't competitive with finance, nor are the career development prospects. Is this a trend? Or country specific.

[Sudheshna]

There is a Job Opening For Biostatistician in New Haven, CT.we are looking for people with good lab techniques and zeal to deliver their talent.You can upload your resume at makroscientific.com.

You can contact me at sudheshnasowrab@yahoo.com for any concerns and clarifications.

Good Day..

[irishstatsnerd]

On 2010-10-1 at 5:13 PM, statsguy said:

 

In the US, almost every good pharama biostatistics job requires and PhD in Statistics or Biostatistics. It is absolutely required for advancement to a management or supervisory position. There may be some jobs available with a Master's Degree, but there is a very low ceiling for those people in terms of salary and advancement in pharma-- you will likely be stuck as a SAS programmer and work under a PhD for most of your career.

Hi statsguy,

I realise this is quite an old post but by any chance could you tell me if you still stand by your opinion about needing a PhD for long term progression in Biostatistics?

I'm just finishing my M.Sc in Biostatistics and have 3 years experience in statistical consulting... I'm torn as to whether I should knuckle down for a PhD in Biostatistics or pursue industry positions.

Cheers!