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Neuroscientist

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High School

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Because there are many different positions within the field of neuroscience, what education is needed varies greatly.

A PhD is often necessary to become a neuroscientist. A medical degree is required for clinical work in the field.

"This is the type of career that you have to plan for and work at for a long time," says David Mintz. Mintz is an assistant professor of anesthesiology and an attending physician. "I spent eight years getting the combined MD/PhD, and another year as a medical intern, three more years as a resident, and another year as fellow. It's a lot."

But you don't have to wait until you've completed all that education to learn about neuroscience, says Mintz. In fact, starting now can help you in the long run.

"A lot of people as early as high school have done some research. I actually employ high schoolers in my lab from time to time. A lot of people have had some experience in medicine, volunteering in a hospital, something like that. They let you know if it's the right thing for you to do."

In order to get a PhD, students need a four-year bachelor's degree and usually a master's degree first. The bachelor's degree doesn't have to be specifically in neuroscience.

"It's pretty variable," says Mintz. "To ultimately do a PhD and become a researcher in the field, usually, you get a four-year undergraduate degree first, but the field itself doesn't matter all that much... although most people do something in the sciences, and a certain number of people study neuroscience from the beginning, but a lot of my classmates in graduate school studied other fields in biology. A number had studied engineering or mathematics or chemistry, some even in the humanities. But they had all done course work to get them to a certain point."

Deanna Benson is a professor of neuroscience at a school of medicine in New York. She agrees that the best education for neuroscience depends on the position.

"There are bench science jobs that can be had with an undergraduate degree in the sciences," she says. "But currently, these jobs often have few opportunities for advancement. There are some careers away from the bench that can be had with an undergraduate degree, but not many.

"Most neuroscientists in all fields have PhDs as well as postdoctoral training in a second research lab, and most jobs employing neuroscientists ask for this kind of training."