BA/BS or PhD for life science consulting?
Hello all I am an international student interested in management and life science consulting. Was wondering what kind of PhD degrees are sought after, especially for the latter group. Haven’t seen a lot of info on this nor do I know anyone so I was hoping someone could shed some light.
Currently I have a life-sci related major (probably) that would qualify me for STEM OPT. Was wondering how recruiting and sponsorship would work for either a Bachelors candidate or a PhD candidate. Just considering a PhD as a next step in life/further pursuing an interest kind of thing, not absolutely set on it yet. Mostly worried about recruiting as an undergrad first. What’s your typical workscope like? What kind of specializations are needed? How different is it from Management Consulting (like are you specifically advising HC firms or are you diving into the nitty-gitty of the science) If anyone could share their experiences that would be great TIA x
Bump
Bachelors is fine for entry-level roles. PhDs come in at the 2nd or 3rd level. Don't waste time doing a PhD, just grind your way up with a Bachelors.
Yeah that makes sense - I was just wondering purely from an interest standpoint (I’m a Neuro/Psych/CogSci major and kind of want to learn more and do something that’s 1/2 business 1/2 brain or go into Clinical Psych) so I wanted to explore my options if I do get a PhD. Would be nice to have an exit planned for finance/take a break from work haha but have absolutely no clue what I want to do with my life atm
Ofc there would be issues with sponsorship for clinical settings too (still need to look into that) but I just wanted to explore all my options
I was also a cog neuro/psych undergrad and wanted something half business, half brain. I went the organizational psych and behavioural economics route, which unfortunately I didn't know anything about in undergrad.
It applies cognitive/social/neuro/human factors and other areas to business-related topics in the people and organization world. There's also UX research and behavioural economics/insights/design, which tends to focus on the customer side of things. A PhD isn't necessary for either of those, but there are options with one.
It's usually a way longer path to go PhD -> industry than non-PhD -> industry, so you need to make sure your motivations and expectations are lined up for that first route.
There are some specific sub sections of life sciences consulting where you are pretty much required to have an MD or PhD (or both) if you want to get far. But there are others where you can get by fine with just a BS/MS in a relevant field.
don’t really have the pre-requisites or desire for an MD so I don’t think I could ever go there haha - but by “going far” did you mean making partner? What specific areas are those? Would it be like healthcare-specific rather than biotech?
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