Biostatistician

If you’re the player at the Friday night poker games who knows how many aces have been played, and what the chances are of drawing another one, you might want to consider a job as a Biostatistician. Not because it will help your poker game, but because it is a job based on the knowledge of statistics. The “bio” portion of the title refers to biology, so as a Biostatistician, you use statistics to interpret biological results.

A Biostatistician is the person who comes up with the facts and figures we hear on the news, read on packaging, and learn in school. For example, “Seventy percent of patients saw reduced tartar buildup with product A,” “Forty percent of college students admit to having unprotected sex,” and “A majority of walkers increased weight loss by resting both hands on their head as they moved.” Findings like this help us receive better medical treatments, lower risk medications, and result in programs that educate about dangers.

You might work for a pharmaceutical company, evaluating clinical trial results, or at a hospital, consolidating data for medical staff. Your research, often done through work at a lab or university research center, is very important to the field. Insurance companies hire you to formulate statistical conclusions about patients. They then use that information to evaluate coverage plans and fees. You might even work at a community outreach or other public health agency, analyzing the community’s needs for specific treatments and services.