Jobs / Science and research / 19-1042.00
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
Conduct research dealing with the understanding of human diseases and the improvement of human health. Engage in clinical investigation, research and development, or other related activities.
- US jobs
- 172,340
- Median wage
- $103,410 a year
- Job family
- Science and research
Can agents do the work of medical scientists, except epidemiologists?
We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Science and research:
- Task levelPartialThin evidence. CORE-Bench asks agents to reproduce the results of published papers in computer science, social science, and medicine from the authors' code and data. Princeton's HAL team declared it solved in December 2025: Claude Code with Claude Opus 4.5 scored 95.5% after manual regrading. No benchmark in our collection tests new experiments or lab work.
- Project levelNot yetThin evidence. On PaperBench, where agents replicate machine learning papers from scratch, the best official result is 26.0% (o1, April 2025). On a small subset, ML PhDs scored 41.4% against o1's 26.6%. No newer official results exist, and no benchmark tests research projects in other sciences.
Benchmarks for the job family
These cover work in science and research, not always this occupation's tasks.
- 95.5%Claude Code + Claude Opus 4.5 (after manual regrading) · 3 Dec 2025Solved
Typical tasks
From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.
- Follow strict safety procedures when handling toxic materials to avoid contamination.
- Evaluate effects of drugs, gases, pesticides, parasites, and microorganisms at various levels.
- Plan and direct studies to investigate human or animal disease, preventive methods, and treatments for disease.
- Prepare and analyze organ, tissue, and cell samples to identify toxicity, bacteria, or microorganisms or to study cell structure.
- Conduct research to develop methodologies, instrumentation, and procedures for medical application, analyzing data and presenting findings to the scientific audience and general public.
- Teach principles of medicine and medical and laboratory procedures to physicians, residents, students, and technicians.
- Write and publish articles in scientific journals.
- Write applications for research grants.
- Standardize drug dosages, methods of immunization, and procedures for manufacture of drugs and medicinal compounds.
- Study animal and human health and physiological processes.
- Investigate cause, progress, life cycle, or mode of transmission of diseases or parasites.
- Use equipment such as atomic absorption spectrometers, electron microscopes, flow cytometers, or chromatography systems.
Other job titles for this occupation (40)
Clinical Laboratory Scientist (Clinical Lab Scientist) · Clinical Pharmacologist · Clinical Research Scientist · Medical Researcher · Physician Scientist · Research Scientist · Researcher · Scientist · Study Director · Toxicologist · Anatomist · Cancer Researcher · Chemotherapist · Clinical Analyst · Clinical Research Analyst · Clinical Research Specialist · Clinical Researcher · Clinical Scientist · Cytologist · Endocrinologist · Gerontologist · Histologist · Histopathologist · Immunochemist · Laboratory Scientist (Lab Scientist) · Medical Health Researcher · Medical Laboratory Scientist (Medical Lab Scientist) · Medical Physicist · Medical Research Scientist · Medical Science Liaison (MSL) · Medical Scientist · Neurophysiologist · Neuroscientist · Oncology Medical Science Liaison (Oncology MSL) · Parasitologist · Pharmaceutical Botanist · Pharmacognosist · Pharmacologist · Research Specialist · Serologist