Medical Scientists
(Except Epidemiologists)

Top scored Future-proof High pay & lowrisk
Minimal Risk
Low High

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
8.3/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

12% (Minimal Risk)

Minimal Risk (0-20%): This occupation appears difficult to replace end-to-end with current or near-future automation, including AI software and robotics. Roles in this range usually depend on human judgement, creativity, care, leadership, specialist expertise, or adapting to messy real-world situations. AI and machines may still change parts of the work, but the occupation is likely to remain a distinct human role.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Thinking creatively

Very important
Why this matters
Coming up with original ideas and designs—creating new concepts, products, systems, or artistic work. This kind of open-ended invention and taste-based judgment is harder to automate end-to-end than routine, rule-based tasks.
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Decision-making and problem solving

Very important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
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Active learning

Very important
Why this matters
Keeps learning from new information and applying it to make better decisions now and in the future, especially when situations change.
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Social perceptiveness

Quite important
Why this matters
Noticing others’ emotions and reactions in the moment and adjusting what you say or do based on why they’re responding that way.
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Instructing

Quite important
Why this matters
Teaching or coaching others—explaining steps, giving feedback, and adapting to different learners so they can do the work safely and correctly.
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Show 1 more strength

Consulting and advising others

Quite important
Why this matters
Provide guidance and expert advice to managers or teams on technical, system, or process decisions—explaining options, tradeoffs, and recommended actions.
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What users think

Based on 332 votes

29% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 12% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

Very high paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists was $100,590 ($48 per hour).

The median annual wage for Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists was 103.2% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Very fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists' job openings is expected to rise 8.7% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 156,300 people employed as 'Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists' within the United States.

This represents around 0.10% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 986 people are employed as 'Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists'.

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What people are saying (7)

Leave a comment
Low
08 Nov 2025 00:42
Yeah, I don't think there is a high risk. Medical Scientist I believe requires a lot of critical thinking, which AI can't replicate like humans. I think for research, there is a need for creative thinking outside of the box. Something AI can't do yet.
MedicalRobot
13 May 2021 04:34
With new ai and sensors being created and developed. Robots can diagnose and prescribe medication/treatments. Most of medicine is remember things and find patterns and robots can do that as easy
Harman
25 Jan 2026 11:43
No. Medicine isn't just pattern recognition, it's finding causality. Plus, this is medical scientist not a physician job roles, here you need novel hypothesis generation, originality, which aren't strengths for AI either.
Swiss
29 Mar 2021 14:47
Robots don't understand pain, so yeah.
Unknown (Low)
04 Oct 2020 14:54
Robots can't make a breakthrough in human science. Or can they?
annonymus (Low)
01 Aug 2020 14:38
it would be dangerous to make robots doctors
Jofran (Highly likely)
01 May 2019 21:20
I think that medicine will not be automatised
Leave a reply about this occupation
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Job description

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.

O*NET-SOC code: 19-1042.00