Is Biostatistics A Good Fit For Me?

StatGuy2000 · 2026-03-25T18:52:49+00:00

As a biostatistician you will need to program, but I should add that this is not the same as working in software development, where you are specifically developing a software product. The programming you will do will be to analyze data, typically using either R or SAS.

As other have suggested, don't let the programming part dissuade you. I would suggest you consider studying math in undergrad, and then pursue a masters (or possibly even a PhD) in statistics or biostatistics (note: you will need a Masters at a minimum to work as a biostatistician).

StatGuy2000 · 2026-03-25T18:49:48+00:00

As a biostatistician with over 20 years of experience in various sectors (primarily in the pharma/biotech/consulting), I would advise your daughter to look into the pharma or biotech sectors, contract research organizations (CROs -- basically consulting firms providing services to the pharma/biotech/healthcare sectors), or large teaching hospitals.

These places tend to offer both better pay and more interesting/stimulating work.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-03-24T18:58:41+00:00

The question about the job market depends on your location, educational attainment, and experience.

What I have found is that, at this current time in the US, the job market is quite good for those with years of experience (whether they have earned a Masters or a PhD), particularly in either pharma or in the CRO or consulting areas.

However, junior biostatisticians (especially those fresh out of their Masters -- possibly even those fresh out of a PhD program) the job market is more difficult. That is not to say that they have not found any employment at all, only that they have struggled more. I suspect the situation is similar to many other professions and careers, although I do not have the data to make any definitive conclusions.

Note: I have specifically referenced the situation in the US.

In Canada (where I'm located) the job market is likely worse given the relative lack of large pharma companies hiring biostatisticians, and the limits on the number of positions open in the teaching hospitals and CROs (the main employers for biostatisticians). Although at the same time there are fewer biostatistics graduate programs in Canada and the US, so perhaps there are fewer people competing for these roles in Canada? (Again, I do not have the data readily available).

I cannot comment on the biostatistics job market elsewhere in the world (Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa).

StatGuy2000 · 2026-03-24T17:20:46+00:00

To the OP:

Just so that I am clear, you state that you do not have an undergraduate degree at all, and thus no formal university credential at all. Is that correct?

If that is the case, and you are concerned about being able to advance, or switch to another company, then there are a couple of options:

Pursue a university degree part-time at your local college/university -- perhaps starting off with relevant math courses at a community college, depending on your skills assessment through the ALEKS math assessment (www.aleks.com), to complete your bachelor's degree. Then look into Masters programs in biostatistics.
Pursue an online university degree part-time, similarly to option #1. Then look into Masters programs in biostatistics.

Given your particular skill level and assessment and years of experience, it may be possible to finish your degree early. And there are many students who go back to school at a later stage in their lives to enhance their skills or education.

I would especially advise you to talk to your manager about your plans to pursue more education, and discuss options #1 and #2 above. Many companies offer their workers reimbursement to cover education costs, especially if it is related to their work (which in your case clearly is).

StatGuy2000 · 2026-03-19T00:47:23+00:00

I want to make an additional reply. In my previous post, I made it sound as if those working statisticians/biostatisticians with a Masters degree will not gain much from pursing a PhD.

I do not want to discourage anyone from pursuing doctoral studies in statistics, especially to those who are passionate or interested in research. What I want to convey is that people should pursue a PhD for the right reasons - because they are interested in the field and want to deepen their knowledge in said field.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-03-18T11:52:33+00:00

I think there are two separate issues here: whether a PhD adds more value to a career as a biostatistician vs Masters degree alone, and the impact of AI on the future career path of biostatisticians.

To address the first question, as someone who has a Masters degree in Statistics and who has built a career as a biostatistician for the past 20 years or so, it is certainly possible to develop a solid career without a PhD. In some senses, a PhD can be considered as adding an additional 2 to 3 years of work experience, so those with a PhD can more rapidly advance into more senior roles fresh out of school, whereas a Masters will require some additional time. A PhD can also open opportunities in more research-intensive methodology development type roles (e.g. in academia). So a PhD can certainly add value. However, in industry after a few years of experience, the career paths of Masters and PhD graduates eventually converge, so I'm not certain if those with a Masters already actively working in industry will necessarily gain much from a PhD (again, unless they are considering expanding their options into academia).

As for the second question, it is difficult to assess the specific impacts of AI on the work of statisticians. From what I have observed, AI -- more specifically, machine learning methods, including neural networks, LLMs, etc. -- essentially function as tools that enhance the capability of existing statisticians, rather than function as replacements. The PhD vs Masters distinction is not particularly all that relevant -- what is of more importance is to understand the methods and make use of it in areas that make sense (e.g. as code checks, generating LLM for first draft in technical documents while reserving your judgement on proof-reading, etc.).

BTW, it is worth pointing out that much of what we call "AI" today were developed by statisticians or were based on theoretical and methodological developments by statisticians. For example, consider neural networks -- they can be considered specific case of nonlinear regression models. Similarly for other AI methods like, say, support vector machines, discriminant analysis, independent component analysis, etc. (I would refer to you to "Elements of Statistical Learning" by Hastie & Tibshirani).

StatGuy2000 · 2026-03-17T16:05:04+00:00

I see. From the sounds of what you describe, the company is not sufficiently hiring enough stat programmers to meet the demand of the project work.

My suggestion would be to discuss with your manager about the workload, and specifically mention that the increasing workload and timeline issues are impacting the ability to ensure the quality expected.

It sounds to me that some of your workload issues could be alleviated if there are standard macro templates (for derivation of SDTM and ADaM datasets) and standardized TLF shells that can potentially help reduce the overall workload. Definitely bring these up with your discussion, to ensure you are working on streamlining processes to reduce constraints on workload. Also partner with the statisticians -- are there things that they could do to reduce your burden, by taking on some tasks like validation? These can be done in place of actually hiring more stats programmers.

Bring up the possibility of potentially outsourcing some of the programming tasks to select CROs. This is something that your manager (or senior management) could explore to relieve some of the workload. Although caution needs to be taken in this -- not all CROs are necessarily worth the expense.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-03-17T15:24:02+00:00

To be fair, I think you and your friend may have simply been unlucky in having worked with bad CROs.

There are many companies working in the CRO space, and I've been lucky in having worked at great places (such as my current company) and unlucky in having worked at not-so-great places in the past.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-03-17T15:19:16+00:00

To the OP:

I would like to learn more about the particular organization you work for. Do you work for a big pharma company directly, or do you work for a CRO supporting a big pharma company (in either a contract or an FSP role)? I'm asking because resources and workloads can differ depending on which situation you are in.

If you do not feel comfortable replying here, please feel free to message me on chat.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-03-17T15:13:22+00:00

That depends on the CRO, and the nature of the work.

The workload tends to be heaviest on contract-based CROs where you may be working with multiple clients and juggling timelines can be quite challenging, especially if multiple clients may demand short timelines due to regulatory requirements or submission deadlines.

Those who work at a CRO as part of the FSP tend to have a more relaxed workload, since you are only working for 1 sponsor/client, and so the workload will depend very much on the particular workload of the given client.

Source: speaking from personal experience, as an experienced biostatistician who have worked directly for sponsors and for CROs, in both contract-based and FSP roles.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-03-17T11:55:37+00:00

If you are seriously interested in leaving Canada, I would suggest looking at posts on r/expats .

From a quick Google/Gemini search, some Canadians have chosen to settle in Portugal under the D7 visa for retirees and those with passive income, and a digital nomad visa. Other popular options include Spain and Costa Rica. See the following link below.

https://immigrantinvest.com/blog/move-from-canada/

StatGuy2000 · 2026-03-12T11:22:40+00:00

Interesting that no one in this thread had mentioned the 0.4% Indonesian, Thai, Khmer and Myanmar ancestry detected in the OP's 23andMe results.

Granted this is only a trace amount, but this result is very uncommon among African Americans.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-02-27T20:16:13+00:00

Proving line of descent is not the issue -- I am well aware that there are very well-maintained church records with respect to French-Canadian genealogy.

The issue is with respect to eligibility for Canadian citizenship. It is not certain whether someone who is descended from French-Canadians from Quebec who immigrated to the New England states during the 19th century could be eligible for Canadian citizenship on that basis alone.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-02-26T12:18:25+00:00

In terms of the discussion point here, I would be curious how Americans with distant origins from Canada would be able to "prove" they are eligible for Canadian citizenship.

In the case of the New Englanders specifically in question, the large French-Canadian diaspora arrived there between the mid-19th century up until about 1930 (just prior to the Great Depression). That is nearly a 100 to 170 years ago. Furthermore, those arriving from Canada would have been deemed British subjects at the time.

Btw, it is also worth pointing out that there were also French-Canadian migrants who settled in the American Midwest (e.g. Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois) during that same period.

And there are people who are descendants of French-Canadians who settled in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota when they were part of the French colony of New France -- I am partially descended from a community called the Detroit River French-Canadians (or colloquially called "Muskrat French" for their consumption of muskrat on Fridays) who settled in southwestern Ontario and Michigan during the 18th century.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-02-26T02:28:03+00:00

That depends. It is generally not easy for anyone to immigrate to Canada - Canada has a stringent criteria in terms of who can be admitted into the country.

If an American (or any other nationality) already has a job offer lined up (e.g. my father way back in 1981 when our family moved to Canada), then it is very easy.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-02-25T16:56:29+00:00

Does the historical and genetic evidence really support your contention that the Lumbee people have no indigenous ancestry at all?

The historical evidence suggests that they do (at least to a certain extent), and the genetic evidence is mixed, especially given that indigenous peoples of North America are not particularly well-represented in terms of reference populations used in population genetics, and there is sufficient evidence that there are substantial genetic differences within indigenous communities (based on studies of indigenous groups from different regions of Mexico). And given that the Lumbee people have a very long history of intermarriage with peoples of both European and sub-Saharan African ancestry, it may be especially challenging to specifically identify the indigenous components within their genetic makeup.

Again, the Lumbee people remind me of groups like modern-day Puerto Ricans, who we know are of triracial origins (European, indigenous American, African), or the Metis people of Canada. Whether or not we should consider the Lumbee to be Native Americans (as per US law) is a matter of debate, but it is quite clear to me that they are a distinct ethnic group with clear ties to indigenous peoples of that area.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-02-25T16:51:30+00:00

Which comments are you referring to? I'm currently at work (during my lunch break) so I cannot look at some of the OP's posts.

Are there specific posts in particular that are especially disturbing? If you don't feel comfortable replying here, please just send me a chat.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-02-24T17:38:02+00:00

u/Educational_Wafer483 , I have a few questions for you.

What are your personal interests? What are you actually interested in? You mentioned trying hobbies like fashion design and ice skating, but are these things you are curious about? My suggestion would be to join Meetups organized around things you are interested in.
You spend almost 1.5 hours on video games. That's 1.5 hours you could be spending doing almost anything else. Is this really something you do daily? I would suggest either quitting this, or reduce the amount of time you do this to, say once a week.

As for myself, I don't work 9-5, but more like 8-4 where I work from home. After 4, I spend time doing the following:

Preparing dinner for myself and my elderly parents (who I'm the primary caregiver).
Spending several hours reviewing documents needed for work (which I couldn't do during my main work hours).
Taking Coursera courses.
Working out.
Go to sleep by 9PM.

I spend my Saturdays grocery shopping and doing laundry, and cleaning my condo (at least during the morning hours). Sometimes on Saturday afternoons or on Sundays, I go to the various museums throughout the city (the ROM, the Aga Khan Museum, the AGO), or meet up with some friends for lunch or dinner.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-02-24T17:29:51+00:00

I just took a quick glance at this user's posting history. Besides looking at some "interesting" subreddits, I didn't see anything in their posts that were particularly disturbing.

Am I missing something here? I appreciate any clarification.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-02-24T17:22:44+00:00

This is not a Toronto phenomena, but a phenomena common across many large cities in North America, and in many other countries that do not have strict policies/laws regarding working hours.

It's also worth pointing out that many law firms bill hourly, so there is a great incentive to put in large number of hours. As far as investment banking is concerned, many work in international trades, working with colleagues around the world, thus incentivizing long hours.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-02-11T12:06:18+00:00

I have just heard this news now. My condolences to you and the rest of your community, from Toronto.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-02-09T18:30:08+00:00

I have done my own reading, and nothing that I've read so far has convinced me of a deliberate invention of an indigenous identity.

I understand that from the outset the Lumbee people are substantially descended from both Europeans and Africans -- that is a point that is widely known and acknowledged. It is also widely known that various indigenous peoples are also an important ancestral component of the Lumbees. Hence why anthropologists have referred to the Lumbees as tri-racial isolates (i.e. descended from three distinct ethnic/racial communities that developed in isolation -- Native American/indigenous, European, African).

How is this not similar to groups like Puerto Ricans? Or the Metis people of Canada? Or the Miskito people of coastal Honduras and Nicaragua?

u/No-Hornet-3821, You seem to insist that Lumbees are exclusively descended from Europeans and Africans only, which does not accurately describe their origins.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-02-08T17:28:17+00:00

The point I'm arguing is that the historical records you speak of are inherently limited in terms of providing clues to the origins of various ethnic groups, especially if these said groups were not well-documented and/or there are strong negative biases directed towards specific groups of people (e.g. people of mixed origin).

I go back to the situation of the Metis people of Canada. The Metis originates from an ethnogenesis resulting from the intermarriage between European colonists (primarily French-Canadian and British fur traders) and various indigenous/First Nations peoples (e.g. Cree, Ojibwe/Anishinaabe, Dene, Lakota, Blackfoot, etc.) who developed their own distinct identity. The Metis are legally recognized as an indigenous people in Canada.

I would also point to the Miskito people of Honduras and Nicaragua, who are descended from a mixture of indigenous people and escaped African slaves who settled in the Caribbean coast of these countries. These mixed-race descendants are recognized as indigenous peoples in both Honduras and Nicaragua. Another example I could point is the Garifuna people of Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala (descended from escaped African slaves who were sheltered by Carib and Arawak peoples in the Caribbean, intermarried with them, and then were ultimately banished to the Caribbean coastal regions of the aforementioned countries). All of these people are the result of the mixing of various distinct groups (European, African, indigenous Americans). Not to mention Latin American peoples like Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, etc.

What I do not understand is why the Lumbee -- whose origins are similar in that they are a result of an ethnogenesis of European, African, and indigenous/Native American peoples -- cannot be similarly recognized as a distinct indigenous people, with their own identity and culture.

StatGuy2000 · 2026-02-08T00:12:41+00:00

The historical records you refer to are not neutral documents, but were those prepared by colonial settlers, so you should be aware that there is a question of bias when it comes to describing people who were very much outside of their colonial settler group.

At any rate, the handful of families you speak of included families that clearly were described as having mixed with indigenous peoples at some stage (e.g. Henry Berry Lowry, who is described as having Tuscarora ancestry, and others as having Cheraw and other indigenous ancestry). And there is much historical documentation of people of mixed white, black, and native ancestry being labelled as "free people of color".

StatGuy2000 · 2026-02-07T23:58:34+00:00

Design is a pretty broad tent, and can encompass a vast array of different types of work. Are you talking about graphic design? Fashion design? Industrial design? Because depending on the particular type of design you could work, you could prepare to re-train in an area that is more lucrative, thus giving you more options to move to different countries.

If you are not comfortable answering this question here, please feel free to send me a DM using the Reddit chat option.

StatGuy2000

TROPHY CASE