Professor
HSC 100
11 April, 2016
TOXICOLOGIST
* Education and/or Training Required
Depending upon your career aspirations, a bachelor’s degree may not be enough for you to achieve your goals. The higher the degree, the more likely your position will provide more opportunities, more responsibility and higher salaries. Usually, toxicologist graduates from Ph.D.’s or master’s degrees. Most importantly, a strong foundation for any future scientist is based on skills in reading, writing, mathematics, computer science and communication, along with courses in biology, chemistry, and physics. Knowledge of a foreign language is important for exchanging information in our global society. These are very important for toxicologist and need to be prepared during high school and college.

* Responsibly and Daily Activities
Toxicology combines the elements of many scientific disciplines to help us understand the harmful effects of chemicals on living organisms. Basically, toxicology is the study of the toxic or harmful effects of chemicals. Chemicals make up everything around us like pesticides in the food we eat, pollutants in the air we breathe, chemicals in the water we drink, toxic dump sites near our homes. Usually, toxicologists work in contact with an analytical lab because they do a lot of chemical analytical work. Toxicologists are responsible for a lot of things including our lives. There are three types and they are forensic, veterinary, and environmental toxicologist. Forensic toxicology is a discipline of forensic science concerned with the study of toxic substances or poisons, of which there are many thousands. Currently, forensic toxicology is the study of alcohol, drugs, and poisons, including their chemical composition, preparations and identification. Veterinary toxicology relates to the health of animals. Environmental toxicology, also known as entox, is a multidisciplinary field of science concerned with the study of the harmful effects of various chemical, biological and physical agents on individual living organisms. * Salary range
The Entry level positions for those with doctoral degrees are often in the range of $35,000 to $60,000, with rapid advancement possible. In general, positions in industry pay slightly better than government or academia. Mid-range professionals with a Ph.D. degree and 10 years of experience can expect to earn $70,000 to $100,000 annually. Most executive positions in toxicology exceed $100,000 per year, and some corporate executive toxicologists earn $200,000 or more. Of course, salaries for those with master’s and/or bachelor’s degrees in toxicology will generally be less than those for individuals with doctoral degrees, but are still highly competitive with other science-based professions.

* Questions
My interest on becoming and pursuing this profession is very strong. There are many preparatory experiences that I could obtain while in college such as hands-on experience in this field work. Then as graduate training time comes in, I’ll be able to get an idea of what specialty I would like to determine what particularly interest to me. There will be courses such as procedures, ethics, criminal proceedings that I would be taking to prepare myself, however, this will detract myself from what specialty I would really like. Therefore, by concentrating solely on the science, I will develop a more thorough understanding of the skills and knowledge needed to be proficient and capable of accurately performing the tasks which need to be completed. My biggest interest in this profession is the hands-on experience, because there’s no better way to work with something that you can actually experience instead of something a computer can do.

* APA reference list
"Society of Toxicology." Resource Guide to Careers in Toxicology. Creating a Safer and Healthier World Through the Advancement of Science, 2008. Web. 9 April 2016. Retrieved from <http://www.toxicology.org/ai/apt/careerguide.asp>.
"The Institute for Comparative and Environmental Toxicology." And the Graduate Field of Environmental Toxicology. Toxicology, 2010. Web. 9 April 2016. Retrieved from <http://foodscience.cornell.edu/toxicology/>.