When considering becoming a geneticist as a career option the first thing to take into consideration is the amount of schooling involved before being able to enter the work field. The term “geneticist” is somewhat broad. Overall it is basically the study of genes and heredity, however in the field there are a variety of different job opportunities available. No matter which geneticist route you decide to take a university education will be required, however how long you’re post secondary education will take depends on the specific choice of job. No matter which path you chose whether it is a technical position, a researcher or suppose a doctor, it is a good idea to take all of the math and science courses offered at your high school. After graduation at least an undergraduate or bachelor’s degree (generally 4 years) is required in a field such as biology or chemistry, but for a job further in the medical path and less technical side of genetics, a masters degree (2 to 3 years) as well as a PhD in genetics (4 to 6 years) would be required. After this to become a doctor med school and a five-year residency or 3-year training program at the Canadian College of Medical Genetics would have to be done. Entering the genetics field can require a very extensive amount of schooling, however the pay off can be huge with patients as well as in your paycheck. Technicians generally earn from about $30,000 to $55,000 a year, researchers about $55,000 to $100,000 and doctors substantially more at about $100,000 to $300,000. In these fields workers would usually receive health coverage, vacation time and sick days, and retirement plans along with their regular paycheck. Working in the genetics field is extremely vast and encompasses many different types of jobs and working environments. In some cases you could be working in a hospital or research center, or even with a government agency, or a variety of private companies in agriculture, pharmaceutical or a variety of other environments. You could be improving food production by modifying plants and animal genetics, do revolutionary research, protect endangered species, date archaeological artifacts, treat patients with genetic disorders, and so much more. These jobs generally take place inside offices or labs, but some involve outdoor