Pharmacologist to immunologist
A pharmacologist already meets 77% of what the immunologist role asks for. The move turns on 12 required skills not yet in the profile.
40.7/ 100
1 How much of what an immunologist is expected to do is already part of a pharmacologist’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the immunologist role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An immunologist role treats 37 of its required skills as things a pharmacologist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- apply for research funding
- apply research ethics and scientific integrity principles in research activities
- apply safety procedures in laboratory
- biology
- cancer risks
- communicate with a non-scientific audience
What stands in the way is 12 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 61 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An immunologist role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a pharmacologist background worth leading with.
- already held medical mycology natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
- already held develop vaccines information skills
- already held cancer risks health and welfare
- already held contribute to registration of pharmaceutical products information skills
- already held communicable diseases health and welfare
- already held analyse blood samples information skills
All 61 carried skills, including the 37 the immunologist role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 17 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn diagnostic immunology techniques required
- still to learn clinical immunopathology required
- still to learn medical parasitology required
- still to learn neoplasia required
- still to learn clinical immunology required
- still to learn immunology required
- optional, not held allergies optional
- optional, not held virology optional
- still to learn research immune system malfunctions required
- still to learn apply scientific methods required
- optional, not held diagnose patients with immunodeficiencies optional
- still to learn molecular and cellular immunology required
- still to learn stem cells required
- still to learn scientific research methodology required
- still to learn calibrate laboratory equipment required
- optional, not held develop patient treatment strategies optional
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries an immunologist role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 diagnostic immunology techniques study this
- 02 molecular and cellular immunology study this
- 03 research immune system malfunctions practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 61 skills that carry over
- already held apply for research funding skill
- already held apply research ethics and scientific integrity principles in research activities skill
- already held apply safety procedures in laboratory skill
- already held biology knowledge
- already held cancer risks knowledge
- already held communicate with a non-scientific audience skill
- already held conduct research across disciplines skill
- already held demonstrate disciplinary expertise skill
- already held develop professional network with researchers and scientists skill
- already held disseminate results to the scientific community skill
- already held draft scientific or academic papers and technical documentation skill
- already held evaluate research activities skill
- already held increase the impact of science on policy and society skill
- already held integrate gender dimension in research skill
- already held interact professionally in research and professional environments skill
- already held laboratory techniques knowledge
- already held life sciences knowledge
- already held maintain laboratory equipment skill
- already held manage findable accessible interoperable and reusable data skill
- already held manage intellectual property rights skill
- already held manage open publications skill
- already held manage personal professional development skill
- already held manage research data skill
- already held mentor individuals skill
- already held operate open source software skill
- already held perform laboratory tests skill
- already held perform project management skill
- already held perform scientific research skill
- already held promote open innovation in research skill
- already held promote the participation of citizens in scientific and research activities skill
- already held promote the transfer of knowledge skill
- already held publish academic research skill
- already held scientific literature knowledge
- already held speak different languages skill
- already held synthesise information skill
- already held think abstractly skill
- already held write scientific publications skill
- already held analyse blood samples skill
- already held analyse cell cultures skill
- already held apply blended learning skill
- already held archive scientific documentation skill
- already held assess environmental impact skill
- already held assist in clinical trials skill
- already held communicable diseases knowledge
- already held contribute to registration of pharmaceutical products skill
- already held control production skill
- already held develop pharmaceutical drugs skill
- already held develop scientific research protocols skill
- already held develop scientific theories skill
- already held develop vaccines skill
- already held general medicine knowledge
- already held genomics knowledge
- already held medical mycology knowledge
- already held microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
- already held pharmaceutical chemistry knowledge
- already held pharmaceutical industry knowledge
- already held recommend product improvements skill
- already held record test data skill
- already held research design knowledge
- already held teach in academic or vocational contexts skill
- already held write research proposals skill
The 1 learning area not shown above
- optional, not held perform lectures optional
5 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held diagnose patients with immunodeficiencies optional
- optional, not held perform lectures optional
- optional, not held allergies optional
- optional, not held develop patient treatment strategies optional
- optional, not held virology optional
28 held skills the immunologist role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role analyse medication's impact on brain skill
- not needed by the target role biological chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role chemical preservation knowledge
- not needed by the target role computational chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role conduct experiments on animals skill
- not needed by the target role improve safety of medicines skill
- not needed by the target role industrial research and development knowledge
- not needed by the target role manage adverse reactions to drugs skill
- not needed by the target role manufacture medicines skill
- not needed by the target role medicines knowledge
- not needed by the target role mix chemicals skill
- not needed by the target role monitor patients during clinical tests skill
- not needed by the target role multidisciplinary research knowledge
- not needed by the target role nuclear medicine knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform diagnostic testing for allergies skill
- not needed by the target role pharmaceutical drug development knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmaceutical legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmaceutical manufacturing quality systems knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmaceutical technology knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmacology knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmacovigilance legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role phytotherapy knowledge
- not needed by the target role professional documentation in health care knowledge
- not needed by the target role provide specialist pharmaceutical advice skill
- not needed by the target role run laboratory simulations skill
- not needed by the target role toxicology knowledge
- not needed by the target role wear appropriate protective gear skill
- not needed by the target role work safely with chemicals skill
11 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn diagnostic immunology techniques required
- still to learn molecular and cellular immunology required
- still to learn clinical immunopathology required
- still to learn medical parasitology required
- still to learn neoplasia required
- still to learn stem cells required
- still to learn clinical immunology required
- still to learn immunology required
- still to learn scientific research methodology required
- optional, not held allergies optional
- optional, not held virology optional
Common questions about this move
Can a pharmacologist become an immunologist?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A pharmacologist already covers 77% of what an immunologist is expected to do: 61 skills carry over, 37 of which the immunologist role treats as required.
What skills does a pharmacologist need to become an immunologist?
12 required skills are missing, plus 5 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by health and welfare. The single most important is diagnostic immunology techniques.
How hard is the move from pharmacologist to immunologist?
Its learning distance is 40.7 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.