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Seven Tips for Aspiring Biomedical Scientists in a Developing Country

Denis Zofou

Low-income countries are generally characterized by a disproportionately large share of the global burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases. One would reasonably expect that the solutions to these problems be home-grown. Unaccountably, the capacity for this is wholly lacking, an overwhelming majority of African countries fall well below the average on standard indices of science and technology capacity [1]. Besides this, over the years, these countries have witnessed a steady drain of qualified staff, which has led to low scientific research output, weak preparation of the next generation of biomedical scientists, and at some extent, doubt about the capacity of African universities and research institutions to produce globally competitive graduates [2,3]. Therefore, becoming a productive and successful biomedical research scientist in a low-income country is a real challenge, but first of all, is a matter of devotion. In addition to having the commonly required traits a good scientist should have like a strong academic background, curiosity, team work ability, honesty, discipline, integrative knowledge of related fields, ability to accept and give criticism; young scientists at the end of their academic training need to understand, both the advantages and challenges of their society and working environment for the good of their communities, and for their one interest as aspiring professional scientists. This prompted us to design the following ten tips, which addresses in priority for those working in the field of biomedical research and development.