Well it is not really glamorous, nor does it pay fantasticly well, but I love it. I am (trying) to make a difference in the world. Being a research doctor (Ph.D. that is) is not like being a physician. Physicians treat people here and now. Biochemical research aims to understand why ailments exist and how can treatments be developed. And yes, your tax dollars (and some charitable donations) are paying for it. Are you getting your money's worth?
What kind of science are we talking about? Chemistry -> Biochemistry -> Structural Biology -> X-ray Crystallography. I study the three dimensional structure of proteins and enzymes. In theory and practice, if you know what an enzyme looks like (at the atomic level), you can design drugs to modify the action of that enzyme.
It is exciting to be excited about your work. Wouldn't you like to say, "I am helping cure leukemia"? My current research has direct applications to fighting multiple forms of cancer. Oh, and I got a publication in Cell too. But somehow, funding agencies do not think this work is significant enough to provide funding...yet.
This work was less exciting; mostly since my boss and I did not see eye-to-eye. Here I learned to either shutup and take it or leave. I chose the latter...as well as nearly everyone else in the lab. Well, at least I got a publication out of it. Be sure you do research on who you want to do research with. I have nothing more to say.
Dr. Joshua Sakon convinced me to join him at the University of Arkansas Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. It was one of the best decisions of my life. But, the U of A? It actually has a fantastic Chemistry department with a lot of state-of-the-art equipment. One of my projects there was part of a $9.6 million grant from the NIH.
Biographical information with my collected research papers.