A career in chemistry/pharmacology?

FakePie

Looking for some insights.

Kind of at a junction - some clarification may be beneficial.

Without going into a career guidance Q and A - basically, one possible course available to me and, which I have demonstrated to myself I have an interest for - is, biochem/pharmacology.

Well - technically - it's neuropharmacology, specific to receptor protein binding, neuronal transduction and genetic expression - interference and manipulation of messengers/factors, as a means to modify expression and potentially determine novel means to treat a variety of CNS conditions.

I guess primarily it would be relative to receptor expression, conformation modification etc.

The material I've used thus far - has been titled specifically, "molecular neuropharmacology".

But - it appears a large part of that is dictated by biochemistry; be example, triphosphate recyclicing, kinase activation, g-proteins etc etc.

When I say, I've demonstrated an interest in this to myself - to me, if I'm willing to set aside my free time, and read text after text (university based literature/books), and enjoy doing it, fascinated by the understanding - that constitutes an interest.
(In contrast - I attempted computer science - and it was a grind; did not enjoy doing it; thus, did not have an interest here).


Here's the catch.

In one sense, I would love to dedicate myself to this discipline - and who knows - make a difference?

I find drug use fascinating, and discovering the molecular components, in addition to the "ubiquitous", if you will, human impetus to engage in drug use, dissociative properties - the biochemical fundamentals that dictate that physiological outcome - reasoning those components to personalized disposition: like I said, in one way - I would love to throw myself into that area.

There is a masters program available to me - everything is in place.

BUT - I formerly graduated in a technical discipline - that I found interesting, mildly.

When it came down to the work itself, the working life - it was basically so time consuming and overwhelming - I couldn't commit to it.

I'm not talking about overwhelming in terms of work ethic - but simply - time.


For me personally - for better or worse - a large part of my life is dedicated to things that many would consider - pass time activities.
To me - they're essentials.

They're primarily - sports.
I see little point in expounding on that but - is what it is. My sports will come before my line of work.

And in my previous work line - the work conflicted to heavily, and I had to bow out - of the work.


The alternate option available to me is - physiotherapy.

I have an interest in this, believe it or no - from getting massage work done - in addition to anatomical understanding from personal training (also a part time PT).

I've self researched it to some degree and - I know it is a possible career path.

More than that - I feel unquestionably, I could be a good physio.

Most importantly - I can decide my own hours, my own clinic - my rules.
No 8 am to 6 pm plus over time.

It's a discipline that, I can take at my own pace, my own time; a well respected position/qualification that pays good and I'd enjoy doing; all in all, that's like my dream job.

**
Wall of text almost over.

Here's my question:

A career in biochem/chemistry/pharmacology, in a fairly specialized subdivision as above - will it be similar to any other intense cognitive discipline in that - we're talking years of highly intense work, possible research roles, long hours, long weeks - to even gain the degree of competency required to be proficient in the area and make a good living off it??

I bold that cause - if you want to skip through the jargon - it that basically, what the situation is?

At a minimum I'm assuming such a chemistry related position is 9 to 5 type deal, Mon to Fri.

Can anyone give a little insight into what it's like working in the industry - and/or what one could expect?