In my view, at the very least, a person needs to find out whether they have any hope of functioning in a lab environment. Have you ever fixed a bicycle, or a toilet? I've worked with some really bright people from a variety of fields, and many of them would be downright dangerous to themselves and others if allowed into a lab.

Even if you end up managing a lab rather than working in one, you need to develop a sense for how a lab works and what it's like to do an experiment.