FMG and PhD

[Prop]

Hi everyone.

I know I may be a bit pretentious even asking a question, knowing that ENT is an extremely competitive field to get into, especially being a FMG.
However, having always believed in pursuing my dreams, here goes:

I'm currently a 4th year med student (in a 6 year university in Europe), and I haven't done step 1 yet (will do this summer).
I started thinking about doing a residency in ENT during my first year in med school, and the interest have remained the same ever since.
Assuming I get good scores on step 1 and 2 (above 235-240), do You think it would help doing a PhD before applying for residency (I'm sincerely interested in research)? And even more importantly, is it absolutely crucial to do the PhD in areas regarding ENT, or would it be considered equal if it was done in cardiology (I have a real interest in this as well)?

Thanks for every input.

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[resxn]

Assuming I get good scores on step 1 and 2 (above 235-240), do You think it would help doing a PhD before applying for residency (I'm sincerely interested in research)? And even more importantly, is it absolutely crucial to do the PhD in areas regarding ENT, or would it be considered equal if it was done in cardiology (I have a real interest in this as well)?

Thanks for every input.

Well, that's a multi-part question so let's make the following assumption:

You pound Step I for 240 or some ridiculous score, because without that your chances will be much harder as a FMG as you already know.

People have asked if it's harder or easier to get into ENT with a MD/PhD and I honestly don't know a good answer to that. As far as numbers go, I'm not aware of a higher percent of those docs who match compared to regular ole MD's.

We didn't really think much of it in our program which was more clinical anyway. When I was on the admissions committee, we usually thought things like "what was this person trying to accomplish? Why the research years? Do they not like surgery as much?" And other questions like that. We didn't match any mudphuds when I was there, but it wasn't because we didn't like those who interviewed any more or any less than any other candidate, just none of them stood out simply because of the PhD. I think one did get ranked in our top3 but then dropped out of the match to pursue a non-clinical career for a research company.

I think the questions would really start to mount, though, if you did your PhD in cardiology while having professed to want to do ENT since year one. Why would you do that? they'd ask. And if you did, it certainly wouldn't advance you in ENT. All research helps in applying in our specialty, but I'm not sure a cardiology PhD would be as impressive in interviews for ENT as say general surgery.

My 2 cents.

 

[rapidprotocol]

Interesting...

I have never heard of a PhD in clinical programs, such as general surgery or cardiology. How does one do that?

Normally MDPhD programs want students to pursue PhD in a basic science department, such as biochem, microbio, immunology, etc.

Assuming equal stats and clinical potentials, I've been told that PhD makes an applicant more sought after because of the fundamental research abilities and scientific skills he brings to the table. Those skills could be applied to any field.