Academic Inbreeding

[Vermilion_Parish]

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I'm a pre-medical student finishing up a dual-degree. I applied this application cycle and, as of right now, currently hold two acceptances for MD/PhD programs. I'm left with a dilemma. Both institution I've been admitted to have similar rankings and, for all intents and purposes, are neck-in-neck. The problem I'm running into is what I've heard affectionately referred to as "academic inbreeding." One of those institutions is my home institution.

What I'm asking is, how much does it really matter if I choose to stay at my university? I would end up having two bachelor's degrees, an MD, and a PhD all from the same school. In addition, I have an associates from a community college in the same city (I didn't go to high school and had to start with a GED and work my way up). Will this impact my career if I opt to remain here? Is it an even larger issue since I'm interested in academic medicine? Or does no one really care about this in the medical field?

 

[WedgeDawg]

Inbreeding happens at some schools (generally those that like to identify themselves as prestigious), but it's generally one step to the next. For example, a medical student at XYZ University is more likely to be considered favorable for residency, but a medical student at ABC who went to undergrad at XYZ probably won't get any benefit out of the association. Your bachelor's degree basically stops mattering after you get your MD and PhD.

 

[Goro]

Academic inbreeding to me is your getting your PhD degree at school X and then staying on to get your post-doc. I suppose that the equivalent would be MD -> residency, but I don't see how getting your MD at, say, Drexel and doing residency at one of Jefferson's hospitals would be inbreeding, nor would getting your BA/BS at, say SUNY Stony Brook and then your MD would be either. If this were true, then Brown's student's are in trouble!

I'm a pre-medical student finishing up a dual-degree. I applied this application cycle and, as of right now, currently hold two acceptances for MD/PhD programs. I'm left with a dilemma. Both institution I've been admitted to have similar rankings and, for all intents and purposes, are neck-in-neck. The problem I'm running into is what I've heard affectionately referred to as "academic inbreeding." One of those institutions is my home institution.

What I'm asking is, how much does it really matter if I choose to stay at my university? I would end up having two bachelor's degrees, an MD, and a PhD all from the same school. In addition, I have an associates from a community college in the same city (I didn't go to high school and had to start with a GED and work my way up). Will this impact my career if I opt to remain here? Is it an even larger issue since I'm interested in academic medicine? Or does no one really care about this in the medical field?

 

[md-2020]

Wait hold on how is "inbreeding" at all a problem?

 

[Vermilion_Parish]

In other realms, I've been told it can matter quiet a lot. I've heard some fields (e.g. chemistry) take it really personally and unless you want to geographically confine yourself forever and never really plan to work in academia you should avoid it like the plague. They believe people who opted to remain at the same school have minimized their opportunities and stunted their horizons.

Wait hold on how is "inbreeding" at all a problem?

I also wanted to mention that I don't plan to stay here indefinitely. I lived in this city for a couple years when I was a kid, and I came back because it was the only place I could prove residency. However, I've been all over the place. I put some roots down here during my undergrad. I mean getting these degrees have kept me stationary longer than I've ever been in my entire life. Still the roots are somewhat superficial as I suffer from some degree of wanderlust. I know if I commit another 8 years here, which feels unfathomable at the moment, I'll bolt the second it's over. Just writing about it kind of helps me make my decision. Anyway, I thought it might be relevant towards how the inbreeding could effect me.

@Goro and @WedgeDawg Thank you for your input. I've put a lot of work into getting this far (as I know everyone has), it nice to get the sense that it isn't so easy to sabotage myself for once, lol.

 

[Law2Doc]

You'll see a mix of views on this. On the one hand places like to keep their own because they already know what they are getting. On the other hand it can't be denied that academic centers benefit from cross pollination of ideas, teaching, research. Similarly for the trainee, there's a benefit of having diverse teachers/mentors, having seen how other places do things. You don't want to have "North Korea is Best Korea" blinders on and not appreciate that most of what's innovative is happening outside of your current set of walls. So you'll see a bit of a variation on each of these themes at most places. Inbreeding happens but most places try to cherry pick to the extent they do it and don't do it.

 

[URHere]

I remember being actively cautioned against this when I went through the MD/PhD application process, but now that I'm in the midst of residency interviews I think it is actually an incredibly common thing.

The vast majority of people I have met on the interview trail were born in the same city where they pursued undergraduate and medical training (most often at the same school). I always feel like a bit of an outlier when I have to explain that my training spans three very different geographical regions.

That being said, I think there are some big benefits to getting to know different parts of the country. Knowing how research and clinical atmospheres differ is a big help when deciding where you want to pursue residency or fellowship. As someone with academic ties to most parts of the country, I think I also secured interviews from a few residency programs that would have otherwise not looked at me twice.

So, if you like your home program it won't hurt you to go there, but I think there are some benefits to training elsewhere.

 

[LizzyM]

I believe that it is far more important to go to a school where there are labs that are investigating something you find interesting and where you will find a PI who is simpatico.

 

[Lucca]

It will most likely not matter at all. Pick the program you like the best.

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

I'm a pre-medical student finishing up a dual-degree. I applied this application cycle and, as of right now, currently hold two acceptances for MD/PhD programs. I'm left with a dilemma. Both institution I've been admitted to have similar rankings and, for all intents and purposes, are neck-in-neck. The problem I'm running into is what I've heard affectionately referred to as "academic inbreeding." One of those institutions is my home institution.

What I'm asking is, how much does it really matter if I choose to stay at my university? I would end up having two bachelor's degrees, an MD, and a PhD all from the same school. In addition, I have an associates from a community college in the same city (I didn't go to high school and had to start with a GED and work my way up). Will this impact my career if I opt to remain here? Is it an even larger issue since I'm interested in academic medicine? Or does no one really care about this in the medical field?

There are much better talking points than "academic inbreeding" when deciding on your med school, how is the quality of rotation sites of your home institution compared to the other school? Which school is cheaper in tuition/cost of living? Do you have any support system at your other school? Are there nuances like facilities, clubs, faculty etc that set each school apart?