I was wondering if anyone knew if biotech companies have a need for MD/PhDs in their research divisions - or what prospects MD/PhDs have in the private sector.
Alternative careers for MD/PhD
- Thread starter Darkbloom
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Very good prospects. However, to be valuable to lead the Medical Affairs or other division in the future, you must keep a medical license and have completed a residency. 95% of MD/PhD graduates do residencies.
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I'm in the stage of trying to find a job after residency and am doing homework now myself about these issues. Yes, you can have alternative careers in the corporate world, either in pharma or financial sectors. The ceiling for pay in corporate is much higher than in academic medicine. However, in the corporate world you are fighting up a pyramid. In academia you are running a small group by applying grants. The work atmosphere is different, and more flexible in academia.
For clinical positions in pharma, generally a few years of attending level experience is helpful. For other types of positions, the earlier you transition the better as the skills required are very different.
Having an MD/PhD, especially from a well regarded place, definitely raises eyebrows for a variety of jobs outside of academia, most of which pay better, but this doesn't mean that once you got your degrees your work is done. Like anyone else you still have to prove yourself valuable and a good part of the team to succeed anywhere. One important consideration is the difference in lifestyle. As an MD/PhD who ends up in the R&D division of pharma or equity research division of investment bank or venture capital, you are going to sit in front of a desk and likely in a cubicle for YEARS before advancing to the corner office level, if ever. You will never see patients and directly interact with them. As I enjoy tremendously the daily practice of medicine, it's not as good a match for me.
For clinical positions in pharma, generally a few years of attending level experience is helpful. For other types of positions, the earlier you transition the better as the skills required are very different.
Having an MD/PhD, especially from a well regarded place, definitely raises eyebrows for a variety of jobs outside of academia, most of which pay better, but this doesn't mean that once you got your degrees your work is done. Like anyone else you still have to prove yourself valuable and a good part of the team to succeed anywhere. One important consideration is the difference in lifestyle. As an MD/PhD who ends up in the R&D division of pharma or equity research division of investment bank or venture capital, you are going to sit in front of a desk and likely in a cubicle for YEARS before advancing to the corner office level, if ever. You will never see patients and directly interact with them. As I enjoy tremendously the daily practice of medicine, it's not as good a match for me.
What about getting the funding for the research you want to do? Academics have to fight for grant money, but what about in pharma or other biotech companies? Do you have the same flexibility to study what you want within a specific area?
Also, what use is someone with an MD/PhD in the financial sector?
No. Pharma/biotech doesn't want to indulge your fantasy research, they want concrete & monetizable results that are applicable right now. The second your research veers from profit-producing to profit-draining, the company will axe that project and assign you a new one.
So if someone wanted to do corporate research, is there really any benefit to having both an MD and PhD? It sounds like there is no clinical component to this type of research. Would you be better off just getting a PhD?
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Should such a person go the academia route, or does that also have issues with regard to "research freedom"?
Also, what about the research lab route (non university, such as a US National Lab, USDA, NIH, etc)?
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In academics, you can do research in whatever you can get money to pay for (assuming it's within the Declaration of Helsinki of course). Similar in the government lab setting. One caveat of course is that the administration in either academics or gummint labs can steer the course of your research by subtly (or not so subtly in some cases) suggesting that your research program needs to change or you need to find another place to work. I've seen this happen at several different places when new department or institution directors have come in. So yes, you have "research freedom" as long as it lasts.
