Am I crazy for wanting to do this?

[CompSciMath]

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Ok, here's the deal. I've always want to be at MIT. I'm not at MIT right now. Is it crazy for me to want to get a PhD (probably in comp. sci or math) at MIT after I graduate from my current undergraduate institution, and then apply to medical school? I know this might sound weird to a lot of people, but this ranks really high as one of the things I want to do. I just want to know if it's realistic or not.

 

[jla314]

MIT has a joint MD program that they offer with Harvard, called HST. So you can be at MIT *and* do medical school at the same time...Yes, you'll get an MIT ID card and everything. For realz.

Plus, HST has a research requirement, so you could do research at MIT in a more computational lab and have it count towards your medical degree. Many HST students take 5 years (or more) to do a year (or years) of research, and roughly 1/3 of the people in the HST program do the MD/PhD route.

 

[Oncoloman]

Wow...if you did that I would be so jealous ...good luck👍

 

[CompSciMath]

Oh wow...you just made my day! I only thought cross registration applied to undergrad. I guess I should learn how to use google.

 

[orthomyxo]

MIT has a joint MD program that they offer with Harvard, called HST. So you can be at MIT *and* do medical school at the same time...Yes, you'll get an MIT ID card and everything. For realz.

Plus, HST has a research requirement, so you could do research at MIT in a more computational lab and have it count towards your medical degree. Many HST students take 5 years (or more) to do a year (or years) of research, and roughly 1/3 of the people in the HST program do the MD/PhD route.

Yea...good luck with getting accepted to HST.

 

[jla314]

HST isn't really cross-registering, you are literally a 'citizen' of both institutions. You get to attend two graduation ceremonies.

Check out this for more info: http://hst.mit.edu/servlet/ControllerServlet?handler=PublicHandler&action=browse&pageId=118

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Ok, here's the deal. I've always want to be at MIT. I'm not at MIT right now. Is it crazy for me to want to get a PhD (probably in comp. sci or math) at MIT after I graduate from my current undergraduate institution, and then apply to medical school? I know this might sound weird to a lot of people, but this ranks really high as one of the things I want to do. I just want to know if it's realistic or not.

yea you're crazy

 

[Perrotfish]

Ok, here's the deal. I've always want to be at MIT. I'm not at MIT right now. Is it crazy for me to want to get a PhD (probably in comp. sci or math) at MIT after I graduate from my current undergraduate institution, and then apply to medical school? I know this might sound weird to a lot of people, but this ranks really high as one of the things I want to do. I just want to know if it's realistic or not.

It's a realistic plan if you understand the sacrifices involved. This plan means an additional 6 years of poverty and no free time on top of the 8+ years you're already giving to medical school and residency. It means killing yourself for a degree that you might never actually apply to anything. If you're willing to put up with the hardships it's realistic (assuming you have the grades and test scores), but there's a good chance you won't actually want that when you get older.

When you're finished with college there's a good chance you're going to want to actually move on with you life. You might have a girlfriend who want's to be you wife, buy a house, have a kid, and not live in poverty for the next 14 years. You might decide you want a little bit of adventure in your life, and spending every night in a dusty library studying into your mid 40s isn't going to cut it. You might just realize that you're not interested in being the least paid/respected person in your profession until your hair turns grey. My advice is, if that moment comes, don't feel like you have some sort of obligation to power through this terrible idea because once, when you were in undergrad, you thought it sounded really cool. If you still think it's worth doing then by all means do it, but keep an open mind.

If it were my I wouldn't do this unless I had a very clear idea of the kind of research I would want to apply this to, and even then I would probably skip medical school and just collaborate with MDs when I was doing the research. Just my opinion, though, and to be honest MIT was never exactly an option for me.

 

[Ischemic]

I would agree with perrotfish. Moving on with your life is definitely something people forget when trying to pursue "their dream" and do everything. I know of married couples who got divorced cause the husband was stuck in grad school and making **** for money. However, life comes with sacrifices and it's up to you to determine what you're willing to sacrifice.