Any Physician-Scientists in training out there?

[ABCfib]

Hi guys,

it would be nice if I could get some input from people who are graduates of or still training in Physician-Scientist programs.

I really like the idea to be able to combine research with clinical practice but one aspect that concerns me is the shortened residency training time (ABIM clinical investigator track) and the shortened fellowship training time. Is it possible to acquire all necessary skills in those time-frames, or is this program rather designed for people who want to mainly (MAINLY, I mean about 90%) focus on research? Have grads from those programs taken the opposite way (doing something like 60% patient care and 40% research)?
How comfortable do people in this program feel compared to their categorical colleagues, especially during the fellowship when most of the time is devoted to research?
And does anybody know FMGs/IMGs training in Physician/Scientist programs? Is it possible to get a match - if yes, is it easy or close to impossible?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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[greg12345]

Residency time is shortened but fellowship training is lengthened. Your clinical training time during fellowship is the same whether you "fast-track" or not, you just get an additional research year during your fellowship. Being MD/PhD does not force or commit you to fast-track; you can always pursue a normal residency/fellowship path if you are worrying about compromising your clinical training. General consensus from people I have talked to (I have not gone through the process yet, I am about to start internship) is that 2 years during residency in my field (medicine) is sufficient to train you clinically, provided that you do your time in the ICUs, etc. Most people that fast-track do so with the idea that they will spend the majority of their time in the lab.

 

[ABCfib]

Thanks!

That actually sounds pretty good. I was just a little confused since I heard that many training programs wouldn't allow IMGs to join with J1 VISAS, despite the fact that apparently even a long fellowship like cardiology should fit into the seven year VISA period (2 years residency, 4 years fellowship, 1 additional year for research).

Good luck for your residency!