Bioinformatics/Medical Informatics

[neofight]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I was wondering if any of you think research in bioinformatics or medical informatics really helps "bridge the gap between science and medicine". I've read in previous threads and articles that these fields are not really basic (biomedical) sciences and are therefore not really compatible with the visions of Md/Phd programs. However, there are quite a few Md/Phd programs which offer the Phd in these fields so I wonder if the continued growth in these fields will eventually change this mode of thinking by Md/Phd programs.

 

[Nuel]

Though this question looks redundant, Bioinformatics is a very crucial part of biomedicine. http://www.psc.edu/~stiles/
The above is a link to an MD,PhD who is using bionformatics in clinically relevant programs.

 

[mjs]

I think I've seen the whole range of opinions on computational methods among experimental scientists. Some people call it rubbish in the context of their research, others are skeptical but interested in the long run, other people say it's invaluable. Most of the programs at which I interviewed had some department that did some informatics or computational biology. I don't do it, so I can't say which departments are particularly strong.

Also to say that bioinformatics is not relevant to current basic research is to ignore what is probably the most important accomplishment of the past 5 years- the sequencing and analysis of the human genome.

 

[Taty]

The sequencing and analysis of the human genome and neural models are way to go...

I think Bioinformatics and Medical Informatics have very bright future...

 

[Newquagmire]

Well there's a difference here between "using" and "doing" bioinformatics. Using it is like using PubMed or BLAST, you don't really need to know how it works. Doing it can involve writing the hard code (computer science).

I can't really speak for other schools, but as somebody who was once interested in "doing it," I know WashU has a pretty decent department. AT LEAST one of the biggest names in the field (Sean Eddy, who I believe played a major role in coding the above mentioned databases) is here and recently moved into a larger lab. Note: here, the word "lab" does not refer to a wet-lab.

I think that bio/medical informatics have good futures. These days everybody talks about x thousand genes whose functions we know nothing about. Recently saw an article in the NY Times about how college undergrads are getting turned off from an apparent disappointment in the growth of the field (i.e. recession, just like everybody else). One WashU PhD graduate *a few years ago* had a lowest starting salary offer of $90k.

 

[MacGyver]

I dont think an MD is particularly suited for bioinformatics type research.

Not to say that it doesnt help at ALL, but personally its not worth it to go thru med school + residency if you want to do 100% bioinformatics research.

Computer scientists are really the ones driving the field, and they have shown that having an MD is really superfluous. It does help with some things, but you dont need to know about clinical diagnoses to do research in bioinformatics.

 

[Taty]

MacGyver

u are not right here ...if u do tumor modeling, growth prediction and drug design u need MD...

 

[canadagirl]

Originally posted by MacGyver
Not to say that it doesnt help at ALL, but personally its not worth it to go thru med school + residency if you want to do 100% bioinformatics research.

You could say that about any kind of field that MD/PhD's work in. You don't NEED an MD if you want to do 100% research in ANYTHING.

The question, for me anyways, is what kind of different perspectives and different questions in bioinformatics (or health informatics, etc) will MD/PhD's be asking as opposted to PhD's? If nobody does the combined degree, then we'll never know...