Can't decide MD vs. MD/PhD!!

[zogoto]

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I can't decide between MD and MD/PhD. Everyone at school (professors, etc.) tell me to do MD/PhD because they think I'll get bored doing just MD. Until about 2 years ago, I was going to do a PhD and go into academia. Then I looked into medicine, loved it, and wanted to do clinical medicine. Now I'm torn.
(I am applying next cycle).

Here's the urgency: There's a program my school puts on that gives us 1 month internships that we can do for 4 weeks out of our 6 week winter break. I can either apply to some that allow me to shadow different doctors in different specialties, or I can apply to some in finance, which is a field that I've wanted to do in the past and would like to see before I never get another chance. You can only apply to 3 different internships, and if you get 1, you can't get others (they match students to opportunities).

I have about 50 hours of shadowing already (30 with 2 cardiologists, 4 with an infectious disease doc, and 15 or so with a geriatrician), and I have at least another 70 coming from the geriatrician, for a total of about 120 by the time I apply, plus any more I do from doctors in other specialties.

So will shadowing during this one month off help me come to the MD vs. MD/PhD decision, or should I just stick to my current schedule with the geriatrician and do finance for this one month? I would only want to do the shadowing if it can help resolve this very important dilemma for me, because never again will I be able to see what finance is like without committing 3 months or more.

Note that currently when I shadow, it's typically for 3 hours in the afternoon per week, so I don't get the full day experience. If I did a shadowing program for the 4 weeks off, I could get the full day experience for about 20 days.

Thanks in advance.

 

[dl2dp2]

this post typifies a sort of pre-med mental state that one may realize to be quite silly only in hindsight.

whatever you are asking is SO trivial that nobody on EITHER the MD/PhD admissions committee or the MD committee is even going to grace it with one iota of attention. either way it won't make any difference.

 

[ClarinetGeek]

I agree with Sluox. Since you already have some clinical experiences, I say do whatever you want in this regard. It will have little play in whether you are admitted to a MD or a MD/PhD program.

 

[mudphudwannabe]

Agreed - it sounds like you are going to have some good clinical experience either way, so go with what seems the most exciting and fun to you. 😀 If it were me, I think I would try out the finance aspect - who knows, you might want to pursue an MD/MBA.

 

[zogoto]

The point is not that I am looking to impress admissions officers any more with getting more clinical experience. I am trying to decide between a clinical career and a research career. Based on your experiences, does shadowing help you decide that? I always loved research, but in the past couple of years I have enjoyed research less and see myself in the clinic more, but that may change some years down the road, I don't know. If shadowing can help elucidate what I will enjoy more, do you think it is worth it to spend time shadowing during this month off?