Career in Research?

[FCBarca1990]

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Is it strange to apply to only MD programs (as opposed to MD/PhD) at medical schools but mention on the secondary of an interest in a career in conducting and directing medical research?

I am on the fence regarding applying to MD/PhD programs and, having decided late in the game that I might want to pursue research, believe that I may be more competitive for MD programs. I was perhaps interested in a research fellowship later in my education though.

Thanks!

 

[bucks2010]

No. lots and lots of MD's do what you described.

 

[Propylene]

You will be able to do all kinds of research as an MD. Some schools let you apply to MD/PhD after you matriculate too, so you can always look into that at places you're accepted to.

 

[Lil Mick]

Some schools, such as Duke and Yale, will let you do a year of research while you're in medical school (either a free fifth year like Yale or as part of the four years like Duke). Being an MD/PhD does have some benefits later on if you are hoping to teach or focus solely on your research, but it isn't necessary. It may help you develop better research skills and obtain more publications (and allow you to do medical school for free), but, again, there are MDs who do the same sort of research...

 

[vc7777]

I must also point out that there are other career options besides being a mud-phud. For example, CCLCM is a 5-year MD/MS program. Remember, many people get an MPH (which is a terminal degree in public health) also. Pitt and CCLCM are both examples of programs with a research focus.

Also note that the standard rule of thumb is that an MD/PhD is 80% research 20% clinical when they finish.

If you search the research subforum here on SDN, for MS or masters you will find several discussion threads about the pros and cons of each career track.

I know an straight MD orthopod here at my institute who is a one-man R01 laboratory and a full-time clinician. He is working with cell cultures in his research, not clinical research. He "only" did some summer research in medical school before his residency. He jokes that he is 80% clinical and 80% research. 🙂

In short, if you have "the fire in your belly" to do research there are many options "still" available to you.

-Best of Luck

 

[raltima07]

I must also point out that there are other career options besides being a mud-phud. For example, CCLCM is a 5-year MD/MS program. Remember, many people get an MPH (which is a terminal degree in public health) also. Pitt and CCLCM are both examples of programs with a research focus.

Also note that the standard rule of thumb is that an MD/PhD is 80% research 20% clinical when they finish.

If you search the research subforum here on SDN, for MS or masters you will find several discussion threads about the pros and cons of each career track.

I know an straight MD orthopod here at my institute who is a one-man R01 laboratory and a full-time clinician. He is working with cell cultures in his research, not clinical research. He "only" did some summer research in medical school before his residency. He jokes that he is 80% clinical and 80% research. 🙂

In short, if you have "the fire in your belly" to do research there are many options "still" available to you.

-Best of Luck

Thank you for this. I too want to be involved in research, and this is very helpful

 

[JJMrK]

Sure. Be prepared to answer "Why not a PhD?" during an interview.

 

[vc7777]

Thank you for this. I too want to be involved in research, and this is very helpful

You are welcome. Check out the Research forum and you will find a lot about career choices in research:

Physician Scientist Forum

 

[LizzyM]

Federal funding for Clinical and Translational Research has led to the development of about 2 dozen institutes at top med schools. Most of these schools have developed MS programs in clinical and translational research.

Here's one example that is open to Med students. Others are limited to fellows....

http://ctsa.mayo.edu/education/md-ms-profiles.html

I googled ctsa ms to find this link and you'll find others there too.

MD/PhD is not the only option anymore.

 

[neurogenesis]

As everyone above has mentioned, you have several options besides md-phd that will allow for a career in research. Translational research programs have popped up in quite a few places. Plus, many medical schools allow for research opportunities on summers before rotations.

How far off are you from applying, this cycle? If not, are you currently working in a lab where you could talk with some PIs about their degree path and experience in research?

 

[thesauce]

Some schools, such as Duke and Yale, will let you do a year of research while you're in medical school (either a free fifth year like Yale or as part of the four years like Duke).

This is an option at every school through programs like Howard Hughes, CRTP, Doris Duke, Sarnoff, Fogarty and others.

Being an MD/PhD does have some benefits later on if you are hoping to teach or focus solely on your research, but it isn't necessary. It may help you develop better research skills and obtain more publications (and allow you to do medical school for free), but, again, there are MDs who do the same sort of research...

Not only some, but FAR more than the number of MD/PhDs.

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

If you're heavily interested in bench research (I'm assuming you are since you mention that you're considering MD/PhD in the OP), you'll have to get the research experience from somewhere, whether it's a formal PhD or a postdoc or a research residency/fellowship, etc. Just med school + clinical residency isn't geared towards putting out researchers, let alone basic science researchers.

vc7777: Did the orthopod you mentioned do a post-doc/research fellowship after residency? Or spend a year (or more) focusing on research during residency? Just curious.

I agree with others that there are several year-long fellowships, etc, that you can do during a year-off in med school to conduct bench/clinical research. I'm considering applying for some of those, like the Doris Duke, but we'll see how I feel about that in a couple of years. 😉

 

[Lil Mick]

This is an option at every school through programs like Howard Hughes, CRTP, Doris Duke, Sarnoff, Fogarty and others.



Not only some, but FAR more than the number of MD/PhDs.

Never said there were only some MDs. There are many more than we have MD/PhDs. It is relatively rare to see an MD strictly in research (non-medical school university with no patient base), compared to PhDs, though.

Also, I was mentioning those schools because it is specifically part of their curriculum (no application to outside program necessary). The NIH has several options for MD students who wish to pursue research (some summer programs, some multiple years sort of programs).

There are also research fellowships, if OP wants to get more involved during residency, too. They're geared towards MDs and MD/PhDs who want a career in research 🙂

 

[vc7777]

vc7777: Did the orthopod you mentioned do a post-doc/research fellowship after residency? Or spend a year (or more) focusing on research during residency? Just curious.

Hmmm, I do believe he did do research as part of his residency. In fact, I think some of his current research stemmed from those initial investigations. Good point.

 

[vc7777]

There are also research fellowships, if OP wants to get more involved during residency, too. They're geared towards MDs and MD/PhDs who want a career in research 🙂

Note that many research fellowships like to see you have some research under your belt before you apply. The term I hear often is "significant research" in medical school is required to be competitive. I'm not sayinf it can't be done otherwise, but I think this is an important clarification.

 

[Lil Mick]

Yes, but it can be as little as a summer or two of research (MS1, elective MS4) during medical school, as opposed to a year off or a graduate degree with the MD...

 

[vc7777]

Right, we both knew that. But I thought it was worth mentioning explicitly that you can't just decide your final year to apply and expect to be competitive without having invested some time upfront in either research electives or summer research. And as you inferred either before or after year 1 is probably a good time to do research in many programs, which means you need to plan sooner rather than later. 🙂