yyd said:
And even if everything goes as planned and I defend on time, I will probably be completely burned out by the time med school starts.
My predicament is how to phrase my request for deferment and when to do so. I wonder whether to say that I need more time for my PhD or to say that I'd like to defer for family reasons.
OK, so I have a point of view for most of this -
1. Definitely get the deferral - You're right, you'll burn yourself out trying to cram it all in. I defended long before I started med school, but I did try to rush a paper out the door in the last few weeks before school started which spilled over into the first month of school - I'm still paying for this, I got so fried that month, I still have zero motivation and energy. Also, it may sound crazy, but I look back on the time that I defended as a good time, in retrospect, I enjoyed it that's partly because I was able to do it relatively leisurely.
2. Do the extra experiment, it's the mark of a good scientist, and it will help you tremendously in the long run. I had a similar thing near the end of my dissertation work, and I am sooo happy that I listened to my PI and did the extra work, it paid off with a national meeting platform talk, a good journal pub, and more to come, I hope.
3. I have two kids (I'll turn 30 in a few weeks) I (actually, my wife) had the second one during my last deferral year, and that worked out pretty well, having one before med school is not a bad idea (it doesn't make med school any easier, but you'd be amazed what you can handle).
4. I'd use the PhD as a point in requesting the deferral, most schools will jump at the chance to graduate an MD/PhD (especially one that they don't have to pay for
🙂 ) because it likely means that you'll have publications coming out, and that can only be good for their rep, but I don't think there's a need to be dishonest or hide the other motivations, contrary to popular belief adcoms have hearts (and yes even souls) too.
Please PM me if you have more questions, I'm happy to give any advice that I have to give. Good Luck.