I'm at a top 20 MSTP that does PhD after the clinical rotations (I know it narrows down where I am to like 2-3 schools). I've done a couple clinical rotations so far and now I'm pretty set on doing either interventional or diagnostic radiology (pending how much I like the surgery rotation, which I will have in a few months). On the other hand, I am interested in computational research for my PhD. I guess I can do things like radiogenomics, image processing etc., with computational background, but my PhD topics will most likely be related to IM and its subspecialties. Haven't decided on my PhD mentor yet.
My MSTP director would tell me the PhD does not have to be in the clinical field I pursue, and I do agree with him, but I wonder at this point if I should even drop the PhD to just pursue my clinical interests, especially if I end up wanting to do IR, which will allow very little time for research, as opposed to DR. On the other hand, I really like research and would've gone into a PhD program (instead of MD) if I had gotten rejected from all the MD/PhD programs. I don't want to give up research, but now I don't want to give up clinical work either.
So my question in a nutshell is... for those of you who ended up doing either just research or just clinical after getting both degrees, do you regret getting the dual degree and why if so? I also hear things like MD/PhD's are considered "clinically weak," by certain PD's, especially by those in procedural fields, and I don't want that to bring me down if I end up pursuing IR.
My MSTP director would tell me the PhD does not have to be in the clinical field I pursue, and I do agree with him, but I wonder at this point if I should even drop the PhD to just pursue my clinical interests, especially if I end up wanting to do IR, which will allow very little time for research, as opposed to DR. On the other hand, I really like research and would've gone into a PhD program (instead of MD) if I had gotten rejected from all the MD/PhD programs. I don't want to give up research, but now I don't want to give up clinical work either.
So my question in a nutshell is... for those of you who ended up doing either just research or just clinical after getting both degrees, do you regret getting the dual degree and why if so? I also hear things like MD/PhD's are considered "clinically weak," by certain PD's, especially by those in procedural fields, and I don't want that to bring me down if I end up pursuing IR.